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College Sports in the Carolinas
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from the East
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
By Al Myatt
ECU Beat Writer for The News &
Observer |
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Retooled Pirates ready to make
a run
©2004 Bonesville.net
East Carolina coach Bill Herrion told the Pirate players at a team meeting
on Friday night that they would have to beat Southern Miss on Saturday in
order to qualify for the Conference USA Tournament which starts Wednesday at
U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
The ECU travel party to Hattiesburg, Miss., had been monitoring Houston's
game at Saint Louis on Friday.
"We landed around 9 or 9:30 p.m.," Herrion said. "Jody Jones, our sports
information director, knew the situation. We were pulling for Saint Louis."
A Billikens win would lock up a conference tournament berth for the Pirates,
leaving Houston and South Florida as non-qualifiers.
"We landed and Houston was leading like 29-17 at the half," Herrion said.
"We went to the motel and had a team meal. The next score we heard, it was
like 47-29 Houston with 12 minutes to go. We had a team meeting and a film
session and it was like 60-53 with 40 seconds left.
"We just assumed Houston was going to win the game and I told the players at
the film session that we had to win tomorrow night to go to the tournament.
A little while later Jody comes up and tells me, 'You're not going to
believe this but Saint Louis got the game into overtime and they won.'
"I think the kids were relieved from a pressure standpoint but we wanted to
win the last regular season game no matter what to have some confidence
going into the conference tournament."
ECU did just that,
topping Southern Miss 63-50 on
Saturday night for its second C-USA road win ever.
The Pirates got off another plane on Monday night, this time in Cincinnati,
and headed downtown for another team meal. They'll practice at Northern
Kentucky for about two hours beginning at noon today and then head for U.S.
Bank Arena, the tournament site in Cincinnati, for a shoot-around practice
at 3 p.m. today.
ECU, 13-13 overall and 5-11 in the league, has won four of its last five
games and meets Louisville (19-8, 9-7) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the first
round. The game will be nationally televised as a part of the ESPN Plus
package and carried locally by WITN TV-7.
The Cardinals topped ECU 76-66 in Greenville on Jan. 15 in their only
regular season matchup. That was the night after Pirates senior center
Gabriel Mikulas sustained a broken right arm that ended his ECU career.
"I think our kids feel like they can play with and beat anybody in the
league," Herrion said.
The Pirates weren't feeling so confident immediately after losing Mikulas.
"When Gabe broke his arm, none of us knew what was going to happen," Herrion
said. "Arguably, he was our best post player and a stabilizing force on the
court. He scored around 1,100 career points and was the school's free throw
leader. You just don't replace someone like that."
But players have changed roles and stepped up.
"Moussa Badiane has really elevated his game," Herrion said. "He knows he's
going to play and he knows he's got to play. With Gabe out, we've become
quicker and we're a more athletic team. We put Mike Cook in a starting spot
at point guard for Japhet McNeil and put Frank Robinson in the lineup."
ECU has been competitive in its last 10 games.
"Even when we were losing in January, we were playing a lot of close games,"
Herrion said. "We weren't making plays in close games down the stretch. Now
the difference is we're making a lot more plays at the end of games."
The Pirates and Cardinals are headed in different directions. Louisville's
victory in Greenville was the 12th in a 16-game winning streak, but since
then Coach Rick Pitino's club has dropped seven of its last 10. Pitino left
the team briefly to have a health condition evaluated and the Cards also
have had to deal with injuries to Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia.
"That set them back a little bit but they've been playing better the last
week or two," Herrion said.
Herrion figures that Louisville will have good fan support at the C-USA
event since Cincinnati is less than a two-hour drive from Louisville on the
interstate.
"It's a semi-home game for them," Herrion said. "They'll have a lot of
people there. They've got 19 wins and they're trying to get to 20 and
solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament."
The ECU-Louisville winner plays Cincinnati at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the
quarterfinals. ECU can probably count on a degree of fan support from
Bearcats boosters in the first round against Louisville.
Semifinals are Friday at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with the highest remaining
seed playing in the 4:30 game on ESPN. The championship game is at 11:41
a.m. on Saturday on CBS.
No Pirates
East Carolina wasn't represented on the first, second or third units of the
All Conference-USA teams announced on Monday. Eleven teams had players among
the 15 selected. Louisville placed Garcia on first team and forward Luke
Whitehead on the third team. Houston and Tulane also were without players
chosen in voting by league coaches and media.
Pro day
There were some important visitors on campus last week in addition to
candidates for the chancellor position. ECU held its pro day last Wednesday
to allow Pirate players to work out for NFL scouts.
ECU football coach John Thompson was a gracious host as representatives of
NFL teams had lunch on the balcony of the Murphy Center. Teams with scouts
on hand included the Browns, Patriots, Panthers, Packers, Giants, Bears,
Titans, Bengals, Seahawks, Eagles, Cardinals, Chargers, Ravens, Steelers,
Jaguars, Dolphins and Raiders.
Getting the most attention were fullback Vonta Leach, offensive lineman
Brian Rimpf, receiver Terrance Copper and defensive lineman Damane Duckett.
Leach measured in at 5-11 1/2 and 241 pounds. He did 22 reps on the
225-pound bench press. The Ravens and Browns showed particular interest in
Leach, the Gray's offensive MVP in the Blue-Gray game.
Rimpf was 6-4 1/4 and 315 pounds, with Jacksonville and Pittsburgh focusing
extra attention on the three-time All C-USA choice.
Copper had 40-yard times of 4.40 and 4.46 seconds on the grass of Bagwell
Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. He was measured at 5-11 1/2 and 204 pounds.
His vertical jump was 38.5 inches.
Duckett (6-6, 300) did 18 reps on the bench press. A Blue-Gray selection,
Duckett drew close attention from the Dolphins, Ravens and Bengals.
Scrimmage on Thursday
Spring practice at ECU is progressing in its second week with a full
scrimmage scheduled for Thursday. There is a lot of interest in the
quarterback competition between returning starter Desmond Robinson,
sophomore James Pinkney and Florida transfer Patrick Dosh.
"All three of them have done some good things," Thompson said. "That sounds
a lot like last year, doesn't it?"
The signal callers are being evaluated by new offensive coordinator Noah
Brindise, who is teaching a new system.
"It's a lot more timing in the passing game," Thompson said. "It's a lot
more formation oriented."
Thompson said last year's tendency toward turnovers and the defensive unit's
struggle to prevent big plays resulted in a conservative approach on offense
in 2003.
"Hopefully we won't have to be as conservative this year," Thompson said.
Thompson and staff hosted a coaching clinic that drew about 50 high school
coaches on Friday and Saturday. Among the speakers was former ECU player
Greg Thomas, whose Greenville Rose team won the state 4-A championship in
2003.
Trustees confer
The ECU board of trustees conferred on Monday about their
recommendation for chancellor. The three candidates on campus
last week were Steve Ballard, provost at Missouri-Kansas City; Janie Fouke,
dean of engineering at Michigan State; and Roderick McDavis, provost at
Virginia Commonwealth. The trustees could also submit the name of interim
chancellor William Shelton to UNC system president Molly Broad for
consideration on a fulltime basis. Broad is scheduled to present her choice
to the UNC system board of governors on March 19.
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02/23/2007 12:45:13 AM
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