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OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Our good friend QueenCityNiner won't have much to crow about Charlotte hoops for a little while, it would seem. What HC can win there?


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/...39379.html

Charlotte 49ers selected wrong time to dismiss Alan Major

By Tom Sorensen
tsorensen@charlotteobserver.com
03/16/2015 3:46 PM

As I wrote last week, and as everybody that follows the sport knows, Charlotte had to fire Alan Major.

But did the 49ers have to fire him on Selection Sunday?

The timing is strange for two reasons. The first is that, sources say, the school decided to fire Major weeks ago. School officials might already have hired a search firm to help them find a replacement.

The second is that Selection Sunday is a celebration of the sport. The 49ers weren’t trying to hide behind the brackets and bury the news. They were trying to be part of it. There’s Davidson, Charlotte’s Mecklenburg County (non) buddy, getting a bid to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. There’s Charlotte staying home yet again.

As basketball fans watched the Selection Sunday show, Charlotte issued a news release at 6:20 p.m. It said: “The Charlotte 49ers and head men’s basketball coach Alan Major have mutually agreed to part ways after his five-year stint with the program.”

It is conceivable and perhaps likely that Major will never be a head coach again. He might be a career assistant; that, too, is an important role. Major has had health issues. But head coach is not a job people tend to mutually agree to leave.

Charlotte basketball once was a compelling product. You sat in the bleachers or on press row at beautiful Halton Arena and you wanted to text your friends. Unfortunately, those days were so long ago that texting probably had not been invented.

Last season Charlotte attracted an average of 4,376 fans. Games didn’t matter.

The job of the new coach is to make them matter.

But he won’t simply win his way out of the obscurity in which the 49ers toil. He has to sell this program. He has to make Charlotte, the city, feel as if it has an opportunity to be part of something special.

A successful coach sells his philosophy to his players. Charlotte’s coach must sell his philosophy to an apathetic fan base and an uninterested town.

He also has to recruit the South. There are promising potential coaches an easy drive away. As I wrote last week, Charlotte can look to Winthrop, look to Wofford or look to N.C. Central. It can look to Florida Gulf Coast. Buffalo coach Bobby Hurley, who no longer looks perpetually sad, has tremendous potential.

Whomever Charlotte hires, he has to be a head coach. Major had never been.

Athletics director Judy Rose needs to explain to the media her decision to mutually part ways with Major. I tried and failed to reach her last week.

Fans have given up, and they’re entitled to. They aren’t entitled to victories, not every season. But they’re entitled to hope. Otherwise why would they invest their passion, money and time?

Rose owes the media nothing. But she owes her dwindling fan base everything. Fans are entitled to know what she’s thinking and why – after the Major hire – they should trust her. The media is nothing more than a conduit. Use us to reach them.

With the NCAA tournament going on, this week will be as beautifully busy as Selection Sunday was.

But if Rose holds a news conference, I assure you that we’ll make time.
03-25-2015 10:28 AM
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/...15710.html

Charlotte 49ers coaching search stretches into 2nd week

Here are some things we know about the Charlotte 49ers’ tightly held search for a men’s basketball coach as it continues into its second week:

Timing

Charlotte’s goal is to have a decision before the Final Four. If the 49ers are considering college coaches who have been involved in the NCAA tournament and National Invitation Tournament, they would not have been able to talk to them until this week at the earliest, anyway. If they’re looking at a coach whose team is still playing, that could stretch on through April 6, the date of the national championship game.

ESPN.com reported Tuesday the 49ers have offered Charlotte Hornets assistant Mark Price the job. Price, who has no head-coaching experience, is in his second season with the Hornets and Bobcats and has been an NBA assistant for eight years. His only college coaching experience came in 1999-2000, when he was an assistant at his alma mater, Georgia Tech. ESPN.com reported the 49ers have offered Price, 51, a five-year contract.

What has happened?

Chattanooga coach Will Wade interviewed for the job to replace Alan Major last week, but he quickly withdrew his name from consideration. A source said Wade wasn’t convinced Charlotte was expending enough resources on certain things – such as scheduling attractive nonconference games at Halton Arena – to justify leaving a top program in a single-NCAA tournament-bid league (the Southern Conference) for a program that struggled in another one-bid league (Conference USA).

Who else is out there?

N.C. Central coach Levelle Moton would be very interested in the job, a source has told the Observer. Moton, who has a five-year record of 107-53 with the Eagles, signed an eight-year extension in 2014, although his buyout could be as little as $100,000. It’s not clear if the 49ers have been in touch with Moton.

Arkansas associate head coach Melvin Watkins, a former 49ers player and coach, also might be a candidate. Watkins played on Charlotte’s 1977 Final Four team and coached the 49ers to NCAA tournament appearances in both of his seasons as coach (1996-98).

Is there a hurry?

The most pressing tasks facing Charlotte’s new coach will be injecting stability back into the program and hitting the recruiting trail. The 49ers will have at least one extra scholarship to offer after the transfer of forward Willie Clayton. Center Mike Thorne also plans to leave Charlotte after he graduates in May and play a fifth season of eligibility elsewhere. He has not yet been granted his release.
(This post was last modified: 03-25-2015 10:31 AM by Seahawk Nation 08.)
03-25-2015 10:29 AM
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Proff Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
The Hornets have someone on their payroll with head coaching experience or at least that's the BUZZ . What a hire that would be.:O
03-25-2015 12:33 PM
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bricksnivy Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Good hire for Charlotte, IMO.
03-25-2015 12:57 PM
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Seahawkhoops Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
They just hired someone
03-25-2015 01:10 PM
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Yep Price accepted the job.
03-25-2015 01:41 PM
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seaplus Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
two things stood out to me from the original post

Quote:The 49ers weren’t trying to hide behind the brackets and bury the news. They were trying to be part of it.

I can't understand this perspective and believe they were in fact trying to hide behind the brackets. saying that they were trying to be part of the bracket conversation because Davidson was a part just seems silly. please help me understand.

Quote:Last season Charlotte attracted an average of 4,376 fans. Games didn’t matter.

UNCW had an average of 3890 ... I'm sad. wonder what the kids thought about playing in front of 20k+ at Louisville. the score wasn't too bad considering we were down by 18 at one point
03-26-2015 12:11 AM
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seahawkcentral Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Former UNCW assistant coach Houston Fancher is joining Price's staff as an assistant.
03-26-2015 12:11 PM
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82hawk Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
(03-26-2015 12:11 AM)seaplus Wrote:  two things stood out to me from the original post

Quote:The 49ers weren’t trying to hide behind the brackets and bury the news. They were trying to be part of it.

I can't understand this perspective and believe they were in fact trying to hide behind the brackets. saying that they were trying to be part of the bracket conversation because Davidson was a part just seems silly. please help me understand.

Quote:Last season Charlotte attracted an average of 4,376 fans. Games didn’t matter.

UNCW had an average of 3890 ... I'm sad. wonder what the kids thought about playing in front of 20k+ at Louisville. the score wasn't too bad considering we were down by 18 at one point


Charlotte has 26,000 students compared to our 14,000 AND...they are in CHARLOTTE.
03-26-2015 07:44 PM
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geezerhawkdad Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
The attendance figures at UNCC games have been inflated or calculated creatively the last few years. Half their tickets are allocated to students, so a crowd of 5,000 with 3,000 students means only 2,000 people paid to come to the game. For the last 10 years or so, I usually go to 1 or 2 games there a year. The last 2 times, people gave us tickets and argued with each other over who got to give their unused tickets to us. Companies buy blocks of seats and they want their tickets used, so they give them to employees who aggressively reverse scalp them.

Mark Price is a great hire. They were in the doldrums in 1985 and hired Jeff Mullins, another former college/NBA star. He rebuilt the program, helped them acquire their on campus arena, and secured them a spot in a great conference.
(This post was last modified: 03-27-2015 03:44 PM by geezerhawkdad.)
03-26-2015 09:08 PM
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seaplus Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
(03-26-2015 07:44 PM)82hawk Wrote:  Charlotte has 26,000 students compared to our 14,000 AND...they are in CHARLOTTE.

valid points, but I feel we should be able to do better than 3900. how may people can the student section hold? didn't know Trask could only hold 5500 total
03-27-2015 12:50 PM
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tke75hawk Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
students get somewhere between 800 -1200. i think task now seats around 5100. it was 6100 when built. they have taken seats out twice since trask was built.
03-27-2015 01:13 PM
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82hawk Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
(03-27-2015 12:50 PM)seaplus Wrote:  
(03-26-2015 07:44 PM)82hawk Wrote:  Charlotte has 26,000 students compared to our 14,000 AND...they are in CHARLOTTE.

valid points, but I feel we should be able to do better than 3900. how may people can the student section hold? didn't know Trask could only hold 5500 total

Our attendance increased as the year went on and we were contenders in the CAA. had several times in the mid 4,000's.
03-27-2015 04:34 PM
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UNCWSuperFan Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
(03-25-2015 01:41 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  Yep Price accepted the job.

Price released from the job. Fancher now interim coach.
12-14-2017 01:50 PM
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Seahawk2010 Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Sounds like a dumpster fire at Charlotte with their AD...
12-15-2017 07:01 PM
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billthebighawksfan Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
The culture seemed to change once football arrived there. It seems like a rabid football place but hoops is where Charlotte really excelled for a long time. They were GOOD for a long time. I always hoped that UNCW could get to that level for a long stretch but they came back to the field and UNCW went forward again. That's not the case this year for the Hawks but it's a bit early to judge UNCW right now going forward. It's part of the ebb and flow of mid/high major hoops these days. You lose a coach and have to hope that you can build or sustain.

In UNCW's case, it's way too early at this point. McGrath's system is just getting into place. You have to have guys that can play in a system like this and he should know what it takes because he was a part of a National championship team.

Look at it like this for a minute. If Flemmings didn't just show up at UNCW out of the blue, how good was UNCW last year? Good yes, but not killer good like they were...they were fun to watch. Heck everybody loved watching that team including ACC players for goodness sakes...it was entertaining ball. Honestly, just think about that for a minute if Flemmings didn't show up at that party. Flemmings was freaking walking on at UNCW! Yes, Keatts got Bryce and also got Ingram via transfer...that was clutch. And, he got the kid from ODU that was really good but there were several busts also. If Flemmings doesn't show up unannounced, UNCW doesn't win back to back CAA titles. Give Keatts credit for his system but that system didn't defend half court and needed prolific scoring talent like we had. I'm just keeping this real here.

At some point, as a basketball centric school, you need a solid foundation that sustains. Is McGrath the answer, I'm not sure but he should be. He's seen a lot of ball and was responsible for getting a lot of the UNC guys that were "under the radar" because they couldn't recruit the one and dones. I'm going to give him a chance and I hope that you will too. I'm sorry about Jaquel. I don't know what happened. It's time to just hope that the "process" makes it better. He should know what to do at this point...we will see.
(This post was last modified: 12-16-2017 01:34 AM by billthebighawksfan.)
12-16-2017 12:26 AM
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82hawk Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
I'm not writing off McGrath long term, just this year. That being said, you have to play with the team you have, not the one you want. I looked back at the roster Keatts had his first year and it looks like the roster McGrath would want today. We had 6'8"and 6'9"' guys coming out of our ears. But, Keatts didn't write that team off waiting until he had HIS players for HIS system. We didn't press as much as he wanted because we didn't have the roster to do so. But, we won. And we won quickly.

McGrath may very well turn out to be a great coach and recruiter. And his "system"may be superior to the one Keatts had. My frustration is that we HAD a winning formula and completely abandoned it by refusing to consider even one coach who ran a Keatts like system. That's not McGrath's fault. And, it's a system you definitely have to have experience in to implement. McGrath simply doesn't have that background.

On a positive note. If he DOES establish a winning program I do believe he will stay long term. So there's that.
12-16-2017 09:09 AM
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bricksnivy Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Well stated, Bill. The only thing I'll add regarding Charlotte is that conference realignment had more to do with their current struggles than adding a football program. As a fan base, in North Carolina's biggest city (with an NBA team), it's harder to pull support from students and community when you're playing N. Texas or FAU. Charlotte was at their best, and had the most support, when they were playing against Louisville and Cincinnati.
12-16-2017 09:11 AM
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Seahawk2010 Offline
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RE: OT: Charlotte fires HC, program in disarray?
Also doesn’t help that UNC Charlotte is a big commuter school on the outskirts of the actual city limits of Charlotte.
12-16-2017 02:00 PM
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