Charlotte 49ers await possible NIT or CBI berth after early C-USA tourney exit
The clock struck zero for both the Charlotte 49ers men’s and women’s basketball teams during the Conference USA tournaments at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.
Head coach Ron Sanchez and the men’s team came out on the losing side of yet another one-possession game, their sixth in a row, in a 66-65 loss to Middle Tennessee in the tournament quarterfinals, notching the fifth straight year without a postseason victory.
While Selection Sunday doesn’t hold the same weight for the 18th consecutive year, there are talks of extended postseason action, with the 49ers men’s team pursuing an opportunity to play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) or the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
“I’m so proud of the effort that this team put forward, they deserve to keep playing and that’s the hardest part for me right now,” Sanchez said following the quarterfinals loss.
An invite to the NIT is the hope, but the CBI is much more likely, per sources. It would cost the athletic department $27,500 to partake in the CBI while all play, travel and boarding are comped in the NIT, with an additional bonus for every victory.
Charlotte ended its 10-year stint in C-USA on a three-game losing skid, falling to 9-12 in conference play and 18-14 on the season. Twenty-win seasons have become a high watermark for the program, and this was the closest the Niners have been in the past decade.
The additional postseason play could be a last-ditch effort for Sanchez (68-78 overall head coaching record) to extend his tenure with the program to a sixth year, which would be Charlotte’s first in the American Athletic Conference.
Moving forward
While there is sure to be plenty of transfer portal action in the offseason, the Charlotte 49ers currently have a strong core group that could return for AAC play. Six of the team’s top seven scorers are eligible to return — led by Aly Khalifa, Brice Williams and Lu’Cye Patterson, all of whom landed on the C-USA awards list.
Sanchez stated that successful programs across college basketball are retaining their players, but Charlotte’s case is different. The 49ers returned just two players who played extended minutes a season ago in Khalifa and Jackson Threadgill.
“I’m not sure that I spend two minutes thinking about what Charlotte needs to do to retain (student-athletes). College basketball is what it is, we just have to figure out what is good for Charlotte,” Sanchez said. “Right now, we’ve got to find the right individuals who want to be a part of this. Our service to them is to make them the best version of themselves, and this school, this administration has really supported that journey since I stepped foot here.”
Down year for women
The women’s team struggled to match the success from a season ago, when they won both the C-USA regular season and tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009, much attributed to the loss of star player Mikayla Boykin who tore her ACL just five games into the season.
But Cara Conseugra’s group continued to fight with C-USA first-teamers Dazia Lawrence and Jada McMillian leading the charge. It was a struggle replacing C-USA player of the year Octavia Jett-Wilson’s scoring and C-USA defensive player of the year Keke McKinney’s rim protection. Charlotte’s season ended losing seven of its final eight, falling to 12-19 on the season and 7-13 in C-USA play.
Charlotte scored a 72-59 victory against Florida International in its first C-USA tournament game to advance to the quarterfinals but suffered a 29-point defeat at the hands of Middle Tennessee on the following afternoon.
“Our kids fought to the end and I’m proud of them for that. Effort has never been an issue for this team,” Consuegra said following the loss to Middle Tennessee. The women’s team is not pursuing extended postseason action.
McMillian’s Charlotte career came to an end as well on Thursday, concluding her historic five-year run playing the most minutes in Niners’ history with 4,386 minutes over 143 games, notching 1,247 points, 544 career assists.
Consuegra has posted consecutive losing seasons just once in her 12-year career with the 49ers and will look to bounce back with the program’s first season in the AAC. Guards Lawrence, Jacee Busick, and Aylesha Wade, as well as forward Mya McGraw could all return next season.