Slant routes: #MarchSadness is here & the Panthers get defensive
Will #MarchSadness ever end for the Charlotte 49ers? Also, some thoughts on the Panthers free agency frenzy.
#MarchSadness is officially here.
#MarchSadness? You’re probably reading this and thinking, don’t you mean March Madness?
Well, if you’re an alumnus of a university that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2005, it’s definitely #MarchSadness.
#MarchSadness officially commenced at 5:34 p.m., Eastern time, on Thursday as the Charlotte 49ers were eliminated from the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Forth Worth, Texas. They finished the season 11-22 and 3-15 in AAC play, which was dead last.
This will mark the 20th consecutive year that the program has not competed in the Big Dance. The students that witnessed that last appearance are old enough to have kids that are probably headed to college sooner rather than later.
As an alum, it definitely sucks to not be part of that opening round of games on Thursday or Friday after having a taste of it in 2004 and 2005.
It also sucks to think about the number of students that have came through the university since then that have not got to see their team playing in the dance.
As someone that’s covered the program, unfortunately they’ve gotten to this point with bad decisions that were compounded with more bad decisions.
I have no clue if the basketball program will ever get back to the NCAA Tournament.
At least they won their first conference tournament game since 2016 this season. Head Coach Aaron Fearne’s team definitely didn’t quit.
On the post game radio show, Coach Fearne indicated they won’t waste any time next week as he figures out who’s staying and leaving.
While the deck is seemingly stacked against programs like Charlotte in today’s free for all environment, they’ll have to find a way. It isn’t impossible.
This fan base would love nothing more than to have Coach Fearne turn #MarchSadness back into #MarchMadness.
QUICK SLANTS
The Panthers obviously thought Jaycee Horn was a $20 million dollar a year player, and then some.
Bringing back Mike Jackson, Tommy Tremble, Cade Mays & Brady Christensen are solid moves in my opinion. Jackson is the type of player you want on your ball team. Be sure to check out Joseph Person’s excellent story on Jackson over at The Athletic.
Would it be nice to have Milton Williams on your team? Sure. But, it’s hard to justify paying him more than Derrick Brown. When the Patriots came over the top with a bigger offer, the Panthers pivoted. We’ll see if those moves pay off, but it’s clear the Panthers did not panic. Dan Morgan has said multiple times he has a plan and it appears they are sticking to it.
Signing Rico Dowdle was smart business. Does it preclude the Panthers from drafting a running back? It might.
The biggest question that remains is will the Panthers stay at number eight in next month’s draft or try to obtain more picks in a trade down. I think the preferred move for the Panthers is to trade back if certain players aren’t on the board when they are on the clock.