Charlotte Men’s Basketball looks to build off 3rd-place AAC finish in 2024

CHARLOTTE ( CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE ) — Charlotte Men’s Basketball is set to begin a new season with head coach Aaron Fearne back at the helm for a second season.

“The guys have worked really really hard this summer in the weight room and on the floor, just getting together and getting to know each other, and now we’re just a couple weeks out from playing for real,” Fearne said.

Charlotte is looking to build off of an impressive third-place finish in the American Athletic Conference after being picked to finish second to last in the conference last season. This year, the Niners were projected to finish 8th in the AAC preseason coaches poll.

The Niners lost three starters from last season in Igor Miličić, Lu’Cye Patterson and Dishon Jackson, who all transferred to power five programs, but bring in six new transfers, including 6’10 redshirt sophomore transfer from Florida, Aleks Syzmczyk.

“Really happy with what we got and our staff was unbelievable,” Fearne expressed. “You know, really talented players as well that are going to have to come out and carve out their own thing here with this program.”

Charlotte will look to junior guard Nik Graves and senior guard Isaiah Folkes who both played key roles last season.

“I think talent-wise, it’s the same level, honestly. I think we’re just a little more hard-nosed and we’re going to get after people a lot more,” Graves said. “Coach Fearne preaches just being physical all the time so I think you’ll see a lot of that this season.”

Charlotte opens the season on November 4 at home against Presbyterian.

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