GTG has learned that today’s mystery visitor is a transfer from a BCS program.  JJ Richardson, a 6’7 Sophomore PF from the Pitt Panthers is visiting the Charlotte 49ers today.  Richardson, originally from Missouri City, TX has had limited opportunities with the Panthers under Jamie Dixon.  Playing just 208 minutes in his 2 years with Pitt, he’s searching for a new place to take his talents. The consensus 3 star prospect was billed as a rugged PF that was a great role player, the antithesis of Shamari Spears coming out of high school.

Stay tuned to the latest updates on Richardson’s recruitment from GTG.

Looking through our often used Green Tinted Glasses, we’d like to present Charlotte’s case for Joseph Uchebo.  Kentucky, Florida State, Wake Forest and Charlotte. These represent the three schools that the undeclared 2011 center Joseph Uchebo, from Raleigh, was apparently down to on Thursday and the one school he is visiting this weekend. Uchebo was granted his release from NC State after the hiring of Mark Gottfried to replace Sydney Lowe, whom Uchebo committed to in November 2009 while he was still a 2012 recruit.

Last May is when Joseph decided to reclassify to the 2011 class from 2012, which meant graduating high school a year early, something a lot of us didn’t worry about doing without the added strain of playing high-level basketball.

At the time of his decision, Oak Ridge Military Academy head coach Stan Kowalewski was quoted saying, ”He should be able to handle the extra work. There’s no question basketball-wise, he’s ready.”

That may not be the case. According to ESPN recruiting insider, Dave Telep, Uchebo’s reason for de-committing “could be issues qualifying,” which, if true, doesn’t mean he’s a kid who couldn’t graduate on time, but a kid who may not be able to graduate a year early. This could mean that Uchebo is a partial or non-qualifier for the 2011-12 season, which would mean possibly sitting out and even not being able to receive a scholarship for the 2011-12 season. Similar to the situations for Luka Voncina in 2010-11 and Phil Jones in 2006-07, except we would be able to prepare for it by knowing ahead of time.

This is when the ball starts to roll into our court.

Red is not your color Joseph, try on some green.

First is the issue of having to pay one year’s tuition:

Wake Forest (Private): $39,544.00
Florida State (Out-of-state): $17, 691.00
Kentucky (Out-of-state): $8,839.00
Charlotte (In-state): $5,138.00

Becoming a Niner has it’s advantage there, and if paying his way for a year is what he will have to do, let’s take Wake Forest off the board considering the wheels haven’t finished coming off yet. Considering he was released from a LOI from another ACC school, he may have extra hurdles in his way at Florida State. It’s not everyday that Charlotte finds itself in competition for recruits with legendary programs like Kentucky, but that may be the case. Uchebo is ranked 81st overall by ESPN, in a class weak with big men, in contrast 2012 is loaded with talent at the 4 and 5, and Coach Calimari will have his pick of the litter in the Top 50, Uchebo would have to wonder if he would see much playing time with more lottery level talent expected in Lexington next year.

While in Charlotte, Uchebo could start right away this year (if he qualifies) or next alongside Chris Braswell and E Victor Nickerson. His talent would not be wasted here, as he could be a part of a class with the potential to bring Charlotte to prominence in a couple of seasons. The choice is yours Uchebo, and Niner Nation would be glad to welcome you to the Queen City.

GTG has learned from sources that former NCSU commit, Joseph Uchebo will be visiting the Niners this weekend.  Other schools listed as options for the 6’10 Center out of Word of God (Raleigh) are Kentucky, Wake Forest & Florida State.  Uchebo asked for his release after Mark Gottfried was hired.

Would be a great way for the Niners to round out the 2011 class that already includes 6’3 PG Pierria Henry, 6’4 SG Terrence Williams, 6’7 SF E. Victor Nickerson & 6’10 Center Mike Thorne.

Stay tuned to GTG to updates on all Niner fronts.

We’re an impatient group that’s used to last-second changes and disappointment, aren’t we? We’re barely into the signing period and already Niner Nation is concerned that our verbal commitment from Pierria Henry won’t result in a signature. That would be typical, wouldn’t it? A last change of heart or a late offer from a big BCS school?

Still planning to sign. Relax.

But fear not, Niner Nation, Henry is planning to sign this Friday. According to this article in the Charleston Daily Mail (which C-Pip found), Henry is going to send in his LOI on Friday. The only thing left to decide is which seat he should take.

Henry will join an already solid group of freshmen that ESPN has ranked in its Mid Major Top 10 recruiting classes. Nickerson, Thorne and Williams all signed their LOIs in the fall. Rumor has it Major and Co. are still on the trail and are hoping to sign an additional big for 2011.

A new name on the scene for Charlotte is Ibrahima “Ibby” Djimde, a 6’9 240lbs Center out of Huntington Prep in West Virginia.  Per Jody Demling of the Courier Journal, Charlotte has offered, along with Marshall & Cleveland State.  Djimde recently received a qualifying test score and is wide open.  Indiana has also expressed some interest in the prospect.

Ibby is originally from Mali and is reportedly “wide open” in his recruitment.

GTG has unraveled a decent amout of information, unfortunately someone had some fun on Twitter this morning, and out April 1st credibility probably took a hit.

First, some Football news

GTG has heard two different rumors (one piece now confirmed) about Brad Lambert’s staff, possibly conflicting, but we are looking at them as two separate pieces of information:

• The first information we have is that on Monday, a coach will be joining the Niners from an undisclosed SoCon program and will use the weekend to meet with his current players.  It will leave us with one more coach to add this year.
• The next information is that Wake Forests Assistant Director of Football Operations, and nephew of Head Coach Brad Lambert, Trevor Lambert, is confirmed to be taking on the roll of Director of Football Operations for the Charlotte 49ers, beginning Monday.

Once again, these are two seperate pieces of information.

On the Basketball front, recruitng news and some new scheduling speculation.

• A new name has popped up on the Men’s Basketball radar, Ari Stewart.  Stewart is transferring out of Wake Forest and will have 2 years of eligibility.  No schools have been officially listed for Stewart, nor a timeline to select a program.
• The new tournament in Nassau had been on the radar for Charlotte fans, but it has been learned that UMass will be in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and as a fellow Atlantic 10 school, Charlotte will not be participating in this event. UMass did have to abandon plans for ESPN’s Cancun Governor’s Cup, leaving an opening that an Atlantic 10 school, much like Charlotte, would be eligible to fill. This tournament takes place around Christmas unlike the recent string of November events the 49ers have been participants of. In a recent post by DOBO Rob Perron on Basketball Travelers bulletin board Charlotte has “Several dates in Nov. available.” Which could just be the regular amount of November games, but it’s more fun to think that we have more games to schedule in November because or MTE is in December. Parties involved on different fronts with ESPN’s Cancun Governor’s Cup have been reached out to today, with no response yet.

Jaleel Roberts, from Greensboro Day School (NC) is visiting this weekend.  Roberts is a 6’10, 210lbs Center and could fill the last remaining scholarship for the Niners in 2011, barring a transfer. Roberts is being courted by a trio of ACC (how can we compete with them?!?!?!) teams in Clemson, Virginia Tech & Maryland,  are all in the process of offering, per Tigersnow.com. Quite a few small schools have offered as well, including ECU (paging StillJonesing) and UNC-Ashville.

ESPN has this to say about Roberts, “His ability to be a defensive presence will make him a tremendous asset for some high major program.”  With bigs being in such a short supply this late, Roberts will be in high demand.

Note – Photo is from Scout.com

Future 49er PG Pierria Henry

Early Friday morning, the Charleston Daily Mail has reported that 2011 PG Pierria Henry(South Charleston, WV) has verbally committed to the Charlotte 49ers, despite an offer from Marshall to play football. It remains to be seen whether one day Henry will also lace up a pair of cleats for the 49ers on the football field in 2013.

“For one, I felt really comfortable with the coaching staff,” Henry said Thursday night,”They’re great people. The program is doing so good right now, too. They beat Georgia Tech, which is an ACC school. They beat Tennessee when Tennessee was in the top five, and they just beat Xavier last night to give them their first loss in the conference.”

There will be no complaints from Green Tinted Glasses that Henry thought Tennessee to be in the top five. Henry had previously committed to VCU, and visited Charlotte last weekend following the loss to La Salle. Before committing to VCU, Henry had been recruited by Ryan Odom, in his time at Virginia Tech.

According to Henry, Odom was a big factor in his commitment, ”Coach Odom offered me when he was at Virginia Tech, and now he’s an assistant at Charlotte. He still stayed in contact with me the whole time,” said  Henry, also adding, “Some of these coaches – and I won’t mention names – they’d be at these high conferences and they’d say they heard about me but they’d never talk to me themselves. Then when they drop down to a smaller conference I’m their man. What that told me is that they didn’t think I was a top-level talent. Coach Odom has said the same things to me since he was at Virginia Tech.”

Henry joins a fall recruiting class of E. Victor Nickerson, Terrence Williams and Mike Thorne.

There is a new name on Charlotte’s recruiting scene,  Cody Mann, a 2012 PG out of Florida. Cody is playing at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami, or Dr. Krop as the cool kids call it.  Cody spent his Sophomore season at Monsignor Edward Pace High School where he averaged 12 points and 6 assists per game.

Currently Dr. Krop is 17-2, including a 76-55 win over Winter Park (FL) that is lead by Austin Rivers, ESPN’s #1 prospect for the 2011 class. In that game Mann led the team with 21 points, including 11 for 14 on FT’s in the 4th quarter.

Jeff Borzello of “Busting the Bracket,” also states that Virginia, Wright State and Illinois-Chicago are currently involved in his recruitment.

Click here to check out a highlight video from Cody’s 2009-10 season at Monsignor Edward Pace High school.

Stay tuned to GreenTintedGlasses for the latest on the 49ers recruiting front.

Madison Jones attacking the basket at Dave Telep's Carolina Classic

The Niners are actively recruiting and have offered Madison Jones, a 2012 PG from Ravenscroft School in Raleigh.  Coast2coastrecruiting.net recently published an interview with Jones. In addition to Charlotte, Jones lists , Wake Forest, Old Dominion, NCSU, Miami, Richmond, Georgia Southern, and Tulsa. Richmond, Tulsa, Drake and Georgia Southern have all offered as well, while Jones has unofficially visited NCSU & Old Dominion games and plans to visit some Wake Forest games soon.

Jones is an offensive minded PG and is currently ranked at #132 overall at Rivals.com. He’s a PG that likes to attack the basket, rather than settling for jump shots. Stay tuned to GreenTintedGlasses.net for the latest in Charlotte recruiting updates.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/