Post your emails to the AD here:

49ers Basketball Forum 🏀
1

Ms. Rose, Mr. Spease, Ms. Whitestone, and Mr. Hummer:

I hope you have received several other emails of the same ilk as this one in the past few weeks. Nonetheless, I write to express supreme disappointment with the state of our men’s basketball program and the steady decline it has experienced since my first year at the school, in 2007. Even then, my freshman year, we were a one-and-done in the NIT and two years removed from our last NCAA tournament appearance. Now, nearly a decade later, the NIT seems like a hardly-achievable ambition. Making the NCAA tournament is purely fantasy.

Of course, we have fired one coach and “fired” another for underperforming, even as the bar regressed lower and lower each year. Lutz was canned after an abomination of a contract restructure/extension because he could not get us to the dance. Under Major, “the goal is to play in the post season.” Under Price, are we just trying to limp into the CUSA tournament—is that now the goal?

I am appalled of the last decade of college basketball at Charlotte. We have gone from “perennially pesky contenders” to “has-beens” to “sadly in decline” to “absolutely unwatchable and fundamentally atrocious.” The program has had its attendance decline consistently. The 49er Club’s donations are stagnant and the base has not grown, despite thousands more alumni in a large and thriving metropolitan city. The fan base has beaten dog syndrome. The discussions about basketball online and in person are completely toxic. It has not been enjoyable to be a fan of the program since the All-In year, my freshman year. We have lost an entire generation of fans through student apathy, even as our former peers such as ECU, Louisville, UCF, Memphis, et al. are now exceeding expectations, in some cases contending for league or national championships, or making real changes when they do not meet those goals.

According to the unofficial count, 227 different teams have been to the NCAA tournament since our last appearance. Many of those, such as Northwestern and University of North Florida have made their first appearances. Some of them have only become D-1 and eligible for the NCAA tournament since our last appearance. This, to me, is the most telling indictment of the state of our program…we are now being outpaced by basketball programs in conferences that, for all intents and purposes, did not exist at this level 12 years ago.

(CONTINUED)

2

As a donor,[1] alumnus,[2] customer,[3] and fan[4] who has Norm the Niner tattooed on my left arm and is in this for life, I (along with the dwindling number of the rest of us who still care) am absolutely entitled to answers to the following questions:

  1.        What is the ultimate goal for the men’s basketball program next year? 

  2.        If that goal is not met, what changes will be made in order to reach that goal?

  3.        What is the athletic department doing, right now, to put the men’s basketball coaching staff in a better position to succeed next year?

  4.        What specific action items will be put into place to improve attendance and game-day atmosphere at Halton Arena next year?

  5.        What are the Athletic Department’s short and long-term goals for engagement or re-engagement of alumni and students, as well as the general public?

  6.        What activities, if any, is the Athletic Department undertaking in order to maximize TV, internet streaming, new media, radio, and 49er club revenue, and what new or improved media engagement should we expect next year so that our fans can watch and interact with the program more often in more meaningful ways, while also bolstering the program’s bottom line?

  7.        What checks and balances have been or will be put in place in order to ensure that these goals are met or exceeded?  Who will be held accountable if the goals are not met?

8 ) Should we, as fans, expect to hear from the Athletic Department in an official capacity, either through a press release or in-depth newspaper interview, about the state of the program and the plan of action for getting it turned around?

I appreciate your consideration and look forward to your response.

[1] I’ve donated $49 to the athletic department each of the last two years, and would donate MUCH more if I thought the money would be put to good use

[2] Class of 2011

[3] I live out of state, but have purchased the CUSA.tv stream to watch our games, even though it works less than 49% of the time, which is an entirely different discussion for another time

[4] I still, somehow, care enough to write you this email…there aren’t many of us left

3

Can we please get a unifying message? Price will not be fired (and shouldn’t be) after just 2 years; but it is clear if things do not change we will be awful again.

I propose that we email the AD asking for a shakeup among the assistant coaches in order to facilitate better recruiting and the instruction of defense and rebounding.

My email -

I want to voice my displeasure with the men’s basketball program.

This year our program ranked 243 in RPI - the worst in program history.

I supported the AD’s decision to fire Lutz and to let Major leave on a medical leave of absence. That being said, both had signature wins over top 25 teams and brought in solid recruiting classes, which gave some reason for optimism. Thusfar Price has 1 recruit this year and 1 win against the top 100 over the past 2 years. We also rank in the bottom 300 in both defense and rebounding margin per the NCAA official website.

[size=14pt]I am not asking you to fire Coach Price, I get how that would be a PR nightmare after only 2 years, but the writing is on the wall. Therefore, I implore you to pressure him into making a change among his assistant coaching staff. [/size]

This coaching staff cannot coach defense and cannot recruit. If no change is made we will again be historically awful next year. Please be proactive with this matter. Charlotte basketball is already at historic lows in ranking and attendance (since we moved to Halton). The bleeding must stop.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I do appreciate all our chancellor and AD has done for the school over the past decade plus.

Benjamin Hemingway | Class of 2010

4

I think those emails are too long. You have a better chance of getting the point across if you condense them.

5

clt wants wins.

6

normally i would agree, but my emails of simply “Please retire” also weren’t working.

7

Too late. Already sent. Also, I wanted to make mine twice as long but trimmed it down.

8

Mine was longer, but I condensed it and then put the part about changing assistants in size 14 font. I think mine was still fairly concise.

I encourage everyone else to email about changing assistants.

9

normally i would agree, but my emails of simply “Please retire” also weren’t working.[/quote] Well said. ;D

10

I’ll send one today.

11

I have the following email saved in draft, and am waiting until I absolutely can’t take it anymore to send it.

Subject: F*CK YOU JUDY ROSE
Email Message: (Blank)

Blank, because no other words are needed. It’s not registering with her that the students, athletes, and fans deserve better - so why waste time trying to convince a 65 year old woman of where she’s continuously failing? She’s too dense to care.

When she leaves, the move will be celebrated by the school for 1 reason, and by fans for another. Just ready to get it over with.

12

Good emails! More than anything, a response from Rose would be much appreciated. Personally, the next official statement I want from Rose is a letter of resignation. It’s time for a complete shakeup of our Athletic Department! Get with the picture Chancellor and BOT’s!

13

I love the emails, but last time I sent her an email like that she basically told be to stfu and that she judges success on a much broader spectrum. Kudos to you guys for trying though.

14

I emailed last night. It wasn’t too long or too short. It wasn’t mean and it was simply to ask a few questions.

It was to three different people in the AD and I received no responses today.

15

I have a draft I’ve been working on but have been swamped at work…

My email is going to CHP, with a cc to Judy…everyone else in the AD is a yes man and really don’t deserve the attention.

I really want to figure out a way to get the Observer to write something with some depth…after the tournament is over of course.

16

[quote=“s9er, post:15, topic:30865”]My email is going to CHP, with a cc to Judy…everyone else in the AD is a yes man and really don’t deserve the attention.

I really want to figure out a way to get the Observer to write something with some depth…after the tournament is over of course.[/quote]

IMO this is the most effective tactic we have.

It has to be more than our dwindling hard core fans to get our message out. Having Observer do an in depth article would put pressure on her “whales” since they are our driving force in devision making. They dont like too look bad. If we could get the Biz Journal to do an in depth article on the opportunity cost $ lost would also be great.

A lot of transplants to this area would like something to get behind and we need that mentality along with engaging our alumni.

17

Cc the Observer and entire AD in email to CHP. Leave no doubt what’s being said. Create unrest.

18

i second this.

19

Yup. If someone emailed you that sucked at your job, would you voluntarily forward it to your boss?

20

This should DEFINITELY be addressed to Chancellor Dubois and copied to the B.O.T.

After 25 years in the 49er Club, I just wish I cared…[font=verdana][size=2px]r Club, I just wish that I cared…[/size][/font]