Cedric Maxwell led Charlotte 49ers to the Final Four, headlines 1st hall of fame class

As the Charlotte 49ers prepare to spend the year celebrating their 50th anniversary of Division I athletics, they’ve announced their inaugural athletics hall of fame class.

The class is headlined by four athletes — men’s soccer’s Jon Busch, men’s basketball’s Cedric Maxwell, men’s golf’s Corey Nagy and women’s track and field’s Shareese Woods Hicks — as well as coach/administrators Judy Rose and Lee Rose and contributor Dale Halton.

“This inaugural class represents the very finest of Charlotte 49ers athletics,” 49ers athletics director Mike Hill said in a statement. “To be selected by the committee from such a remarkable pool of nominees is indeed an honor, and we celebrate them for the profound impact they’ve made on this university.”

The 49ers opened public nominations to the public earlier this year. The number of nominations was trimmed by a 12-member selection committee, which then voted on the finalists.

The selection committee: longtime administrator/historian Mark Colone; former football player Jamal Covington; women’s soccer coach and former soccer player John Cullen; director of student-athlete development Chris Everett; executive associate athletics director Ragean Hill; faculty athletics representative Jeffrey Leak, former women’s basketball player Krystion Obie Nelson; deputy athletics director Darin Spease; former administrator/historian Dave Taylor; volleyball coach Karen Weatherington; associate executive director of Athletic Foundation and former swimmer Kelly Weatherman; and Tom Whitestone, associate athletics director/media relations.

Future classes will include a maximum of five inductees. For an athlete to be considered, a period of no less than five years must have have elapsed since completion of his or her final season and he/she must have earned a varsity letter and left UNC Charlotte in good academic standing.

A spot on campus for a physical hall of fame — or a place for plaques to be displayed — has yet to be determined.

Athletes

Jon Busch, men’s soccer (1994-96)

Busch was a first-team All-American goalkeeper in 1994, helping the 49ers to the NCAA tournament’s final four that season. He was a three-time all-Conference USA team choice and was inducted into the league’s inaugural hall of fame in 2019.

After Charlotte: Played 14 seasons in Major League Soccer and was named the league’s top goalkeeper in 2008. Played one game for the U.S men’s national team (a 3-0 victory against Colombia).

Today: Lives in Carmel, Ind., where he owns a company that manufactures goalkeeper gloves. Also the goalkeeper coach for the Indiana Fire pro team and the IUPUI men’s and women’s teams.

Quoting Busch: “It’s an amazing award to receive that speaks volumes for the guys that I was with during those three years and the guys that came before me.”

Cedric Maxwell, men’s basketball (1973-77)

With the iconic nickname “Cornbread,” Maxwell led the 49ers to the biggest moment in program history: An appearance in the 1977 Final Four in Atlanta, where they lost in the national semifinals to Marquette. Maxwell averaged 22.1 points and 12.1 rebounds and shot a school-record 64 percent from the field. He was MVP of 1976 National Invitation Tournament.

After Charlotte: First-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 1977, won two NBA titles in 11-year pro career and was MVP of the 1984 NBA Finals.

Today: Maxwell is an analyst on Boston Celtics broadcasts and works with the team’s media relations team.

Quoting Maxwell: “It’s so cool for a little small town kid from Kinston to come to Charlotte and be honored as one of their outstanding representatives of the school. It was a marriage made in heaven. It was a young program on the uptick and I was a young player on the uptick and we branched into a beautiful dance. Everything happened the right way.”

Corey Nagy, men’s golf (2007-10)

Nagy still holds school records for single-season (70.71) and career (71.79) stroke average and led the 49ers to a third-place finish in the NCAA championship in 2007 and eighth place in 2008. A four-time All-American, Nagy was the Atlantic 10’s medalist twice.

After Charlotte: Played in pro golf’s minor leagues for six seasons, making one PGA Tour start in the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club.

Today: Nagy continues to pursue his pro golf career.

Quoting Nagy: ““I absolutely treasure my time spent there. Charlotte molded me into the person I am today, and I am forever grateful to the entire university and athletic Department. I deeply look forward to seeing the growth and success of the Charlotte 49ers athletic program in years to come.”

Shareese Woods Hicks, women’s track and field (2003-07)

A four-time All-American, Woods Hicks won performer of the year honors in the Atlantic 10 for four seasons and won 15 event conference titles. A sprinter and hurdler, Woods Hicks still holds school records in five events.

After Charlotte: Won several medals representing USA track and field, including bronze in the 400 meters in the 2008 IAAF world championships.

Today: She’s an assistant track coach at Memphis, working with sprinters and hurdlers.

Quoting Woods Hicks: “I’m already indebted to everything that Charlotte has given me. With jersey retirement alone. For (the athletic department) to put together is something, I can’t put into words. Now with the Hall of Fame — that’s cherry on top. I’m just in awe. (The 49ers) have already given me so much.”

Coaches, administrators

Judy Rose

After beginning her career at Charlotte 1975 as the 49ers’ women’s basketball coach, Rose spent 28 years (1991-2018) as the program’s athletics director, the third female to serve in that capacity at a Division I school. She was also the first female to serve on the NCAA’s men’s basketball committee. Under Rose, the 49ers spent more than $100 million in facilities expansion and renovations and started football in 2013.

Today: Rose is working now as a consultant and is the 49ers’ athletic director emerita.

Quoting Rose: “I am so honored to be included in the first group of inductees, especially since there are so many worthy individuals who have contributed so much to the development of the rich history of the 49ers athletic program.”

Lee Rose

Rose had a three-season record of 72-18 at Charlotte from 1975-78, taking the 49ers to the finals of the NIT in 1976 and the NCAA’s Final Four in 1977. The 49ers won 20-plus games in each of his three seasons, including 28-5 in ’77 when they beat Central Michigan, Syracuse and Michigan on their way to the Final Four, finally losing a controversial game to Marquette in the semifinals.

After Charlotte: Rose went on to coach at Purdue and South Florida, before heading to the NBA, where he was an assistant in San Antonio, Milwaukee and Charlotte.

Today: Rose is retired and living in Charlotte.

Quoting Rose: “The distance from the Mine Shaft on campus to the final game of the NIT in Madison Square Garden and the Final Four in Atlanta was millions of miles! In accepting this honor, I give tribute to every player, coach, trainer, manager, administrator and fan that was a part of the teams that I coached here: We all traveled those miles together. Over the course of the 50 years that I coached in college and NBA, the three years with UNC Charlotte were pure magic!”

Special contributor

Dale Halton

Perhaps best known as the name on Charlotte’s Halton Arena, Halton’s contributions to the 49ers and UNC Charlotte go much deeper. Her contributions also helped build the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex, the Judy W. Rose Football Center and the Charles Hayward Memorial Practice Gym. She founded the Henry B. Fowler Men’s Basketball Scholarship, helped start the 49ers Athletic Foundation’s Great Gold Rush Auction, and several other initiatives.

Today: The former CEO of Charlotte’s Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, Halton remains a philanthropist.

Quoting Halton: “I was overwhelmed. There are so many other people. It’s amazing. I never expected anything like this. It’s a great program and a great school and I love being involved with them.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 1:01 PM.