Catch Bonesville's exclusive
weekly Internet radio program, BONESVILLE HUDDLE, featuring insightful
give-and-take between columnists Al Myatt, Brian Bailey
and Denny O'Brien. (New audio file posted each
Wednesday)
Patience isn't a luxury in the coaching profession. For Bill
Herrion, as a matter of fact, it's been an indispensable quality upon which
he has drawn heavily over the past four years.
Since taking over the East Carolina basketball program in 1999, the waters
have been anything but smooth for the always driven, always optimistic
Pirates coach.
Ultimately, perseverance truly matters. After three years of struggle in which his hard work, dedication, and
intensity weren't always reflected in the win column, Herrion is beginning to reap
the fruits of his relentless labors.
And the health of East Carolina basketball has
never been better.
"To me, what I like right now is I really think that this program is really
heading in the right direction," Herrion said. "I don't know how good we are
going to be this year the wins and losses will take care of themselves.
"But I can at least sit back and say that the future is very bright here.
That's important, because you have no idea how hard this has been for four
years. You have no clue."
Those first three seasons had to be emotionally taxing on a
coach of Herrion's caliber. With a resumι that included three-straight NCAA
appearances and five-consecutive 20-win seasons at Drexel, Herrion was
expected by some to win immediately at East Carolina, especially considering he
inherited a team predicted to challenge for the CAA title.
However, instead of contending for a conference crown and NCAA tournament
berth, Herrion got a first-year immersion in ECU's mediocre hoops culture,
suffering his worst season as a head coach. The Pirates coach
didn't seem to mesh with a few of predecessor Joe Dooley's holdovers and stumbled out of the
gates to a 2-7 start.
Then, calamity struck.
East Carolina's most talented player Evaldes Jocys suffered a
career-ending injury. That was followed by a late-season locker room
skirmish between two Pirates players David Taylor and Quincy Hall
which led some to point fingers towards Herrion and his aggressive coaching
style.
Those are just a couple of the speed bumps the Pirates coach has encountered
while in Greenville. Slowly but surely, though, Herrion began turning things
around and turning a few heads with a growing collection of marquee
victories.
Along the way, he has laid down a set of no-compromise
standards on and off the court.
This year, he has the Pirates (10-2, 1-0 Conference USA) off to one of the
best starts in school history, which has many asking the coach for the
secret to the miraculous turnaround.
"There's no magic formula," Herrion has said. "You
get good players, you get them to play hard, and get them to play on every
possession and you can win games.
"It's taken a long time to convey that to kids here. We started to get it
last year. I think we're definitely getting it this year. It's a process."
It's also a process some doubters thought Herrion shouldn't have pursued.
East Carolina lacked tradition on the hardwood and was widely considered one
of the toughest coaching jobs in the nation.
Recruiting had always been an
uphill battle in Greenville, with the ECU constituency resigned to a
mid-major status for a program which appeared destined to perpetually reside
in the long, dark shadows cast by the neighboring ACC schools Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, and
Wake Forest.
What's more, East Carolina was a football school. Selling hoops to a fan
base that, for the most part, hibernated once the bowl season ended,
would be no easy task.
Herrion didn't get swayed by the negatives. Instead, he
focused on qualities
that he felt offered an opportunity compelling enough in its potential to
lure him from a comfortable situation at
Drexel.
"When I took this job, I said to myself, 'If they can win in football, they
can win in basketball,'" Herrion said. "Everybody has always told me that
North Carolina is a great state for basketball, so why can't we win in
basketball? I think there are enough good players to go around in this
state."
Herrion's first recruit point guard Travis Holcomb-Faye was an
in-state product and considered a mid-major prospect at best. That label
didn't seem to alter Holcomb-Faye's development under Herrion, however, as he improved
steadily each year and will end his career as the most prolific playmaker in
ECU history.
Each recruiting class has gotten incrementally better for Herrion, who has
used a global approach to help build his program. Gabriel Mikulas and Moussa
Badiane are both overseas discoveries that Herrion says probably wouldn't be
wearing purple and gold had they spent their high school careers in the
States.
"I look at it like this," Herrion said. "If you took Gabriel
Mikulas and put him in one of those Nike camps, or one of those Adidas
camps, or in one of those national AAU tournaments, or if you took Moussa
and threw him in there, I don't know if we get those kids.
"We've had to get a little bit creative with the recruiting. There are guys
that a lot of people don't know about. I think you've got to give our staff
credit because they've gone out, they've worked hard and found these kids."
Now, those diamonds in the rough are beginning to pave the way for a few
blue-chip finds.
Last year's recruiting class brought the signing of junior college star
Derrick Wiley and high school standout
Belton Rivers. This year, Herrion has already
landed the signature of one of the state's best players
Keith Foster
and is in the running for scores more, including sensational Canadian guard
Antwi Atuahene.
The Pirates' rapid emergence on the recruiting trail has helped speed up the
prospects of achieving Herrion's goal a trip to the postseason.
"We're trying to prepare for March," Herrion said.
"Everything we do here is trying to prepare this basketball team for March.
"Our aspiration is to get to postseason play. We want to do it as quickly as
we possibly can. I hope it's this year, but it's too early to tell that
right now. Right now, we're off to a great start."
It will be difficult for the Pirates to maintain their
current winning pace in the
rough-and-tumble Conference USA wars, but Herrion and his program are proving
they belong in the respected league that erased ECU's glass ceiling by
inviting the school to make the leap from hardwood purgatory.
Though it's still early, the
Pirates sit atop the C-USA standings with a victory over
nationally-ranked Marquette and wins over two other foes from power
conferences Ole Miss and Virginia Tech.
If Herrion can somehow guide this team to an above-.500 C-USA finish and
20-wins overall, there's a good chance the Pirates will hear their name called
come Selection Sunday.
Such a scenario seemed almost impossible four years ago.
