Charlotte Tries to Take the Next Step
WORCESTER, Mass. – Charlotte traveled up here ready to take the next steps in building its program, a program whose recent success has been a bit muted outside of its home.
In case no one has noticed, the 49ers have quietly become one of Conference USA’s best teams in recent years. They have become consistent contenders in the conference and have made the NCAA Tournament five times in Bobby Lutz’s seven years at the helm. They have also had just one losing season in the conference while being co-champions last season and finishing tied for second this season, and twice have won the conference tournament.
Clearly, the 49ers are a program on the rise, but they’re still a relative unknown nationally. They are somewhat of a red-headed stepchild in the basketball country known as North Carolina. That state is, after all, home to numerous ACC schools, including the Triangle region with Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. As if that’s not enough, Conference USA’s traditional powers have been schools like Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis, with Marquette making a Final Four run a few years ago.
With that established, the 49ers came to Worcester ready to take the next step, which is making a run in the NCAA Tournament. In their previous appearances, they did not get past the second round. It won’t be easy to better that this time around, but they aren’t lacking in motivation aside from simply wanting to win.
“We’ve been the underdogs in a lot of people’s eyes through out the years,” said senior swingman Eddie Basden, who won the conference’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. “We’ve just got to prove them wrong, and that’s what we plan on doing in this tournament.”
When Lutz took over the program in 1998, it wasn’t struggling for success, although it had not achieved the success it has under him. The two seasons before that, the team won at least 20 games and went to the NCAA Tournament with stars like DeMarco Johnson and Sean Colson. Lutz, who has four degrees, has continued the winning and brought it to a new level. This year’s NCAA Tournament appearance is the program’s tenth, with half coming under Lutz.
Asked if he feels like his program plays a second fiddle to the ACC schools in his state, Lutz says he’s not concerned.
“The ACC has earned everything that they’ve get. It’s an unbelievable league,” he said on Thursday. “That’s reality, so I don’t worry about that. They earn what they get. I’m proud of what we’ve done, and if people take notice of that, great, if not, I don’t lose sleep over it.”
The program is getting some recognition, and Lutz cites Basden’s two awards as one example. Only two other players have ever won the two awards in the same season, with those two being current NBA players Kenyon Martin and Dwyane Wade. That’s some pretty good company, and even Bob Huggins has talked about how good a defender Basden is. Besides the do-everything swingman, junior forward Curtis Withers is a two-time first-team All-Conference USA selection.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers made a run. With Withers doing damage inside and Basden doing a little of everything, senior sharpshooter Brendan Plavich helps keep defenses honest with his unlimited range and junior Mitchell Baldwin capably runs the point. Sophomore Martin Iti has plenty of potential inside, but is mainly a role player on this team right now. Lutz knows that getting some wins is the next step for the program to take.
“We need to win some, we need to get to a Sweet 16 sometime – we need to do that if we’re going to continue to elevate our program, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Lutz said on Thursday.
They get their chance in the opening game in Worcester against North Carolina State. A win against them just might start to bring them a little outside the shadows of the ACC in their home state.
