# 2023–24 Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Charlotte during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by first-year head coach Aaron Fearne, played their home games at Dale F. Halton Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in their first season as members in the American Athletic Conference.

## Previous season

The 49ers finished the 2022–23 season with a record of 22–14, 9–11 in C-USA play to finish in fifth place. As the #5 seed in the C-USA Tournament, they would be defeated by #4 seed Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals. They were invited to play in the CBI, where they defeated Western Carolina in the first round, Milwaukee in the quarterfinals, Radford in the semifinals, and 8th seed Eastern Kentucky to win their first-ever postseason tournament championship. This season marked the team's last season as members of Conference USA, before joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.
On June 6, 2023, head coach Ron Sanchez announced that he would be returning to Virginia as the associate head coach, the role he held prior to his hiring at Charlotte, ending his five year tenure. The following day, associate head coach Aaron Fearne was named interim head coach, with his appointment for the entire 2023–24 season becoming official a week later.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Montre Gipson | 1 | G | 5'11" | 200 | GS Senior | DeSoto, TX | Graduated |
| Brice Williams | 3 | G | 6'7" | 215 | RS Junior | Huntersville, NC | Transferred to Nebraska |
| Regin Larson | 14 | G | 6'6" | 185 | Senior | Charlotte, NC | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Aly Khalifa | 15 | F/C | 6'11" | 230 | RS Sophomore | Alexandria, Egypt | Transferred to BYU |
| Musa Jallow | 21 | G | 6'5" | 210 | GS Senior | Bloomington, IN | Graduated |
| Josh Aldrich | 22 | G/F | 6'8" | 224 | Senior | Wilmington, NC | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Dishon Jackson | 1 | C | 6'10" | 250 | RS Sophomore | Oakland, CA | Washington State |
| Dean Reiber | 21 | F | 6'10" | 225 | RS Junior | Greensboro, NC | Rutgers |
| Iaroslav Niagu | 99 | F | 7'0" | 215 | Sophomore | Krasnodar, Russia | USC |

### 2023 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Nick Richart C | Zionsville, IN | Zionsville High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Dec 4, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Maine | W 69–52 | 1–0 | 15 – Graves | 8 – Milicic Jr. | 4 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,510) Charlotte, NC |
| November 10, 2023* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Liberty He Gets Us Hall of Fame Series | L 59–71 | 1–1 | 13 – Milicic Jr. | 10 – Milicic Jr. | 2 – Tied | Spectrum Center (6,783) Charlotte, NC |
| November 15, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Utah Valley Jacksonville Classic campus game | W 62–45 | 2–1 | 16 – Jackson | 12 – Milicic Jr. | 5 – Graves | Dale F. Halton Arena (2,784) Charlotte, NC |
| November 19, 2023* 5:30 p.m. | | vs. George Mason Jacksonville Classic Coast semifinals | W 54–49 | 3–1 | 18 – Patterson | 13 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Graves | Flagler Gymnasium (351) St. Augustine, FL |
| November 20, 2023* 8:30 p.m. | | vs. UCF Jacksonville Classic Coast championship | L 71–74 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | 21 – Patterson | 10 – Milicic Jr. | 4 – Patterson | Flagler Gymnasium (329) St. Augustine, FL |
| November 25, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia State | W 65–57 | 4–2 | 23 – Patterson | 9 – Jackson | 4 – Milicic Jr. | Dale F. Halton Arena (2,218) Charlotte, NC |
| November 29, 2023* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Davidson | L 81–85 | 4–3 | 19 – Milicic Jr. | 8 – Milicic Jr. | 6 – Graves | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,030) Charlotte, NC |
| December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Stetson | W 85–62 | 5–3 | 19 – Jackson | 9 – Milicic Jr. | 8 – Patterson | Dale F. Halton Arena (2,708) Charlotte, NC |
| December 9, 2023* 2:15 p.m., The CW | | at No. 22 Duke | L 56–80 | 5–4 | 14 – Patterson | 6 – Milicic Jr. | 4 – Patterson | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| December 16, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Richmond | L 56–64 | 5–5 | 13 – Graves | 7 – Patterson | 3 – Tied | Robins Center (5,222) Richmond, VA |
| December 22, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Greensboro | W 91–44 | 6–5 | 21 – Braswell IV | 9 – Tied | 5 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (2,186) Charlotte, NC |
| December 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Stetson | L 75–79 | 6–6 | 22 – Milicic Jr. | 9 – Milicic Jr. | 4 – Patterson | Edmunds Center (457) DeLand, FL |
| AAC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at SMU | L 54–66 | 6–7 (0–1) | 19 – Patterson | 13 – Milicic Jr. | 5 – Graves | Moody Coliseum (4,513) Dallas, TX |
| January 6, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 17 Florida Atlantic | W 70–68 | 7–7 (1–1) | 16 – Patterson | 9 – Jackson | 5 – Patterson | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,785) Charlotte, NC |
| January 10, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tulsa | W 84–76 | 8–7 (2–1) | 20 – Graves | 10 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,066) Charlotte, NC |
| January 13, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at UTSA | W 66–58 | 9–7 (3–1) | 19 – Milicic Jr. | 5 – Tied | 6 – Folkes | Convocation Center (1,202) San Antonio, TX |
| January 16, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rice | W 81–79 $^{OT}$ | 10–7 (4–1) | 22 – Patterson | 8 – Milicic Jr. | 5 – Graves | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,699) Houston, TX |
| January 20, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 56–44 | 11–7 (5–1) | 20 – Patterson | 9 – Tied | 3 – Folkes | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,514) Charlotte, NC |
| January 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | W 76–70 | 12–7 (6–1) | 23 – Patterson | 4 – Tied | 5 – Patterson | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,155) Charlotte, NC |
| January 27, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Tulane | W 75–71 | 13–7 (7–1) | 22 – Milicic Jr. | 13 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Milicic Jr. | Devlin Fieldhouse (2,074) New Orleans, LA |
| February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPNU | | East Carolina | W 67–52 | 14–7 (8–1) | 16 – Patterson | 10 – Milicic Jr. | 7 – Graves | Dale F. Halton Arena (8,201) Charlotte, NC |
| February 6, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at South Florida | L 69–72 | 14–8 (8–2) | 16 – Jackson | 9 – Milicic | 5 – Milicic | Yuengling Center (6,156) Tampa, FL |
| February 11, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Temple | W 73–70 | 15–8 (9–2) | 22 – Patterson | 11 – Tied | 4 – Folkes | Liacouras Center (2,602) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 15, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | W 79–70 | 16–8 (10–2) | 19 – Jackson | 7 – Milicic Jr. | 5 – Folkes | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,706) Charlotte, NC |
| February 18, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Wichita State | W 72–61 | 17–8 (11–2) | 19 – Patterson | 14 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Graves | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,215) Charlotte, NC |
| February 21, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Memphis | L 52–76 | 17–9 (11–3) | 16 – Milicic Jr. | 9 – Jackson | 4 – Graves | FedExForum (10,709) Memphis, TN |
| February 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Tulsa | L 67–69 | 17–10 (11–4) | 20 – Patterson | 12 – Jackson | 5 – Patterson | Reynolds Center (3,341) Tulsa, OK |
| March 2, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 25 South Florida | L 61–76 | 17–11 (11–5) | 17 – Patterson | 5 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (7,024) Charlotte, NC |
| March 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Rice | W 69–64 | 18–11 (12–5) | 26 – Milicic Jr. | 10 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,027) Charlotte, NC |
| March 9, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at East Carolina | W 82–72 | 19–11 (13–5) | 27 – Patterson | 10 – Jackson | 7 – Jackson | Williams Arena (4,548) Greenville, NC |
| AAC tournament |||||||||
| March 15, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | (3) | vs. (11) Temple Quarterfinals | L 54–58 | 19–12 | 17 – Patterson | 16 – Milicic Jr. | 3 – Jackson | Dickies Arena (5,471) Fort Worth, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings