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Deep and Talented
49ers could improve on last season's 20 wins
Charlie Coley led UNC Charlotte in rebounds and blocked shots last season.
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Published: November 14, 2008
Updated: 11/13/2008 09:00 pm
Bobby Lutz won't go so far as to say that UNC Charlotte will be better than it was last season, when it won 20 games, finished a surprising fourth in the Atlantic 10 and played in the NIT.
Lutz hedges his bets by saying that this season's 49ers will be "different" from last year's.
But in this case, different should translate to better, because eight of the top 10 players from last season return, and all are capable of being in the rotation. That gives Lutz options he hasn't had in the past.
"If we can stay healthy, I think we can do a lot of different things," said Lutz, who is entering his 11th season.
"We can play big, and then we can also play smaller. The depth of our team and the ability to pressure and pick up the tempo offensively and defensively, that's what our team's about."
The 49ers were picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10's preseason poll.
Lutz's frontcourt is intact from last season.
Lamont Mack, a 6-7 senior, leads the group after averaging 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. He averaged 15.6 points in league games and became more assertive as the season progressed.
Charlie Coley, a 6-7 senior and former JuCo transfer, averaged 8.7 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds and led the team in blocked shots. An'Juan Wilderness, a 6-6 sophomore, made the Atlantic 10 all-rookie team after averaging 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds.
The frontcourt has depth with Phil Jones, a 6-10 sophomore, and Gaby Ngoundjo, a 6-7 sophomore.
In the backcourt, Lutz must replace Leemire Goldwire, a three-year starter and last season's leading scorer with 18.6 points a game. DiJuan Harris, a 5-9 junior, started 30 games, led the A-10 in assists-to-turnover ratio and is the point guard.
Goldwire's spot will be filled by committee. Ian Andersen, a 6-4 junior who averaged 5.8 points as the sixth man, is the projected starter, but Rashad Coleman, a 6-5 junior, could be a bigger scorer.
Also capable of breaking into the rotation are Charles Dewhurst, a 6-5 sophomore, and 6-6 Javarris Bennett, a redshirt freshman.
The 49ers lost some firepower when freshman Shamarr Bowden, the leading scorer during an exhibition trip to Canada, was lost for the season with a knee injury.
"Last year, we had two great players, and the others were role players," Lutz said. "This year we have a number of guys that I think can lead us in scoring on any given night. It's a different kind of challenge as a coach. Everyone knew last year that Lee was going to get the majority of the shots, although Lamont stepped up as the year went on.
"This year I hope that we can develop a number of different options, and that way we'll be less predictable in that we have different guys that can step up in the last four or five minutes of a game.
"I don't think we have one guy that's going to average 18, 20 a game, but I really believe we're going to have great balance. No one's going to replace Lee, but we have 10 guys that we're very confident that we can play."
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