Charlie Weber, who played at Huntingtown High School and later Bishop O’Connell High School in Virginia, helped East Tennessee State University men’s basketball to win the Southern Conference tournament and a berth into the NCAA tournament.
Charlie Weber had an immediate impact with O’Connell after transferring from Huntingtown, scoring 1,143 points and grabbing 680 rebounds in two seasons with the Knights.
Charlie Weber, who played at Huntingtown High School and later Bishop O’Connell High School in Virginia, helped East Tennessee State University men’s basketball to win the Southern Conference tournament and a berth into the NCAA tournament.
Photo by Dakota Hamilton
Charlie Weber had an immediate impact with O’Connell after transferring from Huntingtown, scoring 1,143 points and grabbing 680 rebounds in two seasons with the Knights.
Following two years at Huntingtown High School where his father is the principal and then the next two years at Bishop O’Connell High School in Virginia, Calvert County resident Charlie Weber recently concluded his freshman season with the East Tennessee State University men’s basketball team.
Weber had an immediate impact with O’Connell after transferring from Huntingtown, scoring 1,143 points and grabbing 680 rebounds in two seasons with the Knights. He had considered other schools closer to home, including St. Mary’s Ryken and Bishop McNamara in Maryland and Maret in Washington, D.C., before opting for O’Connell, which competes the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference along with St. Mary’s Ryken.
“When I was looking to transfer to another high school, I wanted to be close to home but I wanted to play in a tough league where I could get some exposure,” Weber said. “I looked at Ryken and McNamara and Maret, but I went to O’Connell because they were really good and their coach, Joe Wootten, really seemed like he wanted me to come there and play right away.”
ETSU (30-4 overall) had earned a berth in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament courtesy of a senior-led squad that outscored its opponents by an average of 13 points per game and captured the Southern Conference title. But the Buccaneers’ appearance into March Madness was preempted by the coronavirus pandemic, which canceled the tournament altogether and delayed Weber’s dream of playing in the big dance.
“We had a lot of really good seniors this year and we were picked to win our conference, which we did,” Weber said. “We won almost every home game and we had the chance to play in front of 6,000 fans every home game. Our fans were very supportive all season. Winning the conference was great, but not being able to play in the NCAA tournament was difficult.”
Weber appeared in 16 games for the Buccaneers as a freshman, averaging 7.3 minutes, 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He connected on 55 percent of his field goal attempts, including 5 of 12 three-point attempts. Weber enjoyed being able to get playing time as a freshman on a team destined for the NCAA tournament.
“We had a great group of guys, especially the seniors,” said Weber, who recently updated his major to Geology with a direction toward meteorology. “From the first day, you could just tell that they were focused on winning the conference and getting to the NCAA tournament. They always made me feel like a part of the team. It was definitely a great learning experience.”
Weber spent his last two high school seasons at O’Connell where he was an integral part of the Knights’ success. He made a few return trips to Southern Maryland, including a pair of games at St. Mary’s Ryken and another contest against St. Charles in the DMV Elite Holiday tournament at North Point when he scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
“Charlie came in and had an immediate impact for us,” said Wootten, son of the late Hall of Fame DeMatha High School boys basketball coach, Morgan Wootten. “He was a big part of everything we did on both ends of the floor. He was a tremendous post player for us both seasons. The WCAC has been one of the toughest leagues in the country for years and he was among our best players for those two seasons.”
ETSU won its last 12 games, including victories over Virginia Military Institute, Western Carolina and Wofford in the Southern Conference tournament in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Buccaneers defeated Wofford, 72-58, in the Southern Conference tournament championship game as fifth-year coach Steve Forbes the 100th victory of his career at ETSU.
