Charlotte 49ers basketball coach Mark Price sees encouraging signs with new team
After just five days of practice, Charlotte coach Mark Price already likes what he sees from his 49ers basketball team.
Yet after Wednesday night’s Green-Gold scrimmage at Halton Arena, Price said there is room for improvement.
“As you could see, we still have a ways to go,” Price said. “But I like the energy. I like the way our guys play, the toughness that we have on our team, and they play hard every possession. That’s what we want.”
While Charlotte’s returnees were the stars of the show during the scrimmage, won by the Green team 44-33, some of the newcomers showed they could become major contributors this season.
Guard Braxton Ogbueze, one of three seniors on Charlotte’s roster, scored 12 points to lead the White squad, including three 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Jon Davis, one of three returning starters, had nine points, five rebounds and five assists for the Green, and senior forward Anthony Vanhook had a team-best 11 points.
“Day by day, the chemistry’s getting better,” Ogbueze said. “I like all the new guys. They’re all making a great impact.
“When you’ve got a deep team, you don’t have to rely on five or six guys. You can rotate guys in and out, and not have a dropoff. That’s what we’ve got with this team. I love it.”
Among the newcomers, freshman forward Najee Garvin added nine points (including a 3-pointer), and freshman guard Quentin Jackson had four points and a game-high six assists for the White team. For the Green team, junior forward J.C. Washington, a junior-college transfer, had 10 points, and Clemson transfer Austin Ajukwa, who won’t be eligible to play until after the fall semester, had seven points.
“We’re starting to get a lot more comfortable with the new guys,” Davis said. “We have a lot of depth, and it’s not just shadow depth – it’s good depth. We have a lot of good pieces off the bench. We’re going to look really good this year.”
Worth mentioning
▪ Two players couldn’t take part in the scrimmage because of injuries. Sophomore guard Andrien White is still recovering from a broken bone in his left foot, suffered during Charlotte’s Canadian exhibition tour in August. Meanwhile, 7-foot-1 freshman center Lukas Bergang of Sweden sat out to recover from concussion symptoms after falling in practice this week.
▪ With Price roaming the sideline (and often yelling instructions) between both benches, Charlotte assistant coach Houston Fancher, who spent nine years as Appalachian State’s head coach, led the Green squad; assistant Andre Gray coached the White squad.
▪ Charlotte will open its season Nov. 11 against Newberry at Halton Arena.
This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers basketball coach Mark Price sees encouraging signs with new team."