March 10, 2002

Charlotte, N.C. - For the second straight year and the fifth time in the last six years, the Charlotte 49ers are back in the NCAA dance.

With their ninth NCAA bid, Charlotte (18-11, 11-5 in C-USA) received a #9 seed to the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and will play #8 seed Notre Dame (21-10, 10-6 in BIG EAST), Thursday (Time, TBA), in Greenville, S.C. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

"We're very excited to be back in the tournament," said 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz, who has earned his third NCAA bid in his four years as head coach. "It's interesting that we're in the 8-9 game, once again, but I think the #9 seed is a sign of respect for the fact that we played a really difficult schedule. I'm most happy for our three seniors, who really took our loss (at Cincinnati in C-USA semifinals) to heart. I'm thrilled that they still have more basketball to play."

The 49ers participated in the NCAA's last year, also as a #9 seed, defeating Tennessee in the first round before falling to Illinois in round two. The 49ers, in fact have reached the NCAA second round in each of their last four trips (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) and are one of just 15 schools in the country that have advanced to the second round in four of the last five years.

In the seven years since C-USA was formed, Charlotte has received five NCAA Tournament bids, second among league members to Cincinnati (7). Louisville (4), Marquette (3) and Saint Louis (2) are the other members with multiple bids.

Lutz joins Jeff Mullins (1988, 1992, 1995) as the only coaches in school history to earn three NCAA tournament berths. He joins Melvin Watkins (1997, 1998) as the only 49ers coaches to earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths.

The 49ers are led by senior Academic all-America Jobey Thomas (19.0 ppg, .443 3FG%), who earned first-team all-Conference USA honors. The 49ers starting shooting guard, Thomas has scored 20 or more points in 15 games. Senior forward Cam Stephens (13.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg, .519 FG%) has posted 13 double-doubles this season. A second-team all-Conference USA choice, Stephens averaged a double-double of 15.3 points and 10.4 rebounds in league play.