I was looking through some of my old Niner collectibles recently and came across the 97-98 Sports Illustrated College Hoops preview. Just wanted to share for those new to the program.
We were projected Sweet 16 and had a half page write up on our team. We didn’t realize how good we had it back then.
[b] (13) UNC Charlotte [/b]
Don't forget the 49ers when talking about tough teams on Tobacco Road
During the upcoming season coach Melvin Watkins will occasionally march his 49ers out of sparkling, year-old Halton Arena and hold practice in Belk Gym, the 49ers’ old home court, which is known as the Mine Shaft because of its damp air and poor lighting. Watkins, who has spent his entire working life employed at UNC Charlotte, doesn’t want the players in his spiffed-up program to forget what things used to be like. “Teams used to beg us to turn on the lights in the old gym,” says Watkins, "and we had to keep telling them, ‘They’re on, we swear.’ "
When Watkins played for the 49ers from 1973-74 to 1976-77, they never lost a game in the Mine Shaft and, led by Cedric Maxwell, advanced to the '77 Final Four, where they lost to eventual national champion Marquette. A year later Watkins had his degree in economics and was hired as an assistant coach. He spent the next 18 years working under three coaches—and through numerous rebuilding efforts—until he was promoted before last season. He responded by guiding UNC Charlotte (22-9) to the Conference USA White Division title and a first-round upset of Georgetown in the NCAA tournament. “I guess I’ve seen this program come full circle,” he says. “Maybe we’ve even gone around twice.”
Leading the way for the [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/Charlotte_49ers/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm]49ers[/url] this season will be 6'9", 250-pound power forward DeMarco Johnson, who is the conference's top returning scorer, having averaged 18.8 points per game last season. Johnson, a [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/Charlotte_49ers/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm]Charlotte[/url] native whose family lives 10 minutes from campus, cut his body fat in half during the off-season while hugely increasing his upper-body strength. He's joined by senior point guard Sean Colson, who led the conference in assists last season and torched [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/Georgetown/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm]Georgetown[/url] for 24 points in the [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/National_Collegiate_Athletic_Association/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm]NCAAs[/url]. "We want to be a part of Tobacco Road with all the other great schools around here, like [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/North_Carolina/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm]North Carolina[/url] and Duke," says Johnson. "If we keep winning, maybe we'll get a chance to join them. We've gotten noticed, and that's the hard part."
On Oct. 31 the team was hit with bad news when doctors discovered that 6’8" freshman forward Charles Hayward from Alexandria, La., the highest rated recruit ever signed by the 49ers, had leukemia. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments and his future playing status is unclear.
Newcomers who will be counted on to help out in his absence are junior forward Kelvin Price, a transfer from Southwestern Louisiana who’s now eligible to play, and junior Galen Young, a slashing swingman from Northwest Community College in Senatobia, Miss. Young may be the most spectacular of the additions, as he showed by winning UNC Charlotte’s Midnight Madness slam-dunk contest with a jam that shook the rafters at Halton Arena.
At that moment it became clear what all the fuss is about southwest of Chapel Hill. It appears the 49ers put as much effort into building their team as they did in the construction of their arena.
As a Soph in college at that time, I just figured thats how it would always be. Probably the most talented team we’ve had since our final 4 team. Too bad Shaw played with an injury that entire year, and obviously the Charles Hayward tragedy.
A lot to be proud of in our past. Hope we can get back there.
[quote=“Iron9er, post:3, topic:25950”]I miss that team
As a Soph in college at that time, I just figured thats how it would always be. Probably the most talented team we’ve had since our final 4 team. Too bad Shaw played with an injury that entire year, and obviously the Charles Hayward tragedy.
A lot to be proud of in our past. Hope we can get back there.[/quote]
We really didn’t have any idea how good we had it, did we? We were too busy thinking about how much more we wanted in the future. When will we make the Sweet 16? Can we get past that?
SI was telling people not to over look us on tobacco road? Really? No, really? I mean, REALLY? :sigh: I know it must be true, I was there. That did happen, didn’t it?
[quote=“Iron9er, post:3, topic:25950”]I miss that team
As a Soph in college at that time, I just figured thats how it would always be. Probably the most talented team we’ve had since our final 4 team. Too bad Shaw played with an injury that entire year, and obviously the Charles Hayward tragedy.
A lot to be proud of in our past. Hope we can get back there.[/quote]
I mentioned in the Shout Box how seeing freshmen like Phil Jones and Thorne reminds me of Hayward. In the sense that as big men they need a little time to develop. But Hayward was already ready as a freshman. He wasn’t necessarily ready with a full arsenal of offense. But he could run the floor, block shots and get rebounds with the best of them. I really believe he had a possible Kenyon Martin type future ahead of him. Very sad.
I cant decide how reading threads like this make me feel. On one side it reminds me of better days and hopefully we can feel that way again on the other hand it reminds me how far we have fallen.
Shed a tear reading this. First few years of season tix for me as an alum. Driving to games was exciting. Who could have predicted what happened? Fallen like a rock. Depressing.
Very depressing - My first year with season tickets was 1996, the first year in Halton and to think that those last 90s teams really had us feeling like we were on the cusp of something special and big. We had every opportunity to step up and keep the thing rolling by adding football when USF did and we failed epically.
It was a heck of a run though and all we can hope is that one day we get back there.
Depressing, more so than uplifting for me. I enrolled in 1991 so I got to enjoy some great players/teams in person, as well as the season noted above as an early alum. Seeing a couple games in the Mineshaft prior to enrolling was a great experience as well.
This thread reminds me of Tony Soprano saying “‘Remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation.” There are times where I believe in my heart we’ll get back to the “good ol’ days” but then there are times where I feel like we already peaked as a basketball program. I just try to enter each season with the hope that “this is the year” and accept that we cannot turn back the clock.
My junior year. That team started off 3-5 too. Ranked in the pre-season top 25, lost the 1st game at Miami and the 2nd game up at App St in their old gym. I went up to that game and remember Dee Tolliver started at SG. Went up to the GW game about a month later and watched DeMarco and Colson torch them for 30+ a piece only for us to lose that game too. Turned our season around once conference play started and I went to Cincy for conference tourney. Made the finals losing to Cincy. Beat Illinois-Chicago in 1st round and should have beat Chapel Hill in 2nd round.
Fun times back in those days. We played in the conference finals my sophomore (losing to Marquette), junior (losing to Cincy), and senior (beat Louisville) years. I thought it was our birthright to play for the conference championship. Won it in '01 too.
[quote=“N1NER, post:17, topic:25950”]My junior year. That team started off 3-5 too. Ranked in the pre-season top 25, lost the 1st game at Miami and the 2nd game up at App St in their old gym. I went up to that game and remember Dee Tolliver started at SG. Went up to the GW game about a month later and watched DeMarco and Colson torch them for 30+ a piece only for us to lose that game too. Turned our season around once conference play started and I went to Cincy for conference tourney. Made the finals losing to Cincy. Beat Illinois-Chicago in 1st round and should have beat Chapel Hill in 2nd round.
Fun times back in those days. We played in the conference finals my sophomore (losing to Marquette), junior (losing to Cincy), and senior (beat Louisville) years. I thought it was our birthright to play for the conference championship. Won it in '01 too.[/quote]
Starting slow and finishing strong USED to be a hallmark of Niner teams. Also helped that we played ina conference that had enough cache that starting slow didnt ruin our tourny chances.
I was there to at App St when they stunned us. Their students rushed the court. One made a fatal mistake of running into DeMarco, he shoved him off and the kid went backwards about 8 feet, got back up and proceeded to the middle of the court.
[quote=“N1NER, post:17, topic:25950”]My junior year. That team started off 3-5 too. Ranked in the pre-season top 25, lost the 1st game at Miami and the 2nd game up at App St in their old gym. I went up to that game and remember Dee Tolliver started at SG. Went up to the GW game about a month later and watched DeMarco and Colson torch them for 30+ a piece only for us to lose that game too. Turned our season around once conference play started and I went to Cincy for conference tourney. Made the finals losing to Cincy. Beat Illinois-Chicago in 1st round and should have beat Chapel Hill in 2nd round.
Fun times back in those days. We played in the conference finals my sophomore (losing to Marquette), junior (losing to Cincy), and senior (beat Louisville) years. I thought it was our birthright to play for the conference championship. Won it in '01 too.[/quote]This was my first trip to see the Niners in the NCAAs. Perhaps the best basketball weekend of my life.
