Rhode Island observations

Observations from Charlotte's 73-66 victory Saturday against Rhode Island:

• The 49ers looked as sharp as they have in a while in the first half, opening up a 19-point lead, their largest lead of the season in the first half.  The 49ers' 40 points in the first half were a season high, as was its 15-point halftime lead.

A lot of that came over a Rhode Island zone, and the 49ers cooled off considerably when the Rams went man-to-man.

• But, of course, things could have been easier if the 49ers had been better at the line. They were 19 of 38. Deuce Briscoe was 4 of 10 and Pierria Henry 8 of 15 and DeMario Mayfield 5 of 9.

• It was homecoming for the 49ers and more than 50 former 49ers basketball players were introduced at halftime following an alumni game earlier in the day. Also on hand was Lee Rose, coach of the 1977 Final Four team.

• Henry had five steals and now has 58 for the season, a Charlotte freshman record.

• As Rhode Island tried to get back in the game in the second half, Mayfield flung a pass out of bounds. The pass was so off the mark that it sailed behind the 49ers bench. Mayfield smiled sheepishly and pointed to himself, taking full blame.

• Mayfield's double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) was his third in the last four games.

• Derrio Green didn't play again. He's now been a DNP for two straight games and played just four minutes against La Salle three games ago.

Mayfield's new routine

DeMario Mayfield has changed up his free-throw routine and that's making all the difference in the world for the 49ers' small forward.

Mayfield was having a woeful season from the line through Charlotte's game against Xavier on Jan. 28, banging in just 44.0 percent of his free throws. Some of those misses were costly too: With Charlotte holding a two-point lead against East Tennessee State, Mayfield missed two free throws and the Bucs came down the floor and won the game 70-69 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

But in Charlotte's last three games, Mayfield has made 20-of-25 free throws (80.0 percent). Included in that was a 9-of-11 performance Saturday in a victory against Fordham.

One reason for Mayfield's improvement seems to be a change in his free-throw routine. He no longer dribbles before he takes his shot. He just receives the ball from the referee and shoots.

"I don't think he's done anything particularly special," said coach Alan Major. "He's just simplifying it up there. Some guys need to take a lot of dribbles. But now the ref just hands him the ball, he takes it and shoots it. It's more of a mental thing for him. Credit to the kid."

Mayfield's new-found success at the line might not be the stuff of legend, but don't tell Xavier coach Chris Mack that, not after Mayfield helped keep the 49ers in a game against his team by making 6-of-8 free throws.

"He turned into Mark Price," said Mack, referring to the NBA's career free-throw percentage leader.

-- With a week off between the Fordham game and Saturday's home game against Rhode Island, Major said practice would focus more on what the 49ers need to do early in the week, then the attention will turn to the Rams later.

"We've been going so long with play, prep, play, prep," said Manor. "This allows you to back to us being the only team we talk about for a few days. It'll be back to almost an Oct. 15 mentality."

-- Here's what Major said about his decision not to play senior guard Derrio Green against Fordham:

"I wouldn't say anything except that it was a game-flow decision. We played a lot of zone and it proved to be effective (Fordham shot 30.9 percent). We wanted to be as big as we could, especially up top."

49ers' Derrio Green: Odd man out in backcourt?

Looks like senior Derrio Green has become the odd man out in the Charlotte 49ers' backcourt rotation.

Green is averaging career-lows in minutes (19.6) and points (7.0) this season. But it's been the past four games that have been the most telling about where Green stands in Charlotte's guard hierarchy: He's no longer starting and didn't play against Fordham on Saturday (a 69-62 Charlotte) victory, the first time that's happened in his career.

In this four-game stretch (Temple, Xavier, La Salle, Fordham), Green is averaging 10 minutes and 2.0 points. He didn't score at La Salle on Wednesday, when he played four minutes.

These aren't numbers normally associated with Green, who led the 49ers in scoring last season (13.1) and averaged 35.4 minutes per game.

Why has Green's role diminished so much? He's not the kind of defender coach Alan Major wants and his always-suspect shooting has finally caught up with him.

Green didn't start against Temple because he violated undisclosed team rules, according to coach Alan Major. He was on the bench again against Xavier, Major said, because of his perimeter defense. Against La Salle, Major said Green played so little because "he's probably not shooting it as well as he wants to."

Major has made no secret of the fact that he values size on the perimeter. At 6-0, Green is 4 inches shorter than freshman Terrence Williams, who has taken up many of Green's minutes. And Green has never been even an adequate shooter (34.9 percent his first two years and 31.9 percent this season). Deuce Briscoe (last season's starting point guard who lost his job to freshman Pierria Henry) has started the last four games (he had 12 points against Fordham).

Green is one of those guys who's not a great shooter, but he's always been able to score. He was Charlotte's most dynamic player last season, a gutsy penetrator who found ways to help the 49ers win more than a few games (Xavier, Fordham, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Wright State and Mercer).

But this has been a different kind of season for Green. Will he play his way back into more minutes in the rotation? Time, which is running out, will tell.

 

Burlington RB signs with 49ers

Alan Barnwell, a running back from Burlington Cummings High, became the 49ers' 25th football signee today. Barnwell, 5-9, 165 pounds, was the Mid-State 2A player of the year, rushing for about 1,700 yards and 25 TDs as a senior.

49ers land 3-star recruit

The 49ers just received a letter-of-intent from offensive lineman Casey Perry, a Rivals.com 3-star recruit from Durham Hillside.

Perry, 6-3, 295 pounds, was considered about an inch short for FBS schools, according to a feature story about Perry in the (Raleigh) News & Observer last fall. He'd also been recruited heavily by Appalachian State and Western Carolina and had committed earlier to Gardner-Webb.

"It's huge," said 49ers recruiting coordinator Phil Ratliff of landing Perry. "It shows we can go against the established programs for these kids. It's hard to see how 1 inch makes much of a difference with a player like Casey."

The 49ers have signed 23 players as of 1:15 p.m. today, most recently adding Perry, Ayden-Grifton running back/defensive back Kariym Gent and West Montgomery quarterback Jaquil Capel. Capel had already committed verbally to Appalachian State.

Big morning in 49ers football offices

Charlotte 49ers head football coach Brad Lambert arrived at his office in the Barnhardt Student Activities Center at 6:50 a.m. this morning, giving him a few minutes to prepare for the rush of activity that was coming his new program's way.

Ten minutes later, the fax machine rang and the first of the 49ers' new football signees -- Will Thomas, 6-0, 165-pound slot receiver from Topsail High in Hampstead -- was sending in his letter of intent. A few seconds later, Maiden quarterback Matt Johnson became the 49ers' second official player.

That's how it's been all morning, as 20 players have officially signed with the 49ers through 11 o'clock. Lambert and the rest of his staff have been huddling in a meeting room -- a wide-screen television tuned into ESPNU's coverage of national signing day on one wall. On the other is a board with each position listed, names posted as the LOIs come in.

It's a popular place to be in the athletic department. A steady stream of people come and go, helping the coaches kill time while waiting for more commitments to come through. Breakfast was served in the hallway. The coaching staff also gets ready to watch a highlight video of their new players that will be released tomorrow

Then, one coach walks out, toward the fax machine. Another player -- this time Lakeside, Ga., linebacker Kendal Parker -- is on the line. And the big board is updated.

signing day roundup UPDATE

UPDATED 1:30 pm

The letters-of-intent are coming in fast and furiously at the 49ers football office as Charlotte's first football class is assembled. Here are the 23 players who have faxed their LOIs through 10:30 this morning:

 -- OL, Casey Perry, Durham Hillside, 6-3, 295

 -- QB/ATH, Jaquil Capel, West Montgomery, 5-11, 175

-- RB/DB, Kariym Gent, Ayden-Grifton, 5-11, 186

-- DB, Greg Cunningham, West Charlotte, 6-2, 180

-- QB,  Karsten Miller, Lexington, 6-3, 175

-- C,  Jared Barr, Monroe Sun Valley, 6-3, 285

-- WR, Austin Duke, WR, Independence, 5-8, 160

-- LB, Rick Legrant, LB, Buford, Ga., 6-0, 205

-- DB, Tank Norman, DB, Richlands, 5-11, 180

-- OL, Mason Sledge, OL, Monroe, 6-4, 250

-- WR, Jamel Ross, WR, Cary, 6-2, 215

-- OT, Jamal Covington, OT, Hampton, Ga., 6-4, 220

-- DL, James Middleton, DL, St. Stephen, S.C., 6-4, 250


-- QB Matt Johnson, Maiden, 6-3, 210

-- ATH Justin Bolus, James Island, S.C., 6-3, 205

-- LB Terry Caldwell, Wilmington Hoggard, 6-0, 200

-- OL Thomas LaBianca, Porter Ridge, 6-3, 282

-- LB Mark Pettit, Western Guilford, 6-6, 235

-- ATH Will Thomas, Hampstead Topsail, 6-0, 165

-- ATH Jalen Holt, South Stanly, 6-3, 220

-- DE Brandon Banks, Southwest Guilford, 6-3, 245

-- DT Larry Ogunjobi, Jamestown Ragsdale, 6-2, 267

-- LB Kendal Parker, Lake Park, Ga., 6-1, 215