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It was easy to sense the excitement at the start of the Charlotte 49ers' Basketball Madness activities on Thursday night. Once the gates were lifted so fans could enter Halton Arena, it took exactly three minutes for the lower bowl of the arena – which seats about 2,600 – to fill. It didn't hurt that most of those seats also came with a free T-shirt.
The evening began with an introduction video on the overhead scoreboard of mascot Norm the Niner enticing players Lamont Mack and Traci Ray into a limo for a ride to the arena.
About 10 minutes later, the introductions of the women's and men's basketball teams started. Freshman Shamarr Bowden, who had knee surgery on Tuesday, was the first men's player introduced and walked out without assistance, even tossing a T-shirt to the crowd.
Some of the loudest cheers were reserved for junior guard DiJuan Harris, who made his entrance sporting a Charlotte 49ers football helmet. The school's board of trustees vote next month on the chancellor's recommendation to add a football team by the 2013 season.
Both women's coach Karen Aston and men's coach Bobby Lutz thanked the crowd for their support. The two teams combined for 25 home wins last season.
Said Aston, “You truly are the best fans in the country.” Lutz said the same crowd support and more will be needed again with a tough schedule, including Clemson, which Lutz called “the first ACC team to ever dare to enter Halton Arena.”
The 3-point shootout went to double-overtime with 49ers student Yvette Wyatt finally besting Mack.
Charlie Coley once again manhandled the dunk contest – dunking over Harris sitting on an aerobic bike, then a dunk over 6-foot-10 teammate Phil Jones followed by a two-handed slam coming from a bounce pass from the crowd.
There were plenty of men's basketball recruits on hand for Thursday night's activities. Several, including Vance High's talented trio of Jacoby Davis, Marquis Rankin, and Daryl Traynham, visited last season.
Also on hand were teammates Quddus Bello, a 6-foot-3 guard, and 6-1 point guard Ike Nwamu, both of Westchester Country Day in High Point. Both are high school sophomores, with Bello ranked among the top guard prospects nationally by several recruiting services.
Among the others making visits were 6-2 shooting guard Ian Miller of United Faith, a junior, and West Rowan senior 6-6 forward K.J. Sherrill, who recently committed to the 49ers.
Charlotte fans will notice the incorporation of the color black in much of the signage and design of the Halton Arena basketball floor – particularly on the sidelines – as well as in the outfits worn by the school's Gold Dusters dance team.
Although not an “official” color of the school, its use adds a nice dramatic contrast to the usual green and white colors and appears to be well-received by fans.
The Atlantic 10 gave final approval Thursday for Charlotte to move its home men's basketball game with Richmond from Wednesday, March 4 to Tuesday, March 3 to accommodate a live TV broadcast on CBS College Sports TV. The game time has not been set.
