| Charlotte 49ers | ||
|---|---|---|
| | ||
| Affiliations | ||
| University | UNC Charlotte | |
| Division | NCAA Division I | |
| Conference | Atlantic 10 (A-10) | |
| General | ||
| Nickname | 49ers | |
| Mascot | Norm the Niner | |
| Colors | Green and white |
|
| Sports | 16 (8 men's, 8 women's) | |
| Athletic Director | Judy Rose | |
| Location | Charlotte, NC | |
| Homepage | Charlotte49ers.com | |
| Facilities | ||
| Football | Charlotte 49ers Football Stadium | |
| Basketball | Dale F. Halton Arena | |
| Baseball | Robert & Mariam Hayes Stadium | |
| Soccer | Transamerica Field | |
| Conference Championships | ||
| Men's Basketball | 1969, 1970, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004 | |
| Women's Basketball | 1990, 2003, 2006 | |
| Golf | 2006, 2007, 2008 | |
| Baseball | 1993, 1994, 1995, 2007, 2008 | |
| Men's Soccer | 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996 | |
| Women's Soccer | 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 | |
| Men's Cross Country | 2002 | |
| Men's Indoor Track | 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010 | |
| Men's Outdoor Track | 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 | |
| Women's Cross Country | 1992, 1993, 1994 | |
| Women's Indoor Track | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 | |
| Women's Outdoor Track | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 | |
The Charlotte 49ers represent the NCAA Division I sports teams of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Charlotte joined the Atlantic 10 in 2005. The 49ers field 16 teams, 8 men and 8 women.
Charlotte's Men's Basketball team reached the Final Four in 1977 and has made consistent NCAA tournament appearances ever since.[1] The golf program was ranked the #1 team in the nation as recently as September 2007.[2] The men's soccer team reached the national championship game of the 2011 College Cup, to compete for the title on Dec. 11 against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tarheels but lost despite dominating play for the majority of the game.
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The athletics department officially changed its name to simply Charlotte in 2000.[3] The school's identity suffered from years of constant confusion and misrepresentations, such as N.C.-Charlotte, N.C.-Char, North Carolina-Charlotte, UNC, UNC-C, UNCC at Charlotte, and others. When the name change was made official, Athletics Director Judy Rose summarized the sentiment that drove the name change:
The official school name remains the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The nickname "49ers" derives from the fact that the university's predecessor—Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina (CCUNC - established in 1946) was saved from being shut down by the state in 1949 by Bonnie Cone, when the Charlotte Center became Charlotte College. Due to this "49er spirit" that Cone felt embodied the University, referring to the settlers that endured much hardships in traveling across the United States to seek fortune in the California Gold Rush, students of the fledgling UNC Charlotte chose "49ers" as the school's mascot. The fact that the site of the U.S.'s first major gold discovery, Reed's Gold Mine, is located nearby may also be a contributing factor to the nickname. The fact that the University's Main Campus front entrance is located on North Carolina Highway 49 is pure coincidence.
Prior to the "49ers" moniker, the athletic teams were known as the "Owls" due to CCUNC's beginnings as a night school.
The primary athletics logo contains a miner's hand and pick-axe as a reference to the Gold Rush. The arm of the Miner forms a "C" representing Charlotte. This logo is frequently used to replace the C in Charlotte when referenced to the university or the athletics programs.
Three secondary logos are also present: The "C" as a stand alone logo, a "4-9-e-r-s" word mark and a logo that incorporates both the "C" and the "4-9-e-r-s" logo. In addition, each sport has a sport-specific logo, consisting of the "C" with the specific icon contained inside.
The new logos replaced the face of a grizzly old Miner and a "4-9-e-r-s" script logo.
Charlotte has had its fair share of intense rivalries. In men's basketball, one of the most heated and intense rivalries was with the Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati Bearcats of Conference USA. Throughout a ten-year period from 1995-96 to 2004-05, Charlotte managed to upset Cincinnati teams ranked #3, #8, #18, #20 in the country.[4][5][6][7] In what became known as the Cincinnati Incident, a brawl broke out between Cincinnati and the Charlotte student section, when a Cincinnati player threw the basketball into the stands. This led to the creation of a 'buffer zone' being implemented behind the visiting team's bench.[8] ESPN commentator Andy Katz provided this explanation on why Charlotte-Cincinnati was one of the juiciest rivalries in the country: "The games are hotly contested usually and the fans in Charlotte don't like Cincinnati. They get up for this game more than any other."[9]
Charlotte's 29-year men's basketball rivalry with the Davidson Wildcats sees Mecklenburg County's only two Division I schools go head-to-head for the Hornet's Nest Trophy. Charlotte leads the series 26-11.[10] Due to a scheduling conflict, the series was on hiatus until the 2010-11 season.[11]
Since Charlotte's move to the Atlantic 10, a clear-cut main conference rival has yet to emerge. Commentators have pointed to the Xavier Musketeers, George Washington Colonials and the Temple Owls as potential rivals. Charlotte has also has had some luck in finding some newer non-conference rivals. Such as Tennessee Volunteers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Clemson Tigers and baseball rivals North Carolina Tar Heels, Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Duke Blue Devils.
Despite a popular and competitive Conference USA in which Charlotte enjoyed rivalries with the likes of Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, and others, the collegiate sports landscape underwent a major restructuring in 2004-2005. C-USA took the most serious hit of any conference,[12] losing many of its most successful members, including Charlotte.
After this dramatic reshuffle, Charlotte received an invitation to join the Atlantic 10 Conference, which it accepted.[13] Since joining the A-10, Charlotte has experienced much success in nearly every category with the exception of the signature sport of men's basketball. During the 49ers first season as an Atlantic 10 member, one overly "enthusiastic" college student wrote that Charlotte had "blown away" the A-10.[14]
Athletic facilities at Charlotte have improved dramatically over the past decade. In 1996 men's basketball returned to campus full-time for the first time in nearly 20 years with the opening of Dale F. Halton Arena. A new outdoor sports facility, the Irwin Belk Track and Field Center, opened in 1999 and serves as the home to the 49ers track and field teams in addition to both men's and women's soccer. Tom & Lib Phillips Field, the baseball facility, underwent a $6 million overhaul that was completed in 2007; the facility was renamed Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium in honor of the renovation's benefactor and her late husband. The golf team's new practice facility at Rocky River Golf Club in Concord was completed in October 2006.
| Sport | Coach (since) | Facility |
| Baseball | Loren Hibbs (1993) | Hayes Stadium |
| Basketball (M) | Alan Major (2010) | Halton Arena |
| Basketball (W) | Cara Consuegra (2011) | Halton Arena |
| Cross Country (M/W) | Ed Schlichter (2009) | |
| Football | Brad Lambert (2011) | McColl-Richardson Field |
| Golf (M) | Ryan Cabbage (2011) | Rocky River Golf Club |
| Soccer (M) | Kevin Langan (2012) | Transamerica Field |
| Soccer (W) | John Cullen (2009) | Transamerica Field |
| Softball | Aimee DeVos (1995) | Phillips Field |
| Tennis (M) | Billy Boykin (2010) | Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex |
| Tennis (W) | Michaela Gorman (2004) | Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex |
| Track/Field (M/W) | Robert Olesen (2003) | Belk Track |
| Volleyball (W) | Chris Redding (2007) | Halton Arena |
The first sports program developed in 1946 (lasted until 1948), in 2006 students and alumni began a push for football to be added to the school. The Board of Trustees approved it in 2008, and with funding approved in 2010, the school will field its first official varsity football program since 1948 in 2013.
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