West Virginia running back Andrew Buie transfers to Charlotte 49ers as grad student

Running back Andrew Buie has transferred from West Virginia to Charlotte as a fifth-year graduate student.

Buie (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) rushed for 232 yards and two touchdowns last season. His best season with the Mountaineers was 2012, when he led the team with 851 yards and seven touchdowns.

Buie left the West Virginia program in 2013 for personal reasons, but returned to play last season.

“I went home for Andrew Buie, to make Andrew Buie a better person,” Buie told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in March 2014.

Buie will help form what should be a potent running back tandem at Charlotte with junior Kalif Phillips, who gained 1,436 yards and scored 20 touchdowns last season.

▪ The 49ers received a commitment from Kollin Byers, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound offensive lineman from Crest High in Shelby. Byers also had offers from Campbell, Elon and Gardner-Webb.

49ers notes

▪ The 49ers basketball team has signed Lukas Bergang, a 7-foot power forward-center from Sweden.

New 49ers coach Mark Price had already signed five players, all guards or forwards, and was looking for a big man to help round out the class. The other signees include guards Ridell Camidge, Andrien White, Jon Davis and Curran Scott and forward Anthony Vanhook.

Bergang, 21, played last season for Sweden’s Eco Orbero, for whom he averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in 18 games. He has also played in Italy.

▪ The 49ers will open their men’s basketball season Nov. 13 at Halton Arena against Elon. Other home games include Davidson (Dec. 2), Furman, Campbell, The Citadel and a game at Time Warner Cable Arena against Georgetown on Dec. 22. Charlotte will play on the road against Appalachian State, East Carolina (Nov. 16), Miami (Dec. 5) and N.C. A&T. The 49ers also play in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament Nov. 25-27. The Conference USA schedule is expected to be released within the next few weeks.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 1:14 PM with the headline "West Virginia running back Andrew Buie transfers to Charlotte 49ers as grad student."