Charlotte 49ers Director of Athletics Mike Hill has announced that Aaron Fearne, who was recently named Interim Head Men’s Basketball Coach, will continue in that role for the 2023-24 season.
“Aaron has the tools required to lead this program, and our basketball team believes in him,” Hill said. “He has considerable experience as a head coach and his leadership ability has been on full display during a very challenging time. He is widely respected in basketball circles, both college and professional. After conducting an accelerated search at an unconventional time of year, Aaron emerged as the right man at the right time. We are pleased to have him lead the Niners and look forward to an exciting new brand of Charlotte basketball.”
Fearne, a successful head coach at the professional level, has been with the 49ers for the past five years and was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2022-23 season. He has been instrumental in attracting three of Conference USA’s top-ranked recruiting classes.
“I’m grateful to Mike, Chancellor (Sharon) Gaber and all involved in the search process,” said Fearne. “I’m prepared to lead this program. We are committed to bringing a tough, competitive brand of basketball to the American Athletic Conference. We will play with pace, attack the glass, and apply pressure to our opponents in all phases of the game.”
Prior to his arrival in Charlotte, Fearne spent nine seasons as head coach and eight seasons as an assistant coach of the National Basketball League’s Cairns Taipans, which plays in Australia’s top professional league. As head coach, he led the team to the NBL finals twice and was named Coach of the Year in 2015. In 2018, he served as head coach of New Zealand’s U-19 National Team.
Charlotte finished the 2022-23 campaign by winning the CBI Championship, the program’s first ever postseason tournament title, and won 22 games, the most since the 2000-01 season.
