PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Just minutes after a season ends, it’s not easy to sum up a season in an instant analysis style. Ask Alan Major about this season right now, however, and there’s a clear theme from the Charlotte head coach: pride in how his team handled so much that was thrown at them in the 2012-13 season and a feeling the program is on its way to where he hopes it will be.
Charlotte’s final record this season is 21-12. It’s a good record, although plenty of teams will sport better ones come April 9. They also started off 9-0, so one might wonder what’s impressive about going 12-12 to end the season. Let’s just say that none of it came easily, and along the way this team developed an identity as a team with the chemistry and belief in one another that they can get through anything.
It all started last summer, when the 49ers went on a trip to the Bahamas. Coaches do these trips for a variety of reasons, and Major said he felt the time was right given this team’s youth. By and large, this team’s regulars have been freshmen and sophomores, with senior Chris Braswell being the only upperclassman who figured to play significant minutes. Major felt like they bonded there, and while he first liked the extra practice time the team got beforehand the intangible benefits were clear later.
While the 9-0 start came against a rather soft schedule – only Davidson made the NCAA Tournament among the teams they beat in that stretch – it gave the team confidence. They won the Great Alaska Shootout, and the chemistry they had along with the confidence probably helped for what was ahead. They later played Miami and Florida State, losing both, but in all it wasn’t a loaded non-conference schedule.
When it was all said and done, Major had used nine different starting lineups. One could knock that down to eight considering senior Colby Lewis’ only start of the season was on Senior Day. The biggest reason was injuries, although the staff felt like they had the depth to manage this well. But the list of injuries and other issues is big, and only four players got into all 33 games.
“If it doesn’t affect your starting lineup, it affects your whole overall rotation in terms of who plays,” said Major. “Every time you have an incident like that, you’re coaching a different team.”
Victor Nickerson missed the Great Alaska Shootout with a sprained ankle, which took him out of the starting lineup for a while. Darion Clark missed the UMass game with an ankle injury. DeMario Mayfield, who averaged 14.3 points per game in the first six Atlantic 10 games, was suspended on January 30 and dismissed just over three weeks later for a violation of athletic department policy. JT Thompson tore the ACL in his right knee on at Temple, the third such injury in his career.
“I’m very, very proud of a team that had to wear a lot of different hats this year,” said Major. “Our roster took a lot of different changes.”
And meanwhile, in February the 49ers struggled, going 2-5. But they didn’t fold. They regrouped to win their last two regular season games to finish 8-8 in the Atlantic 10, then beat Richmond in the conference tournament.
“I feel like this team is willing to run through a wall for one another, and that’s where that family bond and chemistry come in handy,” said sophomore guard Pierria Henry. “That’s why we’re going to be a scary team.”
Next year’s team certainly projects to be better as they head into Conference USA. The 49ers are making the move so the football program can play in the FBS subdivision, but the basketball program looks to be in good shape. They will miss Braswell, but Henry is a two-year starting point guard that will lead the way along with freshman Willie Clayton, who is a load inside. They want to be more of a running team and feel like they can do that since they have some depth. They bring back most other significant contributors as well, and Major felt the best thing about the freshmen was that they never hit a wall.
“I never felt like they just crashed and couldn’t go another day,” said Major.
The 49ers should be more confident in addition to their added experience from this season, and the success should be a driver as well. This team should come in feeling like they were rewarded for their effort this season, and then be hungry for the next step – the NCAA Tournament. And with all the adversity they battled, they should be ready for anything that gets thrown at them.
“We’ve been through a lot, we fought through a lot, we accomplished a lot, and we’re still young,” said Henry.
Major said he hopes to boost the non-conference schedule next season now that his team will have more experience and has won against a certain level of schedule. They will be in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which will include Georgetown, Kansas State, Michigan and VCU. They will play at Florida State in a return game and are looking to fill in some home dates.
Since Major took over three years ago, the program has made consistent strides. In his first season, the 49ers managed with at times six scholarship players and just eight in all but one game. Last season, they improved their Atlantic 10 and overall record, and this year won 21 games and went 8-8 in arguably the best year of the Atlantic 10. They appear well-positioned to enter Conference USA as a contender with much of this team back and having established strong intangibles that should help carry them along the way. That will make it easier for the initial disappointment of losing to end the season to gradually fade away, as it usually does.
