CHARLOTTE 121 152 Charlotte SAGARIN t the Final Four in 1977, Marquette’s Al McGuire SEASON REVIEW A stopped UNC Charlotte coach, Lee Rose, before SEAS. W-L CONF. SCORING COACH RECORD their national semifinal match and said, “There are 1965-66 6-17 Harvey Murphy 1966-67 7-21 Harvey Murphy a hundred [not very prominent state] schools in the 1967-68 5-17 Jerry Anthony 13.7 Harvey Murphy country with names like yours and I can beat them all. 1968-69 12-10 Ben Basinger 16.5 Harvey Murphy But I’m not sure I can beat yours.” Marquette did win 1969-70 14-16 Norris Dae 15.8 Harvey Murphy 44-81 .352 by two points on the way to a national title, but a tal- 1970-71 15-8 Norris Dae 13.9 Bill Foster 1971-72 14-11 Robert Earl Blue 21.6 Bill Foster ented 49ers cast helped turn Charlotte into a pillar of 1972-73 14-12 Robert Earl Blue 20.8 Bill Foster the mid-major ranks. UNCC has gone to eight NCAA 1973-74 22-4 Robert Earl Blue 17.5 Bill Foster Tournaments and four NITs since 1994. 1974-75 23-3 George Jackson 24.5 Bill Foster 88-38 .698 1975-76 24-6 ■ Lew Massey 22.5 Lee Rose BEST TEAM: 1976-77 1976-77 28-5 5-1 ● Cedric Maxwell 22.2 Lee Rose Coming off a trip to the NIT final 1977-78 20-7 9-1 Lew Massey 21.8 Lee Rose 72-18 .800 in 1976, Rose decided to ditch the team’s helter-skelter 1978-79 16-11 6-4 Chad Kinch 20.6 Mike Pratt style for a more controlled pace that suited star Cedric 1979-80 15-12 9-5 Chad Kinch 18.9 Mike Pratt “Cornbread” Maxwell, point guard Melvin Watkins 1980-81 10-17 3-9 Phil Ward 14.3 Mike Pratt 1981-82 15-12 3-7 Bobby Potts 20.9 Mike Pratt 56-52 .519 & Co. It worked. The 49ers out-zoned No. 6-ranked 1982-83 8-20 5-9 Melvin Johnson 16.3 Hal Wissel Syracuse in the NCAA regional semis, then took out one 1983-84 9-19 2-12 Melvin Johnson 19.6 Hal Wissel of the tournament’s favorites, Michigan, to reach the 1984-85 5-23 1-13 Clinton Hinton 16.8 Hal Wissel 22-62 .262 Final Four, before losing to Marquette. 1985-86 8-20 1-13 Michael Milling 19.6 Jeff Mullins 1986-87 18-14 6-8 Byron Dinkins 13.5 Jeff Mullins 1987-88 22-9 11-3 ● Byron Dinkins 21.5 Jeff Mullins BEST PLAYER: C CEDRIC “CORNBREAD” MAXWELL 1988-89 17-12 10-4 ■ Byron Dinkins 17.6 Jeff Mullins (1973-77) Overlooked by the big schools because he 1989-90 16-14 6-8 Henry Williams 21.0 Jeff Mullins played just one season of high school ball, four years later 1990-91 14-14 6-8 Henry Williams 21.6 Jeff Mullins 1991-92 23-9 7-5 ● Henry Williams 20.8 Jeff Mullins Maxwell was the nation’s best pound-for-pound talent 1992-93 15-13 6-6 Jarvis Lang 13.7 Jeff Mullins according to Coach Rose. He could play every position 1993-94 16-13 7-5 ■ Jarvis Lang 16.4 Jeff Mullins THE SCHOOLS and graduated as the school’s all-time leader with 1,824 1994-95 19-9 8-4 ● Jarvis Lang 16.4 Jeff Mullins points (since surpassed) and 1,117 rebounds. 1995-96 14-15 ! 6-8 DeMarco Johnson 18.1 Jeff Mullins 182-142 .562] 1996-97 22-9 10-4 ● DeMarco Johnson 18.8 Melvin Watkins 1997-98 20-11 13-3 ● DeMarco Johnson 21.1 Melvin Watkins 42-20 .677 BEST COACH: LEE ROSE (1975-78) Adolph Rupp called 1998-99 23-11 10-6 ● Galen Young 14.7 Bobby Lutz on Rose’s behalf to help him land the UNCC job—and 1999-2000 17-16 7-9 ■ Jobey Thomas 13.9 Bobby Lutz the 49ers were lucky he did. Charlotte notched 20 wins 2000-01 22-11 10-6 ● Rodney White 18.7 Bobby Lutz 2001-02 18-12 11-5 ● Jobey Thomas 18.5 Bobby Lutz in every one of his three seasons and reached the NCAA 2002-03 13-16 8-8 Demon Brown 16.8 Bobby Lutz Final Four and the NIT championship match. 2003-04 21-9 12-4 ● Curtis Withers 16.3 Bobby Lutz 2004-05 21-8 12-4 ● Curtis Withers 18.0 Bobby Lutz GAME FOR THE AGES: Early in the first half of Char- 2005-06 19-13 11-5 ■ De’Angelo Alexander 17.0 Bobby Lutz 2006-07 14-16 7-9 De’Angelo Alexander 17.6 Bobby Lutz lotte’s 1977 Elite Eight contest with the top-ranked 2007-08 20-14 9-7 ■ Leemire Goldwire 18.6 Bobby Lutz Wolverines, freshman Chad Kinch drove baseline and 2008-09 11-20 5-12 Lamont Mack 15.2 Bobby Lutz 199-146 .577 dunked over All-America Phil Hubbard. Michigan was ! Records do not reflect games forfeited or vacated. For adjusted records, see p. 521. slow to recover, and the Niners won, 75-68. ] Coach’s record adjusted to reflect games forfeited or vacated: 183-141, .565. For yearly totals, see p. 521. ● NCAA Tournament appearance ■ NIT appearance FIERCEST RIVAL: Charlotte and Davidson have played every year between 1979 and 2008 (though scheduling issues didn’t allow a game in ’09). The winner takes home the Hornet’s Nest Trophy. Charlotte leads 26–10. PROFILE Conference titles: FIRST-ROUND PRO PICKS Sun Belt: 3 (1977, ’78 ‘88) University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 1977 Cedric Maxwell, Boston (12) Metro: 1 (1995) Founded: 1946 1980 Chad Kinch, Cleveland (22) Conference USA: 1 (2004 [tie]) Enrollment: 19,846 (15,875 undergraduate) 2001 Rodney White, Detroit (9) Colors: Green and white Conference tournament titles: Sun Belt: 2 (1977, ’88) Nickname: 49ers TOP 5 Metro: 1 (1992) Current arena: Halton Arena, opened in 1996 (9,105) Conference USA: 2 (1999, 2001) G Melvin Watkins (1973-77) First game: Nov. 26, 1965 11 G Henry Williams (1988-92) All-time record: 705-559 (.558) NCAA Tournament appearances: Sweet 16s (since 1975): 1 F DeMarco Johnson (1994-98) Total weeks in AP Top 20/25: 23 Final Fours: 1 F Jarvis Lang (1990-91, ’92-95) Current conference: Atlantic 10 (2005- ) NIT appearances: 6 C Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell (1973-77) Semifinals: 1 RECORDS GAME SEASON CAREER POINTS 44 George Jackson, vs. Samford (Feb. 8, 1975) 690 Cedric Maxwell (1976-77) 2,383 Henry Williams (1988-92) POINTS PER GAME 24.5 George Jackson (1974-75) 20.4 George Jackson (1973-75) REBOUNDS 24 Cedric Maxwell, vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 19, 1977); 417 Norris Dae (1969-70) 1,117 Cedric Maxwell (1973-77) Ben Basinger, vs. Florida Presbyterian (Dec. 3, 1970) ASSISTS 18 Sean Colson, vs. Houston (Feb. 28, 1998) 231 Sean Colson (1997-98) 515 Keith Williams (1983-87).