The Charlotte 49ers have announced that Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach Aaron Fearne has been named interim head coach while the program conducts its national search.

"Aaron has played a key role in re-establishing our program and developing our student-athletes," Director of Athletics Mike Hill said. "He is extremely well-respected by the staff and players and is fully committed to leading the team."

"I'm thankful to Mike Hill for the opportunity to lead our program during this time," said Fearne. "We are focused on welcoming back all of our players for workouts starting Monday. We have recruited some excellent pieces to help elevate the program to another level for our first season in the American Athletic Conference."

Fearne has been with the 49ers for the past five years and was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2022-23 season. Charlotte posted 22 wins, its most since 2001, and won the CBI Championship in 2022-23. Fearne has been instrumental in attracting Conference USA's top ranked recruiting class in each of the last three years.

The 49ers will make the move to the American Athletic Conference for the 2023-24 season.

Prior to his arrival in Charlotte, Fearne spent eight seasons as an assistant coach and nine seasons as head coach of the National Basketball League's Cairns Taipans, which plays in Australia's top professional league. In those nine seasons at the helm, 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.