CHARLOTTE 49ERS ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT Athletics Annual Report 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Athletic Director ..................................... 1 Football ............................................................................ 2 Men’s & Women’s Basketball .......................................... 3 Men’s & Women’s Soccer ................................................ 4 Men’s & Women’s Golf .................................................... 5 Baseball & Softball .......................................................... 6 Men’s & Women’s Tennis ............................................... 7 Men’s & Women’s Track & Field ...................................... 8 Men’s & Women’s Cross Country ................................... 9 Volleyball & Spirit Groups ............................................. 10 Sponsorships, Marketing & Ticketing ........................... 11 Academic Success & Community Service .................... 12 Athletic Foundation ....................................................... 13 49er Club ........................................................................ 14 Explosive Growth .......................................................... 15 Endowed Scholarships .................................................. 16 Donor Listing ................................................................. 18 Board of Directors & Staff ............................................. 25 The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is committed to equality of education opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students, or employees based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, actual or perceived gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, veteran status, or genetic information. In keeping with this commitment, UNC Charlotte actively seeks to promote diversity in its educational environment through its recruitment, enrollment, and hiring practices. 2 Charlotte 49ers LETTER FROM THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR First, let me say thank you for the tremendous We have hired several new coaches to lead our welcome all of Niner Nation has extended to my programs. Ron Sanchez signed a heralded recruiting family and me during our first full academic year. class in men’s basketball. New coach Will Healy This past season was a remarkable year. We had showed us the energy, enthusiasm and passion championship performances from our track and around which he builds his culture. Anthony field programs, saw our men’s soccer and women’s Davison led our women’s tennis team to an basketball teams advance to post-season play, had unbeaten season at home, an 11-match win streak our men’s and women’s golf programs represented and the third-highest win total in school history. by individuals at the NCAA championships and More recently, we hired rising stars Ashley Chastain witnessed some stellar performances that remind as softball coach and Robert Woodard as baseball us why we love college athletics so much. coach and named Ragean Hill as our Executive I enjoyed watching our teams perform over this Associate Athletics Director. Through each hiring past year and have been impressed at every process, the potential and buzz about our program turn with the talent and character of our student- came through loud and clear. That energy is athletes. I loved being a part of their triumphs and powered by the passion and pride of Niner Nation. being able to celebrate alongside them. And I, like Your support is critical to the growth of our program. you, look forward to many more celebrations in the Thank you for all you do for our university, our coming year. teams and our student-athletes. At the same time, we have been busy building our program for the future. We have been working on Sincerely, our 10-year athletics facility master plan and our brand assessment while constantly evaluating our fans’ game-day experience. We’ve been intentional about reaching out to young alums, using social media to attract new fans and listening to the comments of our fan base. Mike Hill Director of Athletics Charlotte 49ers Athletics Annual Report 1 FOOTBALL HEAD COACH BRAD LAMBERT • Set school record for most wins at the FBS • Linebacker Juwan Foggie had a school- level (5) and most wins in Conference USA record six interceptions, including two that play (4). he returned for touchdowns. • First team all-C-USA defensive end Alex • Season concluded with freshman Jonathan Highsmith broke Larry Ogunjobi’s school Cruz’s dramatic school-record tying 56-yard record with 17.5 tackles for loss (TFL). field goal with 25 seconds left to give the 49ers a 27-24 victory at Florida Atlantic. • Offensive lineman Nate Davis was taken It was the second longest field goal in the in the third round of the NFL Draft by the FBS in 2018. Tennessee Titans with the 82nd overall pick. • Charlotte named 2017 FCS National Coach • Running back Benny LeMay became the of the Year Will Healy head coach second 49er to rush for over 1,000 yards in in December. a season. His 1,243 rushing yards ranked second in C-USA and are the most by a 49er at the FBS level. 5-7; 4-4 in C-USA 2 Charlotte 49ers MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH RON SANCHEZ • Head coach Ron Sanchez began his tenure • Jon Davis also finished his career second with the 49ers and immediately made an all-time with 547 assists (one of only two impact on the defensive end, as Charlotte players in school history with four seasons held its opponents to 11 fewer points per of 100 or more assists). game than the previous season. • Malik Martin (9.4 ppg; 4.1 rpg) was the • Jon Davis, who was second in Conference 49ers’ second-leading scorer and topped USA in scoring with a 21.7 average, finished the team in steals. Milos Supica led the his remarkable career as the 49ers’ team with a 4.7 rebounding average while third-leading scorer and C-USA’s fourth adding 7.5 points per game. all-time scorer with 2,113 career points. • Cooper Robb was named NSCA Strength • Jon Davis was named Second-Team and Conditioning All-America for the hard NABC All-District and Second-Team work he put in at the weight room. All-Conference USA. 8-21; 5-13 in C-USA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH CARA CONSUEGRA • Returned to the postseason with a WNIT • Raventós also hit a game-winning, buzzer- berth, traveled to VCU for a First Round game. beating 3-pointer against Wright State on Education Day Dec. 18 to land on ESPN • Charlotte set a Halton Arena women’s SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays for the second attendance record with 8,249 fans for the time in her career. Education Day matchup with Wright State. • Redshirt junior Jade Phillips, who led • Senior Laia Raventós closed her career by the team in scoring and rebounding, being one of 20 on the Preseason Nancy was tabbed MVP of the Christmas City Lieberman Award Watch List (nation’s top Classic, leading the 49ers to the in-season point guard), scoring her 1,000th career tournament title. point, finishing as the school’s all-time leader in assists, assists per game and • Phillips was tabbed to the March 6 NCAA 3-point percentage as well as being named Starting Five after a career-best 32 points to the All-Conference USA Second Team and 15 rebounds in the road finale at FIU and All-Conference USA Defensive Team. March 2. 18-13; 9-7 in C-USA Athletics Annual Report 3 MEN’S SOCCER HEAD COACH KEVIN LANGAN • Nationally-ranked 49ers advanced to the • Tommy Madden was selected with the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 38th overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft by their 13th NCAA appearance. Orlando FC. This is the third time in school history that the 49ers have had two players • Callum Montgomery, a three-time picked in the SuperDraft. Academic all-America award recipient, earned first-team All-America honors and • Seven players were named All-Conference was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann USA including C-USA Defensive Player Trophy awarded to the top player in of the Year Callum Montgomery and the collegiate soccer. league’s Gold Glove Award winner Elliot Panicco. Tommy Madden was the other • Callum Montgomery was selected with the first team choice. Teddy Chaouche and fourth overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft Senior F Daniel Bruce were named second- by FC Dallas. He is the second highest pick team. RS-Freshman D Delasi Batse and in the men’s soccer program’s history. Freshman F Preston Popp were named to the All-Freshman team. 14-5-2; 6-2-0 in C-USA WOMEN’S SOCCER HEAD COACH JOHN CULLEN • Celebrated its 25th season in 2018. • All-time great Martha Thomas signed with Havre Athletic Club, continuing her career • Recognized the jersey of Whitney Weinraub on the pro level in France. (2007-10) in a ceremony Sept. 2. • Thomas was called to the USWNT U23 • John Cullen picked up victory No. 100 at his squad for three games in late March 2019, alma mater. becoming the second player in program history to wear the United States jersey for • Set a Transamerica Field women’s a national team. attendance record with 1,450 fans for the win over Akron in the program’s • Mary Manser named the recipient of the 500th match. Conference USA Fall Spirit of Service Award for the second-straight year. 8-9; 4-6 in C-USA 4 Charlotte 49ers MEN’S GOLF HEAD COACH RYAN CABBAGE • John Gough qualifies for NCAA Athens • John Gough and Marc Boucher became Regional after leading the team with a third and fourth members of the 72.54 stroke average. Hole-in-One Club after acing the same hole (on different days) at the Shoal • In the league’s top four after-stroke play, the Creek Invitational. 49ers qualified for Match Play in the C-USA Tournament for third-straight year. • Niners earned four top-five finishes with team-best third-place finish coming at • John Gough named to C-USA’s C-USA Championship. All-Tournament team. • John Gough was named First Team All-Conference USA and Ben Woodruff was a C-USA All-Freshman selection. WOMEN’S GOLF HEAD COACH HOLLY CLARK • In its second season, finished second at • Had the first four C-USA Golfers of the the Conference USA Championships and Week in history: Finne-Ipsen and Farrell was the first team left out of the (October 24th), Ellinor Sudow (March 20th), NCAA Tournament.