Charlotte rings up another win

The Charlotte 49ers used a stifling defense and torrid offense in defeating York University 123-59 Sunday in the second stop of their three-day, three-game exhibition tour of Canada.
Charlotte led 58-27 and never let up in defeating York, which had lost by 21 to N.C. State on Saturday. All 11 49ers players who saw action scored.
Freshman shooting guard Shamarr Bowden topped Charlotte with 21 points in 20 minutes. He was 8-of-9 shooting, including five 3-pointers.
Five other Charlotte players finished in double figures with sophomore An’Juan Wilderness scoring 19; Michael Gerrity had 15 points and four assists; Charlie Coley had 13 points; Javarris Barnett had 13 points and eight rebounds; and center Phil Jones finished with12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
“You play hard and good things happen,” Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. “Our defense intensity was really good and disruptive.
“It was great for all the guys to get some playing time. I was very pleased with our aggressiveness and unselfishness.”
The 49ers will close their Canadian tour with an 11 a.m. game Monday at Sheridan College.

49ers' Canada trip begins with win

The Charlotte 49ers got off to a strong start on their three-game swing through Canada with a convincing 88-59 victory Saturday against the University of Toronto.
Senior forward Charlie Coley led the way for the 49ers, finishing with 15 points with 7-of-13 shooting. He also had six rebounds and three dunks.
Freshman shooting guard Shamarr Bowden had 13 points and sophomore Charles Dewhurst finished with a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds.
In all, 10 of the 11 Charlotte players who saw time scored. Junior DiJuan Harris started at the point and had nine points, seven assists, seven steals and just one turnover.
“I’m extremely proud of our effort, energy and unselfishness. Our execution overall was pretty good,” 49ers coach Bobby Lutz said. “We have some room to improve but with the fast pace of the game and to have only nine turnovers – that’s pretty good.”
The 49ers will return to action Sunday with a game at 7 p.m. at York University in Ontario, Canada.

Rally planned to show support for football

Charlotte 49ers students and organizers of the Charlotte Football Initiative are planning a show of support for the addition of a football program.

The rally, dubbed "March to the Endzone," will begin at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Belk Tower on campus where students and alumni are encouraged to gather. The rally is set to conclude with the delivery of a mock goalpost to Bissell House, the residence of Chancellor Dr. Philip Dubois.

On Sept. 18, Dubois is set to present his research and recommendation to the school's board of trustees on whether it should add a Division I football program in the future.

Charlotte's pep-band, the Golddusters dance team and cheerleaders are all expected to participate, organizers say.

49ers-Wildcats game in doubt - again?

The back-and-forth, on-and-off drama surrounding this season's men's basketball game between the Davidson Wildcats and Charlotte 49ers took another bizarre turn on Thursday, once again throwing the 29-year history of the rivalry between the two Mecklenburg County Division I schools in doubt.

Chattanooga, one of Davidson's fellow members in the Southern Conference, released its 2008-09 schedule on Thursday, which includes a Dec. 13 matchup with the Wildcats at Davidson's Belk Arena.

However, that's the date Davidson and Charlotte officials agreed to play when the future of the game was first put in doubt earlier this month.

At that time, Davidson athletics director Jim Murphy said the Wildcats would need to reschedule their game with Chattanooga, but also said that would not be problem. Charlotte rescheduled its game with Winthrop, originally planned for Dec. 13, and moved it to Jan. 31.

Murphy did not return calls or e-mails for comment on Thursday.

The new twist left Charlotte athletics director Judy Rose frustrated.

“We did everything Davidson asked us to do to make the Dec. 13 game work because they assured us it would work,” she said. “We would never have asked Winthrop to change a previously contracted date unless we were certain this game was going to happen.

“Now we're told that Dec. 13 won't work. It seems to me nothing we did was good enough for Davidson to get this game done.”

Jim Horten, a team spokesman for Chattanooga, said the Mocs offered Davidson “three or four” new game dates, but none worked for the Wildcats. Horten said the team then proceeded with its schedule as is.

Horten also said Dec. 13 was not the original date of Chattanooga's visit to Davidson. The Wildcats asked for a date change earlier this year to accommodate another game, but Horten did not know which game it was.

Horten said Chattanooga was in no additional discussions with Davidson regarding their game. Charlotte has released its 2008-09 schedule, which includes the Dec. 13 game at Davidson.

Davidson has not released its schedule.

49ers' golf team ranked 13th in preseason poll

The Charlotte 49ers' men's golf team is ranked 13th in the country in the preseason Golf World/Nike Golf Division I coaches' poll, which will appear in the Aug. 29 issue of Golf World Magazine.

In addition, two Charlotte players - Corey Nagy and Stefan Wiedergruen - were named to the magazine's Top 50 "Players to Watch" for the 2008-09 season.

The 49ers finished tied for eighth at the 2008 NCAA Championship, their second consecutive top-10 finish. Charlotte has won three consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference championships and made four consecutive NCAA appearances.

"I think anytime the coaches take a look at how you've done the previous year and tip their cap, so to speak, as a top 25 golf program, our players and coaches should be proud of that," said Charlotte coach Jamie Green.

"Our goal is to play our best every time out and to improve at every turn so that ultimately we want to be playing our best at the end of the year. That's the ranking that counts most."

GOLF WORLD/NIKE GOLF COACHES' POLL

Men's Division I - Preseason

RANK, TEAM, FIRST PLACE VOTES
1. UCLA (11)
2. Oklahoma St. (4)
3. Georgia (6)
4. Southern Cal. (5)
5. Stanford
6. Clemson
7. Florida
8. Alabama
9. Texas A&M
10. Georgia Tech
11. Florida St.
12. Arizona St.
13. Charlotte
14. Duke
15. Tennessee
16. Auburn
17. Kent St.
18. East Tennessee St.
19. South Carolina
20. Wake Forest
(T) Indiana
22. UNLV
23. San Diego St.
24. Texas
25. North Carolina

Top 100 baskeball prospect to visit 49ers

Chris Braswell, one of the nation's top high school power forwards, is planning a visit with the Charlotte 49ers on Oct. 23 - the day of the school's annual "Basketball Madness" event to kick off the 2008-09 season.

Braswell, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward who attends Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., is ranked the 78th best player in the country among high school seniors and the 22nd-best power forward by recruiting Web site Rivals.com. He has also been named an ESPN 100 college prospect.

Last season, Braswell made a commitment to Georgetown, but after deciding to spend another season in prep school the Baltimore native re-opened his recruiting in June.

Braswell also has considered Virginia Tech, Xavier, Virginia, Indiana and Oklahoma.

Last season, Braswell helped Hargrave to a 29-0 season and national championship. He had 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in Hargave's win against Findlay College Prep (Nev.) in the National Prep Invitational championship game at Fordham.

W. Rowan's Sherrill visits Charlotte 49ers

K.J. Sherrill, ranked among the top high school seniors in North Carolina, made an unofficial visit to the Charlotte 49ers on Monday and said he was "very, very close" to making a decision on where he will play in college.

Sherrill, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward, who plays at West Rowan High, said the 49ers are at the top of his list. He is also being recruited by Georgia and Auburn.

"I like the coaches. I really like the players and I think I would fit in real well here," said Sherrill, who was named N.C. 3A first-team all-state last season by the Associated Press. "It's not too far from home but then again I would still be away from home.

"I like the way they play here. This team is very unselfish and that's what I like."

Sherrill was named second-team All-Observer as a junior and first-team all-Piedmont while averaging more than 19 points a game. He was recently named by basketball recruiting analyst David Telep as a "breakout player."

Sherrill is a cousin of Scooter Sherrill, a former star at West Rowan who played college basketball at N.C. State.