[i]Originally posted by DiamondDuste[/i]@Nov 28 2004, 11:16 PM
[b] First things first, I would like to extend a big hello from all the Alabama faithful here in Tuscaloosa to the 49er faithful up there in Charlotte.
Myself and three of my friends are going to be making the trip to Charlotte this coming Saturday. I remember that last year’s game was good, and we’re hoping this year is just the same.
It will be my first visit to the city. I’ve travelled through the state before, but I’ve never stopped in Charlotte. What is the campus like? Is the arena even on campus? We’ve got nose bleed seats(Section 222). I know of some other students going, but I’m not sure how many Alabama fans will plan on being there. I’m sure Alabama fans living in the Charlotte area might come to the game. We went up to Xavier last year, and we met some Alabama fans in the Cincinnati area.
Does your student section have a name? I see you guys take up a large portion of the arena. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action(I’ve been a Marks Madness member since 2001, so I’m always curious to see how other student sections compare).
Just curious, how is your team doing this year? Who are your standouts or players you think will have a good year? I forget his name, but I recall you guys having a sharpshooter last year.
Best wishes and here’s to the game on Saturday. You will understand if I hope you all don’t get the outcome you’re hoping for. 
Roll Tide. [/b]
Welcome DiamondDuste,
We have a suburban campus in the NE part of Charlotte. Our arena is on campus and seats 9,105. Even though you are in 222, I think you’ll still have decent seats. There is no official name for the student section, but we call all of our fans Niner Nation. There is a small organized group that calls themselves Gang Green that sits beside our bench. Our students get half of the available tickets for each game, one of the largest student distributions in the NCAA. When our arena is packed and LOUD, Dick Vitale has compared it to Cameron Indoor. I doubt it will get that loud on Saturday, just because you guys are not one of our big rivals, like Louisville or Cincinnati.
We are 2-1 this year. We blew out Long Beach State 93-64, then lost a 15 point 1st half lead, and shot 38% from the FT line in a home loss to Rutgers 73-71. We beat Valpo at their place last night 75-61. We will host LA-Lafayette on Wed. before the Tide rolls into town. We were on the fringe of the Preseason Top 25 polls, and were ranked 19th in the preseason by Sports Illustrated.
We return 4 starters from last year. Our best player is PF Curtis Withers. He was 1st team All-CUSA last season, and was 2nd in the country with 16 double-doubles. He started for the Under-20 Team USA that won the gold medal in Canada this summer. He scored 17 points in the gold medal game. Our C is 7’0" Martin Iti. He was ranked the #1 center in the country coming out of HS in 2003. He went to the NBA draft camp this past summer to find out what he needed to work on. He got some feelers about possibly being a 2nd round pick, but decided to return to school. Our SF is Eddie Basden. He is the reigning CUSA Defensive Player of the Year. He can guard anybody from a PG to a PF. I would expect Winston or Davis will see alot of Mr. Basden. Our SG is Brendan Plavich. He transferred from Vandy 2 years ago, so you may be familiar with him. He led CUSA with 97 made 3-pointers last season. He hit 10 3’s at Syracuse, and 9 more against TCU. So far this season, he is 14-24 from 3, including 7-9 last night at Valpo. His range knows no limits, honestly. Our PG is Mitchell Baldwin. He is a redshirt JR who takes over for the first time this year. He is quite possibly the quickest guard in the country with the ball. This is not hype. He will leave anybody in his dust. He played all 40 minutes and scored 17 points in our win over Louisville last season while filling in for the starting PG, who was suspended.
Key reserves are PG Leemire Goldwire, who was HS Player of the Year in FLA this past season, SF EJ Drayton, a JUCO who was ranked 3rd at his position, and PF Chris Nance, a 6’8" bruiser that will fight for every rebound, and has a soft shooting touch.
We will look to push the ball on offense, and the 3 is a great weapon for us. Withers is our centerpiece in the post. On “D” we will show multiple looks from press to matchup zone to any number of junk defenses designed to confuse the offense.
Hope this helps. I think it will be a great game on Saturday. We’re pulling for the Tide all season, except for Sat! 
