Charlotte, NC – The Charlotte men’s basketball team held its first official practice of the 2021-2022 season during media day Tuesday afternoon at Halton Arena. The event marked the unofficial start of the Charlotte men’s basketball season.
The current 17 member roster will feature five seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen. The team will welcome back its leading scorer from a year ago, two-time All-Conference junior Jahmir Young (Upper Malboro, MD / DeMatha Catholic HS). Young finished fourth in the league in scoring a year ago, notching 18 points per game, including 24 double-figure scoring games. The team also brings back its third leading scorer in junior forward Brice Williams. Williams saw action in 25 games with 14 starts while racking up over nine points per game.
Now in his fourth year with the program, 49ers Head Coach Ron Sanchez has brought in some new faces to help turn around a team that finished 9-16 a year ago.
“We recruited some maturity and experience from higher level programs to help us grow up and get older,” Sanchez told the Charlotte Basketball Network. “Musa Gallow (Ohio State), Clyde Trapp (Clemson) and Austin Butler (Holy Cross) are all guys that have played a lot of minutes. They have played in some big games, so their experience is going to be one of our strengths as we move forward. I’m really excited for them to share that with our young guys and give us that boost of maturity that we need.”
With Williams sitting out all of practice due to an injury, Sanchez will take the ‘wait-and-see’ approach to determine which of his players will help bolster an offense that finished 13th in the league in scoring last season. “We can practice all we want, but it’s not until the games really matter that we’ll see the cream rise to the top. Right now, I think all of our upper classmen are going to play a big role in helping this team.”
With that in mind, here are three things we learned Tuesday.
1. This team is still building chemistry
Sanchez told media that the due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has not had many opportunities to be together. With five new transfers, Sanchez has invested a lot of time this season in bringing the team together more to help build chemistry on and off the court.
2. Clyde Trapp Jr. could have a breakout season
The senior transfer from Clemson spent some time in practice locked on the team’s best player Jamir Young. Sanchez acknowledged he put the two against each other so they can challenge each other in practice and does expect the two to see time together on the floor this season. The 6’4 Trapp is an explosive guard who can help take pressure off of Young in the backcourt.
3. Be patient
With nearly half the team playing in its first season with the program, it may take time for this group to gel. Sanchez told us his main goal for the team this season is to be as good as they possibly can be by time the conference tournament rolls around in March of 2022.
