Athletics

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen was at Richardson Stadium March 17 to film a promo for the upcoming Showmars HEARTest Yard 5K on Saturday, April 9.

Proceeds from the 5K support the Levine Children’s Hospital. Olsen, through his foundation, established the HEARTest Yard initiative, a cutting-edge program that provides families of babies affected by congenital heart disease with a multitude of services. The Levine Children’s Hospital administers the program.

The Charlotte 49ers football program will open the 2016 spring season with spring practice starting Saturday, March 19. The spring season will conclude with the annual Green-White Game at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 23. This fall, the 49ers will begin their second season in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of Conference USA.

Head coach Brad Lambert returns 17 starters and 54 letter winners from the 2015 season.

Returners include second team all-Conference USA selections Larry Ogunjobi and Kalif Phillips. 

Ulrick Edmonds is the outside linebackers coach for the Charlotte 49ers football team. Edmonds, who served as the quality control director for N.C. State’s football program for the past two years, was a long-time assistant at James Madison University, his alma mater. He also had a short stint as linebackers coach at Old Dominion University.

The Harlem Globetrotters will bring their family show to Halton Arena for two performances on Saturday, March 26, during the team’s 90th anniversary world tour. Game times are 2 and 7 p.m.

Student-athletes excel on the fields and courts, and intercollegiate athletics plays a major role at colleges and universities. For Mark Verburg, the men and women who comprise Charlotte 49ers teams are students first.

The Charlotte 49ers have released the 12-game 2016 football schedule, which includes five contests with 2015 bowl teams and rematches of each Conference USA game played during the 49ers debut in the league, last season.  In 2016, Charlotte compete in its second season at the FBS level as a member of Conference USA and its first with bowl eligibility.

Professional tennis player and North Carolina native John Isner is bringing his annual Ebix Charity Challenge to UNC Charlotte’s Halton Arena on Thursday, Feb. 4. Tickets for general admission start at $35; discounted tickets for UNC Charlotte faculty and staff start at $10. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the exhibition starts at 7:30 p.m.

Lee Rose, former Charlotte 49ers men’s basketball coach who has devoted more than 50 years to the sport, has been nominated for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. The list of candidates for the 2016 class was released by the Basketball Hall of Fame, and included Rose, who guided the 49ers to the 1976 NIT Finals and the 1977 NCAA Final Four.

Rose’s impact on the sport spanned every level across six decades, including experience at the high school, NAIA, NCAA Div. I, II and III, NBDL, NBA and International levels.

Dean Hood has joined the Charlotte 49ers football program as assistant head coach and tight ends coach. He spent the last eight years as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky and also served as Wake Forest’s defensive coordinator.

Charlotte 49ers red-shirt junior nose tackle Larry Ogunjobi and junior running back Kalif Phillips are the first football players in 49ers history to earn all-conference honors; they were named to the 2015 all-Conference USA Second Team.

“It’s a good honor for them individually and for us as a program, as we take the next step” said 49ers head coach Brad Lambert. “These are two guys that have been here since our first season in 2013, and they’ve worked extremely hard and put themselves in position to be successful. They’re both humble guys who show up and work every day.”