Charlotte 49ers freshmen ‘planting a good seed’
Playing college basketball as a freshman has its own sets of challenges. For a program like Duke, it might mean worrying about whether your team will be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, or how high you might go in the NBA draft after your one-and-done careeR.
At Charlotte, where new coach Ron Sanchez is nearing the end of his first season, the goals are significantly different.
Like Duke, the 49ers have among the youngest teams in the country, with four freshmen either starting or playing significant minutes. Their task? To be on the ground floor alongside Sanchez as he tries to rebuild a program that has fallen on hard times.
“All year, we’ve been hearing that if we’re planting a good seed, we can grow what we want,” said freshman guard Cooper Robb. “We all feel like we’re moving in the right direction.”
Robb, along with fellow freshmen guards Brandon Younger and Malik Martin, and forward Dravon Mangum have been in the middle of what’s been a predictably long season for the 49ers (6-20, 3-12 Conference USA), who play Texas-El Paso (8-18, 3-12) Sunday afternoon. The 49ers, tied for last place with UTEP in 14-team C-USA, are on the precipice of not qualifying for the league’s 12-team tournament for a second consecutive season.
But as difficult as things have been, Charlotte’s newcomers know they’ve made progress.
“Overall it’s been a good experience,” said Martin. “We’ve stayed positive and we’ve played a ton of minutes, which can be rare for freshmen. But I think we’ve all grown offensively and defensively.”
Martin has developed into a reliable No. 2 scorer behind senior point guard Jon Davis, averaging 9.4 points and 4.0 rebounds. The scrappy Robb, whom Sanchez describes as the “heart” of the team, averages 1.8 assists, also second behind Davis. Younger’s ball-handling skills have been valuable, and Mangum is one of just three 49ers who have played in all 26 games.
Each of them averages at least 19 minutes of playing time a game, with Martin playing 31.2 per game.
They’ve played through a lot, including injuries. Robb (foot) missed seven games in December and January; Martin missed four games with a knee that still bothers him; Younger missed last week’s loss to Middle Tennessee with a concussion and is also out for UTEP.
“Their injuries, that’s been the biggest thorn,” Sanchez said. “As they ascend and grow, injuries have brought them back, and they’ve had to pick it back up.
“Their presence has been obvious. When they’re not on the floor, they’re missed. When Cooper is out, we miss his toughness. When Malik is out, we miss his scoring. Brandon’s missed because of his defense and length on the floor.”
All four freshmen came from high school or AAU programs that won a lot. Robb and Mangum had already committed to the 49ers and former coach Mark Price, who was fired in December 2017. Younger and Martin signed with the 49ers after Sanchez arrived last March.
As the losses have mounted, Sanchez’ challenge has been keeping his young team upbeat.
“That’s been my biggest obstacle,” Sanchez said. “I’ve invested a lot of time into thinking what the message is. I don’t step up in front of them without notes. Those moments are really important for the overall feeling and emotion of the team. You try to deliver messages they can deliver and apply at the very moment.
“It takes a lot of thought, when you’re struggling and you have to go up there and deliver the same message. I probably have a book of positivity that I can write from this season.”
Sanchez has also relied on Davis and center Jailan Haslem – the team’s only two seniors – to help guide the freshmen.
“Those are my guys,” Davis said. “They listen. Sometimes coach gets on them for listening too much, for doing exactly what he says the whole time, when maybe they need to rely more on their instincts. But they’ve been dealt a pretty tough hand. They’ve come from winning programs. When you’re losing 20 games for the first time, that can weigh on a freshman.
“But I tell them to stay the course. Don’t lose your confidence.”
Said Martin: “They’ve helped me so much with things I have no clue about.”
That comes back to the continued role the freshmen, who will soon be sophomores, will be expected to play.
“We’ve been very disciplined with our young guys,” said Sanchez. “When you’re starting a program from the ground up, the returners are the ones who coach the incoming guys. So, the same reasons we lost a game this year will be the same reasons we win in the future. Those guys who will be returning will be communicating that message to guys in the future.”