The first change the program made was to shorten their name from North Carolina at Charlotte to just the Charlotte 49ers.  After Al McGuire from Marquette told Rose during last year’s NIT that there were ‘about 100 programs in this country (not very prominent) with a name like yours and I can beat them all.  But I am not sure I can beat yours.”  That is when they decided to change their name.   Of course the mighty Independent Warriors did beat the 49ers and ironically are one of the cornerstone programs of this new Super Conference.  Maybe Al put in a good word for his friend Lee?  The 49ers have nowhere near the pedigree of some of these teams in this conference but they are not going to back down either.  Still, the team from Charlotte does not have a complete enough roster to compete day in and day out with these great old school programs. Yet!   Rose has supposedly taken advantage of the move up in the ranks and recruited one of the best freshmen classes in the country, especially up front.  Good thing because they are going to need it competing in the same league with Mikan, Unseld and Hogue. 

The 49ers are gifted with a fabulous front court player themselves in the magnificent Maxwell.  The 49ers have had a tough time finding the components to fit in around him up front but the positive is that Cornbread can play anywhere.   The basis for another great program in basketball mad North Carolina was in place and with all of their players being underclassmen and probably coming back for more things looked promising in Charlotte.  That is of course if the conductor of this orchestra stayed around to watch his kids complete their symphony. 

AS awesome as Maxwell was, he is not the only thing Charlotte had going for them.  The one thing about the 49ers was there was no dominant center but there are several interchangeable parts that Rose can move around.  One of them came in with Maxwell and will leave with his friend and sidekick next year after playing side by side for four years.  Fellow junior forward Lew Massey was about as consistent as they come for the 49ers.  Massey can flat shoot jumpers.  He did not have crazy range but was dead on from 15 feet and in.  Massey is a terrific athlete and can also score inside.  ‘Sweet Lew’ is one heck of an all-around offensive player who is more of a wing than an inside player.  The ‘Machine Gun’ can flat fill it up and is not afraid to fire.  He also has an array of moves in the open court including one of the best spin moves off the dribble in the country.  This 6’4202 pound Charlotte kid did not travel far away from home and he was almost as vital to the success of this team as Cornbread.  He actually lead the team in scoring and was the perfect running mate to Maxwell’s candidacy for Mayor of Charlotte.  Juniors Geoff Bomer and Kevin King are both 6’7 and more natural three’s so give Rose some options.  This duo bring more to the table then you might think and if Massey was not so important would get more minutes.  Both are multi-faceted players with Bomer being one of the best passers on the team and King is a terrific defender. 

Rose rotated at the other three positions. Juniors Chad Kinch and George Jackson took over the other wing opposite Massey and both showed they can flat score. Jackson has crazy range from the perimeter and is not afraid to pull the trigger.  Kinch is more athletic and loves to dunk on the big guys.  Both can play and Rose was hard pressed to keep one of them on the bench.  Rose put them in often together in three guard sets and it was very effective.  Both are quick enough to guard quicker guards and can handle and distribute like point guards.  Kinch, at 6’4, is big enough to guard smaller threes and both can flat score and in Conference USA you have to score to compete against the Big Dogs.  Kinch is one of the first recruits to come from outside of the Carolinas as this team tries to go national recruiting.   Kinch was a big time recruit from Jersey and there are more coming from the Garden State including a stud JC kid from Trenton. 

Seniors Bob Lemmond and Ben Basinger plus juniors Norris ‘Junge Love’ Dae and Robert Earl Blue traded off at the other post opposite Maxwell.  They are decent low post players who can score a little and board some but their ‘time’ has come and gone in Charlotte.  None are even close to Maxwell’s talent and are nowhere near big enough (6’7 and 6’5 for both Basinger and Dae) to hang with Mikan or even the human wall that is the 6’7 Unseld.   If Lemon does not make the opening day roster perhaps he can make it as a utility player up in Cleveland?  Strangely, there is a connection with Minneapolis (or at least Prince) with the other two guys and if you can’t figure that one out you probably should not be reading this.  A couple of sophomores, Melvin Johnson and Cedric Ball, have a better chance of keeping up down low though admittedly neither is going to remind you of Mikan.  Both have some moves down low but Johnson is more of a rim prtector (6’9) while Ball is a terrific dunker who is not afraid to slam over anyone.  Ball is much better on the boards however and got a few more minutes due to this when this he got moved up from the JV.  Johnson was actually having a productive first half of the year starting next to Maxwell and Massey up front but wore down as the year went.  After all he may be 6’9 but only goes 210 which does not bode well for jumping into this new league.  Ball is not much thicker (6’8 210) but way more athletic and played well when he got on the court.  He fit in well and was scoring well as he can finish with the best of them and will defend on the blocks.    Neither of them are big enough to guard huge centers and that might be the biggest weakness of this team.  Maxwell played a lot of post on defense and has the toughness and ability to hang in there especially at the four but against the likes of Unseld and Mikan he, too, will be overmatched. His compadres are in real trouble unless Rose’s recruits are bigger and thicker on this much too small of a front line for the rigors of this great new conference.  There is at least one 7 footer (actually 7’2) coming in from overseas and a highly recruited 6’11 kid from Texas by way of UCLA coming to Charlotte so there is hope.  They might be projects but when nobody on your roster is above 6’9 you take what you can get especially when you are joining a league that features the 6’10 monster that is Mikan.

Point guard was something to watch.  First, the incumbent Junior Melvin Watkins flat was the starter primarily due to his attitude and leadership (or so Rose and Maxwell say).  Not overly gifted, Watkins is a leader and a winner and does what it takes to win.  Oh and this Reidsville NC kid goes 6’4 204.  He was pushed hard by the much more talented sophomore Byron Dinkins but did not give an inch.  Dinkins is cat quick and can shoot.  This hometown kid was the best true point guard on the team as he can score and pass.  By the end of the year he was splitting time with Watkins but never got a start.  He is just better than Watkins but Rose loves his team leader and would not make the switch.  Fellow sophomores Keith Williams and Phil Ward split time on the JV and are solid players but will not be moving up the totem pole any time this year unless something bad happens in Charlotte.  Junior Sheldon Shipman once played with Watkins in the back court but lost a truck loas of minutes last year and will almost for sure be at the deep end of the bench this season.  He is not exactly a dork but Sheldon does not have the athleticism to play against the bullies of C-USA. 

Now back to the Cornbread.  Maxwell is talented for sure but what sets him apart more than anything is his competitiveness.  This cat will back down from no one.  Sure he is one of the most imaginative low post players you will ever see who is more than adept at coming up with every possible way of scoring around the basket.  He loves his little jump hook and even likes drawing contact with a pump fake more and going to the foul line after he makes a shot.  Even though he is the star of the team does not mind doing the dirty work and helps out on almost every facet of the game.  He is a terrific screener who will knock you on your butt and will not help you up.  He is a gifted passer and is the best rebounder by far on the team and maybe in the league for his size (six eight and about 230).  His famous nickname came from a movie he was watching with teammate Melvin Watkins (they are very close) and something like that sticks but this kid is much more than a nickname.  He earned second team All-League status and easily could have been first team in a talent full league.  Maxwell was not just the best player on this team, he was also the emotional leader and the physical presence and intimidator that every team needs.  His conflicts with others have become well known and he has no problem letting the other team (and the media) knows how he feels.  He will talk crap to opponents before, during and after games but he does back it up.  

The ‘Charlotte’ 49ers made a huge splash on the national scene in the last few years and done well enough to get an invite to the new super league Conference USA to hopefully challenge the big boys for supremacy.  It was pretty obvious why this new league would want this team with a fresh new innovative coach, a star player with a great nickname and most importantly they were square in the middle of ACC company.  Now why the 49ers would want to leave the friendly confines of the Sun Belt was another story.  Obviously, they were going to hit while the iron was hot and show the world (and the Carolina schools) that the city of Charlotte could play basketball as well as Tobacco Road.  Lee Rose has built this team around a charismatic big man who loves to joke but is as gifted an all-around post player as there is in North Carolina.  Cornbread Maxwell was the Man in Charlotte and his legend is only getting bigger.  Now if Rose can find some others who can complement their superstar and most importantly if some of the big men he has recruited can hang with the behemoths of this new megaconference all will be well in Charlotte.  Of course, you can hear the ‘hornets’ buzzing waiting for this program to implode!  But with Cornbread in town and his trusty sidekick ‘Sweet Lew’ in tow these 49ers might just ‘catch’ the power teams napping and shock the world once again.