Five things to know as Charlotte 49ers prepare to open basketball season
It’s been tough sledding for the Charlotte men’s basketball program in 2025, but as the calendar turns to November, fans are making their way from the gridiron to the hardwood with head coach Aaron Fearne preparing for his third season as head man at Halton Arena.
Fearne’s second season in charge wasn’t the encore he expected following the 2023-24 success, but after reloading through the transfer portal in the offseason, this group has a chance to compete in a league that’s wide open for the taking.
Charlotte was picked to finish last in the American Conference preseason media poll, and winning just three games in conference play last season, 11 total, didn’t help despite Fearne restocking the roster with proven talent.
With the season tipping off in less than a week, we took a look at Charlotte’s 2025-26 storylines.
Who is the 49ers’ best player?
After losing Nik Graves (Creighton) to the transfer portal, marking four straight years that Charlotte lost its top scorer, Fearne had to find his point guard of the future. And the term “future” in college basketball can range from six months to four years, but in Fearne’s offense, it often takes more than just a handful of months to pick up the intricacies.
But through an exhibition game and a scrimmage against Liberty, Marshall transfer Dezayne Mingo is solidifying himself as not just the table-setter for one of the slowest-paced offenses in college basketball, but the team’s best player. While not a high-volume 3-point shooter, Mingo’s ability to get two feet in the paint, put pressure on the rim, and facilitate with ease opens Fearne’s playbook.
In his lone season with the Thundering Herd, Mingo averaged 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, while shooting 42% from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc. And most importantly, Mingo had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He’ll be heavily relied on to score, as well as find shooters coming off pin-down screens, curls, flares, and any wrinkle that Fearne draws up.
But his chemistry with the bigs inside is continuing to develop.
Has the 49ers’ size improved?
Charlotte didn’t have the bodies inside to match up against the top of the American Conference last season, and Fearne wasted no time snagging a pair of 7-footers to control the lane.
While Giancarlo Rosado was a nice fixture in Charlotte’s lineup last season, he didn’t have the height at 6-foot-8 to protect the paint and do the dirty work down low. In steps Anton Bonke, a 7-foot-2 rim-protecting big man from Providence.
Bonke, a junior, didn’t play much with the Friars, seeing action in 16 games and playing just over 6.5 minutes per outing with one start. He has impressed through the team’s preseason practice and is poised to average a double-double in league play with one caveat: can he stay out of foul trouble?
While Bonke is relatively unproven, averaging just 1.3 points per game last season, Fearne added another center with more experience in 6-foot-11 Kuluel Mading, who transferred from Norfolk State.
Mading started 28 of the Spartans’ 35 games, which included winning the MEAC and earning a bid to the NCAA tournament (first-round loss against the eventual national champion Florida Gators). Mading scored 7.2 points and grabbed 4.2 rebounds per game, while blocking 1.2 shots, but free throws were an issue, shooting just over 52% from the charity stripe.
The High Point native spent his first two collegiate seasons at Buffalo before transferring to Norfolk State.
The size inside has improved from last season, but, as it is every year, the outside shooting remains premium.
Who are the best shooters?
The three-ball was a struggle for Charlotte last season, with the team ranking second-to-last in the American Conference, connecting on just 31% of attempts from beyond the arc. And it didn’t help that the 49ers gave up the fifth-best percentage from three on the defensive end, trailing early and often a season ago.
This year’s roster promises to have a better stroke from three-point land, and the combination of an incoming transfer and a returnee could be the 49ers’ best sharpshooters.
Damoni Harrison, a 6-foot-4 guard coming from Southern Indiana in the OVC, shot 40.9% from three on nearly five attempts per game last season, scoring in double figures in 21 of his 27 games last season. He was Charlotte’s leading scorer in the scrimmage against Liberty with 20 points.
And the second-leading scorer, returning guard Ben Bradford, poured in 16 points against the Flames. Bradford played sparingly last season, seeing action in 25 games (8.5 minutes per game) with no starts. Bradford’s shooting percentage doesn’t provide a lot of hype, shooting 36.8% from the field and 15.4% from beyond the arc, but his freshman-to-sophomore leap is turning heads around Halton Arena.
And while most teams in the nation are looking to get out and run, the 49ers are looking to go from good shots to great – and they’ll hunt for that great shot, pushing the 30-second shot clock to the brink with regularity.
How fast will Charlotte play?
If you ask around the American Conference, opposing coaches will tell you that preparing for the 49ers’ slow-paced, methodical offense and pack line defense is likened to a trip to the dentist. Guarding the 49ers is painful, irritating at times, but necessary. And just like a cavity, if they secure an offensive rebound, the process starts over again.
Last season, Charlotte saw a slight uptick in pace, averaging 68.1 possessions per game (up from 66.3 the previous year), which ranked 283rd-fastest (or slowest) in the NCAA. Charlotte’s got plenty of athletes that can get up and down the floor, and Fearne loves to see high defensive effort levels rewarded with fast break slams, but the 49ers are going to run their offense and dictate the pace of the game nearly every night.
New-look 49ers’ women
Year 1 was an adjustment period for coach Tomekia Reed and the Charlotte 49ers’ women’s basketball team, with Reed taking charge after 13 straight seasons under Cara Consuegra. The Charlotte women’s team matched the men’s total with just 11 wins, struggling in conference play. The 49ers will field almost a completely new roster in 2025-26.
Reed’s top eight scorers from last season are all gone, with the highest-scoring returnee, Imani Smith, averaging 3.4 points per game. Southeast Missouri State transfer guard Zoe Best and Bethune-Cookman transfer forward Asianae Nicholson, and Eastern Florida State transfer guard Karen Nimo will be relied on as primary scorers.
Charlotte’s non-conference slate is a gauntlet, starting with Auburn at home on Monday, a trip to No. 5 LSU (Nov. 12) and a neutral site bout against No. 22 Oklahoma State (Nov. 28).