Breaking records and starting anew: Relive our Top 10 Charlotte sports moments in 2024
The sports year of 2024 was a consequential one in Charlotte.
It wasn’t necessarily as juiced as 2023 was, what with the news the city’s GOATs made and the grief that came with the deaths of Jerry Richardson and Anton Walkes. But 2024 was undeniable nonetheless.
The Charlotte Hornets started anew with a fresh coaching staff and front office. The Carolina Panthers did, too. A local racetrack announced that it was getting its NASCAR nod after a long, long wait. Charlotte-area high school athletes did what no one else had done before. Johnson C. Smith had a delightful, inspiring, deserved season in the sun.
The Observer’s sports department voted on the city of Charlotte’s most impactful sports moments of 2024. Relive it all here. The moments are listed in chronological order — not by order of agreed prominence — but feel free to share your rankings with us via email at sports@charlotteobserver.com, or in the comments.
Without any further ado …
Dave Canales and Dan Morgan usher in another new era of Carolina Panthers
For the second time in as many seasons, the Carolina Panthers started anew in January. A new general manager in Dan Morgan. A new head coach in Dave Canales. The first day of February marked each of their introductory news conferences. It had the frills that made such a day special and the customary promises that spin the sports world ‘round. And though the season has had its lows — the most public of which came when Bryce Young was benched after Week 2 — it has also has had its fair share of highs. Possibility, as Canales likes to say, is out there for the Panthers to seize.
Date: Feb. 1
Steve Clifford resigns, paving way for Charles Lee and a new Charlotte Hornets team
The end of Steve Clifford’s second tenure as the Charlotte Hornets’ head coach came at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, officially. But everything got started in April, when Clifford announced he’d be moving into an advisory role in the front office. Clifford, then 62, cited “a certain energy level that you need to have to coach effectively in this league” as his primary reason for stepping aside. His resignation paved the way for Charles Lee — who took the head coaching mantle after winning an NBA championship as an assistant with the Boston Celtics — and a new generation of Hornets, who are struggling in the wins column but remain exciting to watch when fully healthy. Lee’s hiring came in the first year of leadership of executive vice president Jeff Peterson and the first year of ownership from Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.
Date: April 3 (Clifford’s resignation)
Charlotte’s own Drake Maye drafted by Patriots
He had the family name. The Charlotte-area roots. The North Carolina Tar Heel pedigree. Then the quarterback was taken by the New England Patriots with the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft — the most anticipated draft selection from Charlotte since Daniel Jones was selected by the New York Giants with the sixth overall pick in 2019. Relive all of Maye’s pre-draft hype in the pages of the Observer: from his impressive UNC Pro Day, to the uncoverings of his high school basketball prowess, to draft day itself. Maye is now 2-9 as a starter in the NFL, but let a Patriots fan tell you: He is an engine of belief.
Date: April 25
Julius Peppers is inducted into the Hall of Fame
Julius Peppers became the first player drafted by the Carolina Panthers to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in early August on a sweltering day in Canton, Ohio. He read a speech from the heart that shouted out Tar Heel great Michael Jordan, thanked his coaches and teammates and bestowed wisdom on an approaching generation: “Everyone can’t play in the NFL. And everyone can’t have a bust in Canton. But everyone can be a Hall of Famer in your own life.” Read the speech in its entirety here. Also check out other dispatches from Canton, an oral history on the man “God gave everything to,” an exclusive one-on-one with Peppers and more.
Date: Aug. 3
Anna Cockrell wins silver medal at Paris Olympics
Three was plenty of Charlotte representation in the Paris Olympics this year. Perhaps none was more notable than that of Anna Cockrell, who won the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter hurdles — clocking a 51.87, a personal best, to take her first trip to the podium. The Providence Day alum visited her old stomping grounds in October to share the moment with the whole school and to inspire another generation of kids.
Date: Aug. 8
Carolina Ascent begins inaugural season
Charlotte’s newest professional sports team and the lone professional women’s team in town began its inaugural USL Super League season in August. The team is coached by Phillip Poole and powered by some of the most promising players in the game, of all ages and stories. Carolina Ascent has had a solid first season so far — five wins, six draws and three losses as of Sunday — with their final home match set for May 17 at 7 p.m.
Date: Aug. 17
Rockingham Speedway is set to return to NASCAR
In late August, NASCAR announced that Rockingham Speedway — the facility that long stood as a source of joy for the state of North Carolina and as a rite of passage for the sport of racing — is back on its schedule. The south-central N.C. track will host an Xfinity Series race, a Truck Series race and an ARCA race in April. The news marked a triumphant day for the racetrack, which was largely left in abandoned disrepair after the Cup Series left in 2004 and didn’t return. N.C.’s “golden triangle of racing,” as Rockingham Speedway owner Dan Lovenheim likes to say, is back.
Date: Aug. 30
Charlotte FC makes deepest run in playoffs in club history
The wonder that was Charlotte FC’s third season hit a peak in its season finale against DC United, when the plucky visiting squad triumphed 3-0 and locked in its positioning as the 5 seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The seeding meant that the club would make it to the first round — already the furthest the team had gone, as the team’s first trip to the playoffs last year only yielded a wild-card loss. Charlotte FC fell to Orlando City SC in a devastating best-of-three series ultimately decided by penalty kicks in a win-or-go-home finale, but don’t let the playoff exit distract you from the real progress shown by the club. (And don’t let coach Dean Smith leave too soon, either. Same goes for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina!)
Date: Nov. 9 (end of Charlotte FC season)
Johnson C. Smith has historic football season
The Johnson C. Smith football program started 8-0 for the first time in school history this season. The Golden Bulls were led by a Charlotte-area quarterback in Darius Ocean and a Charlotte-area inspiration in Quavaris Crouch, whose journey from North Carolina to Tennessee to Michigan State and then back home reflected the grittiness of the JCSU team. The team lost its final two contests — ultimately knocking the group out of a berth in the CIAA championship (for which it last qualified in 1972) — but head coach Maurice Flowers couldn’t hide how happy he was for his players after the team’s regular-season finale: “I’m so proud of what we have done in such a short time with the program.”
Date: Nov. 9 (end of JCSU season)
Biff Poggi, the Charlotte 49ers’ grand experiment, sees his tenure end
College football in North Carolina experienced unprecedented turnover in 2024. The biggest news, for Charlotte-area purposes, revolved around the firing of Biff Poggi — the out-of-the-box hire in 2022 who made promises of NIL wealth and recruitment and victory the program never quite lived up to. Still, it was a fun ride. Poggi’s replacement came in the form of Ohio coach Tim Albin in December. It’s worth noting that Poggi’s end wasn’t the only one of note in North Carolina: The Tar Heels fired Mack Brown and hired Bill Belichick to replace him. ECU, App State, Wake Forest and Davidson all hired new head coaches, too. (The year of 2024 has been weird, y’all.)
Date: Nov. 19 (Poggi’s firing)
Honorable mentions
▪ Stewart-Haas Racing shut down for good at the conclusion of the 2024 season, closing the doors on a NASCAR championship race team co-owned by legendary racer Tony Stewart.
▪ Mary Bonner Dalton, one of the best long-distance high school runners in America who calls Charlotte home, wrapped up a legendary running career and started a new one at Notre Dame in 2024. Some of the former Myers Park runner’s accolades: Four national championships, seven state championships (in cross-country and track), eight All-America honors.
▪ Jimmie Johnson was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January. He was voted in a year ago. His selection wasn’t unanimous, somehow, but his candidacy was undeniable. Others inducted into the NASCAR Hall in 2024: Donnie Allison and Chad Knaus.
▪ Central Cabarrus boys basketball won a second consecutive high school state championship and won its 65th straight game in March. The Observer did a story on the team’s 50th consecutive win and labeled the team “a juggernaut.” That, in retrospect, feels like an understatement.
▪ Three area schools won football state titles — Northwestern, West Charlotte and Monroe high schools. Northwestern, the Rock Hill-based team that over the years helped deliver the town’s “Football City USA” moniker, went undefeated en route to its final destination. In North Carolina, West Charlotte won the 3A title. Fun fact: The victory made head coach Sam Greiner the first Charlotte-Mecklenburg football coach in 24 years to win state championships at two different schools. Like Northwestern, Monroe finished its season undefeated, winning the N.C. 2A title.
▪ Kemba Walker, one of the most beloved Charlotte Hornets of all time, retired this summer and took a job as an assistant coach with the team. Our columnist Scott Fowler took the opportunity to advocate for him — and two other Hornets legends — to have his jersey retired.
▪ Panthers training camp officially moved to Charlotte this summer after decades spent on the campus of Wofford College in Spartanburg.
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
