Another Charlotte 49ers coaching update

Late Monday night, Charlotte 49ers officials contacted Xavier associate head coach and former Wake Forest assistant Pat Kelsey about their head coaching position, Kelsey confirmed through a third party on Tuesday.

As recently as Monday afternoon, Kelsey had maintained he had not had contact with anyone from Charlotte.

Before joining head coach Chris Mack's staff at Xavier this season Kelsey spent five seasons as assistant coach at Wake Forest.

The Musketeers finished the season 26-9, winning their fourth straight Atlantic 10 regular season championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before losing in double overtime to Kansas State.

Update on Charlotte 49ers coaching search

One new candidate has emerged while another seems more and more unlikely as the search for a new men's basketball coach for the Charlotte 49ers moves into its third week.

Xavier associate head coach and former Wake Forest assistant Pat Kelsey confirmed Monday through a third party that he has not been contacted by the 49ers regarding their coaching vacancy. Xavier's season is over so presumably if Charlotte were going to contact Kelsey they would have done so already.

However, a source close to Syracuse's primary basketball booster organization, The Hardwood Club, said Monday night the 49ers have contacted Orange assistant coach Mike Hopkins about Charlotte's head coaching job.

Syracuse athletic department officials did not immediately return a request for comment on Sunday.

Hopkins just completed his 15th season as an assistant to longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim after finishing his playing career with the Orange in 1993. He came to Syracuse from Mater Dei High in Los Angeles and had a brief professional career in the CBA and in Europe before pursuing coaching.

Peterson: No contact from Charlotte 49ers

Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson, whose team ended its season Thursday night with a loss to Pacific in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com tournament, confirmed Saturday he had not been contacted by the Charlotte 49ers regarding their coaching vacancy.

In a brief interview with the Observer on Saturday morning, Peterson declined to answer any specific questions about his interest in the job saying only, "I have had no contact with anyone at UNC Charlotte and I'm extremely happy to be coaching at Appalachian State."

Peterson, 46, is in his second stint as coach of the Mountaineers. ASU finished 24-13 this season and Peterson compiled a 79-39 record in his first tenure as coach. His overall college coaching record is 225-147.

Peterson has also coached at Tennessee, Tulsa, Coastal Carolina and before returning to Appalachian State, he served as director of player personnel for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. Peterson and his family continue to live in Charlotte.

Still in the mix as possible 49ers coaches are former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried; former Wyoming and Clemson coach Larry Shyatt, who is now associate head coach at Florida; Kansas assistant and former East Carolina coach Joe Dooley; Xavier associate head coach Pat Kelsey; and former Wake Forest and South Carolina coach Dave Odom.

Two more 49ers athletes earn honors

-For the second year in a row, Charlotte's Darius Law was named the Atlantic 10 Conference's Indoor Men's Student-Athlete of the Year. Law has won the award three times as he was named to the same honor last season for the indoor and outdoor season.

The Raleigh native owns a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in Business Management, currently serves as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and is the first Charlotte athlete to be selected as the A-10 representative for the National SAAC.

-Senior catcher Zane Williams was named to the College Baseball 360.com Primetime Performers List for his efforts in Charlotte's 4-1 week.

Williams drove in a game-high four RBI in Charlotte's home win over No. 11 Clemson last Tuesday. He cleared the bases with a three-RBI double down the third base line in the eighth inning as the Niners held on to beat the nationally-ranked Tigers.

He homered twice in Friday night's game against Harvard for five more RBI, drawing two walks and scoring three runs in a 15-3 rout of the Crimson.

49ers baseball opens Atlantic-10 play

The Charlotte 49ers baseball team opens Atlantic 10 Conference play with a three-game series this weekend against St. Bonaventure at Hayes Stadium. The 49ers (12-5) will face the Bonnies at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

The first 500 fans through the gates on Friday will receive a Nike/Charlotte replica jersey T-shirt. Freshman right-hander Corey Roberts (2-1, 3.38 ERA) will start for Charlotte with senior Dennis Sherba (0-2, 9.64 ERA) on the mound for the Bonnies.

This season, Charlotte is averaging 9.9 runs per game at home this year, allowing 6.5 runs at home this season. The Niners have scored a double-digit run total in nine of the 17 games this season, and 24 of the team's previous 51 contests.

Notes: Charlotte has trailed in all but one game this season, but has not lost when leading or tied after four innings. ... Junior Justin Wilson is the team's hottest hitter, with a team-best nine-game active hitting streak and nine RBI in that span. ... Charlotte's bullpen has seven of the team's 12 wins.

Updates on Charlotte 49ers coaching search

Some updates Wednesday in the Charlotte 49ers' search for a new men's basketball coach:

-Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director for external relations at Kansas, declined to answer whether Charlotte has sought permission to speak with Kansas associate head coach Joe Dooley, about the 49ers' job. Marchinoy said it is KU's policy to leave the public answer to that question to the school seeking permission. Charlotte athletics director Judy Rose has said she will make no public comments regarding the hiring process.

-Mark Gottfried, former coach at Murray State and Alabama and now an ESPN analyst, has spoken to Charlotte officials about the 49ers' coaching vacancy, a source said Wednesday. Through an ESPN spokesperson, Gottfried declined to comment when asked if he had interviewed for the job. Gottfried was 210-132 at Alabama, including five consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.

-As of Wednesday, Charlotte officials have not sought permission to speak with Xavier associate head coach Pat Kelsey about the job, a source close to the Musketeers program confirmed. However, Xavier is still playing in the NCAA tournament.

-Charlotte officials have also not sought permission to speak with Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson, ASU confirmed. However, like Kelsey, Peterson's school is still playing, hosting Pacific in the CollegeInsider.com tournament on Thursday.

Four Charlotte athletes claim A-10 honors

Led by Atlantic 10 Players of the Week Olafur Loftsson of men's golf and Andrea Rivera of women's tennis, the Charlotte 49ers took home four A-10 weekly honors for their perfomances this past week.

Loftsson won the Rio Pinar Invitational by two strokes to claim his first A-10 Player of the Week Award. Rivera went 3-0 on the week, including a pair of wins at the No. 1 flight, to capture her first-ever A-10 honor.

Freshman Andy Sajevic, who placed 12th at Rio Pinar to help the 49ers to a second-place finish, won his fourth A-10 Rookie of the Week honor to complete the sweep of awards by the 49ers golf program.

Men's track and field star Tadarrin Phronebarger, the A-10's Most Outstanding Rookie Performer of the indoor season, posted the third-fastest time in school history in the 800 meters to be named the A-10's Outdoor Track and Field Rookie of the Week.