OK -- so Durham's Not A "Long" Way From Charlotte -- but we already had the graphic made.
From Sunday's Practice at Cameron for the NIT Season Tip-Off:
Neat to see the retired jerseys hanging above the hardwood: Mullins, Gminski, Dawkins, Laettner, Hurley, Hill, Battier … etc and NCAA Final Four banners for 1986, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92 and 94 – that’s a pretty good nine-year run. They say the place seats more than Halton – hard to believe. Must be the bleacher-style seating in the lower level that can pack them in.
Spoke with ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes, who is doing the Duke-Coastal Carolina game Monday night and then the 6:00 p.m. bracket championship game Tuesday. Nice to talk to him about a frontcourt that is four strong, emphasis on strong.
Neat to see the retired jerseys hanging above the hardwood: Mullins, Gminski, Dawkins, Laettner, Hurley, Hill, Battier … etc and NCAA Final Four banners for 1986, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92 and 94 – that’s a pretty good nine-year run. They say the place seats more than Halton – hard to believe. Must be the bleacher-style seating in the lower level that can pack them in.
Spoke with ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes, who is doing the Duke-Coastal Carolina game Monday night and then the 6:00 p.m. bracket championship game Tuesday. Nice to talk to him about a frontcourt that is four strong, emphasis on strong.
Coastal was practicing just before us. Their head coach, Cliff Ellis, first hired Lutz into the collegiate ranks. Lutz was a high school coach before Ellis hired him at Clemson, where he stayed for two seasons before heading on to Pfeiffer. Of course, the rafters here include Jeff Mullins, who first brought Lutz to Charlotte – bringing him on as an assistant coach in 1995. Other Duke ties include Kyle Church's Dad, Robbie, who stopped by for practice. Robbie started the 49ers women's soccer program and now coaches at Duke. His squad was just knocked out of the NCAA tourney this weekend.
As for the 49ers -- I know Derrio Green has yet to score his first point as a 49er – I just get the feeling that when he does – they will start coming in flurries. So many good things came out of the Asheville win – Jones double-double IN THE FIRST HALF, Bowden lighting it up, Dewey controlling the game down the stretch, the Niners going 16-of-16 from line to finish it off. But also nice to see Javarris Barnett hit a couple threes and RaShad Coleman grab six rebounds to go with his nine points.
While completing game notes, I investigated other top freshmen performances, in light of Bowden's 21 and Braswell's double-double. The last 49er freshman to score 20 in his debut: Rodney White (22 vs. Fordham). The most points scored in any game by a 49ers freshman: 33 by Charlotte-native Andre Davis who added a 32-point effort in the same season. He was the Metro Conference Freshman of the Year in 1992-93. Of note: Jarvis Lang put up a 30-point effort in his freshman season, here at Cameron Indoor, in the 49ers first-ever meeting with Duke. In Charlotte's second meeting, the next year, the 49ers came into Cameron ranked nationally with an 11-1 record that included wins over top 25 foes Alabama and DePaul in the Tournament of Champions played in Charlotte. Duke won, but Charlotte went on to a 23-9 season and an NCAA Tournament trip -- all without Lang, who was lost for the season after an injury in the first game of the year and didn't get a chance for his encore at Duke. How good could that team have been with senior Henry Williams and Lang making for a dangerous 1-2 combo.
Meanwhile Braswell owns one double-double in his young career. Former 49er studs Rodney White and Curtis Withers each had three double-doubles in their rookie seasons. Time will tell how Braswell's season/career pans out -- but he's starting off in good company.
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