I'm VT fan/grad, but have lived in CLT since 1993 and here's my read on Lutz and his tenure at UNCC. He followed a very successful alum (Melvin Watkins) as coach at UNCC after Melvin left for aTm. Watkins was horrible at Texas A&M, but Lutz kept the success going at UNCC.

One of the things that helped both coaches at UNCC was their affiliation at the time with Conference USA, which had Louisville, Cincy, Memphis, S.Florida, DePaul, etc. It was a very exciting time for UNCC as they were brining top teams into Halton Arena and top coaches like Huggie, Crum, etc. Cincy and CLT had a great rivalry with some nasty games at both Cincy and Charlotte.

VT was indirectly part of what hurt UNCC as when we moved to the ACC, then the top Conf USA teams were poached by the big east and that lead to the demise of top notch Conf USA hoops. And with all the emphasis on football, which UNCC is only now starting up, the Niners headed to the A10. As Tech fans, we know how exciting it is to have the big battles with Dusquene, Fordham, St. Bonny, etc.

So that move to the A10, I think, was the biggest killer for Lutz and the Niners as the fan interest waned and the recruiting dropped significantly. UNCC hasn't been the same since. I think Lutz is a pretty good coach and he'd be a decent get for Tech, but not someone who'll get the base super fired up. I'd say he's a safe pick and if we get the same kind of results NCSU got with Gottfried, I'd be ecstatic.