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News Nuggets, 11.04.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Pirates poised to hit hardwood amidst news aplenty

News was swirling around the East Carolina basketball program Wednesday as the Pirates prepared to unofficially open their 2004-05 season against a real opponent.

ECU, which will host Division II foe Newberry in a Thursday night exhibition contest, announced a seven-game regional and local television package for the upcoming season, but the most intriguing development was the declaration by Wake Forest sophomore Jeremy Ingram that he would transfer to East Carolina.

Ingram, who played alongside ECU junior swingman Corey Rouse under Pirate assistant coach George Stackhouse when the latter was head coach at Kinston High School, told the Kinston Free Press that he would make the move at the end of the fall semester.

“I’ve been thinking about this since the summer,” Ingram told the newspaper. “And ECU is where I want to be.”

It's also where ECU wanted Ingram to be as long as two years ago, when Pirates head coach Bill Herrion waged an intense recruiting battle against the Demon Deacons for the K-Town phenom.

As a transfer, Ingram will have to sit out a year before he will be able to suit up and play for the Pirates after the first semester of next year. He will still have three seasons of eligibility.

The developments surrounding Ingram emerged as Herrion prepped his team for the first of its two preseason games. ECU will host Barton in a second exhibition on Thursday, Nov. 11, before launching into final tune-ups for its Nov. 17 regular season opener against Pepperdine in the BCA Invitational in Raleigh.

On the TV front, ECU identified three games to be broadcast by WITN-TV 7 in addition to the four already designated to air on regional cable networks.

WITN, an NBC affiliate, will produce and televise its first game of the season on Saturday, Jan. 8, when the Pirates travel to Charlotte. The station will also carry home games against Marquette on Saturday, Feb. 12, and Houston on Saturday, Feb. 26. All three of those contests are scheduled for a 7 p.m. telecast.

In addition to the locally televised contests, ECU is currently slated to be on regional television on these four occasions:

 — Dec. 20 vs. South Carolina (CSS) Mobile, AL 6:30 p.m.
 — Dec. 29 at Clemson (FSNS) Clemson, SC 7:00 p.m.
 — Jan. 15 UAB (ESPN+) Greenville 1 p.m.
 — Jan. 29 Charlotte (ESPN+) Greenville 1:00 p.m.

Primetime TV preview: Louisville at Memphis

Louisville's 30-point loss at home to Memphis last season is still a painful memory for the Cardinals.

Coach Bobby Petrino vowed to have his team better prepared when the 14th-ranked Cardinals visit the Tigers on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ESPN).

``Going into the season, we looked at this as being one of the big games of the year, and we certainly didn't like the way we played a year ago,'' Petrino said.

Memphis beat the Cardinals 37-7 in 2003, Louisville's worst loss since falling to Florida State 31-0 in 2000. The Cardinals (5-1, 4-0 Conference USA) got revenge for that loss two years later, beating the Seminoles 26-20 in overtime.

Memphis (5-2, 2-2) is one win away from being bowl eligible for the second year in a row after making a postseason game for the first time in 32 years last season. The Tigers were expected to compete for the league title this year with Louisville and Southern Mississippi, but find themselves in the middle of the pack.

``I think it's just another step that we're taking in building this program,'' Memphis coach Tommy West said.

It was going as planned until Memphis was embarrassed in a 49-10 loss against Cincinnati two weeks ago. The Tigers gained only 202 yards and their top players were stifled.

Danny Wimprine went 8-of-21 for 52 yards, while DeAngelo Williams gained 57 yards on 16 carries. Neither accounted for a touchdown.

``Your confidence is a little bit shaken when you play the way we played,'' West said. ``We played so bad everywhere.''

Now it's the Memphis defense that will be put to the test. The Cardinals' receivers have dropped only eight passes all year, and the Tigers pass defense has given up more than 270 yards a game, 109th in the nation.

But Petrino expects a stiff challenge for his offense, which is averaging 506 yards a game. Stefan LeFors, the nation's most efficient passer with 76 completion percentage and seven TD passes, will be the target for Memphis' aggressive defense.

``They're going to come after us and blitz and play a lot of man coverage,'' Petrino said. ``(But) I thought Cincinnati did a good job of running the ball right at them and being very patient.''

West said he doesn't want to get into a shootout.

``I think Louisville is playing as well right now as anybody in this league has since I've been in it,'' he said. ``I don't want to get into a scoring game in which we're trying to keep up with them.''

West might be underestimating his offense.

No one has held Louisville under 28 points all season, but Memphis has scored more than 40 points in four of its seven games. Wimprine has thrown 11 touchdown passes, while Williams is third in the nation in scoring, averaging 11.1 points a game.

Both coaches said winning on national television is important to recruiting, and West said it's worth watching the conference rivalry for the last time before the Cardinals move to the Big East.

``It is two teams that aren't afraid to air it out and do whatever it takes to try to score,'' he said. ``It will be fun to coach. It will be fun to play. It will be fun to watch.''

The game will mark the second straight night a C-USA matchup has been featured on national television. South Florida, which had struggled in its season to date, sprung a 45-20 upset on UAB, one of the league's upper-tier teams, in Wednesday night's ESPN2 primetime game.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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