How young will the Charlotte 49ers be? Here’s a look at their starting lineup
The Charlotte 49ers will be among the youngest teams in the country this college basketball season.
Look no further than first-year coach Ron Sanchez’s initial starting lineup as evidence of that.
Sanchez said Thursday that as many as three true freshmen will be among the starters Tuesday when the 49ers open their season against Chattanooga at Halton Arena.
Joining senior point guard Jon Davis and senior center Jailan Haslem will likely be 6-foot-6 freshman guard Malik Martin, 6-9 freshman forward Dravon Mangum and 6-7 guard Brandon Younger. There’s a chance another freshman guard - 6-1 Cooper Robb - might also start.
“It depends on who defends the best, who values the basketball and who understands and executes our game plan,” Sanchez said of his decision on who will start. “And whether that continues in practice.”
With a 10-player roster (reduced in numbers when Sanchez threw two players off the team in October), the rotation will be short. That means that while sophomore forward Milos Supica - who started seven games last season - won’t be in the starting lineup this season (at least for now), he’ll get plenty of playing time.
“We’re older at some positions and we’re younger at others,” said Sanchez, a former assistant at Virginia who was hired to turn around a program that went 6-23 last season. “We’re older in maturity in one or two guys and very young everywhere else. But at the end of it, we’re all new. Even though we have some more experience than others at the same stage, they’re all pretty much the same.”
49ers notes
▪ Charlotte’s season begins with four consecutive home games (Chattanooga on Nov. 6, followed by games against Oklahoma State, James Madison and Longwood). Sanchez said the overall non-conference schedule, which also includes games at Davidson, College of Charleston and Wake Forest and a first-round game in the Diamond Head Classic against Texas Christian, is tougher than he would like.
“It’s a schedule that doesn’t meet the talent we have,” Sanchez said. “I’m not sure with two seniors and four or five freshmen that we’re ready to take on a schedule as potent as it is.
“That’s one way to look at it. The second way is it’s going to test us tremendously. My hope is, regardless, we are a better team in January. That’s the one positive I’m excited about.”
▪ Davis, a preseason All-Conference USA selection, enters the season 15th on Charlotte’s all-time scoring list (1,483). Henry Williams, who died earlier this year, is the career leader with 2,383 from 1989-92. Davis also has 440 career assists, seventh on the all-time list.
▪ The 49ers recently received verbal commitments from two high school players with three-star rankings from the Rivals.com recruiting website: 6-6 small forward Caleb Stone-Carrawell of Concord’s Cox Mill High and 6-0 point guard Jahmir Young of DeMatha (Md.) Catholic. The 49ers have two more roster spots available for 2019. Charlotte is in the running for three-star Brice Williams, a 6-5 shooting guard from Hopewell High, who also has an offer from Wake Forest.
This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 5:37 PM.