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NEWS, NOTES & COMMENTARY
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The Bradsher Beat
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
By Bethany Bradsher |
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The returns are in – let the
games begin
By
Bethany Bradsher
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Finally, it’s over. After
seemingly endless months of lead-up and anticipation, the new leaders are
ready to move forward and make a difference armed with confidence and
energy.
I’m talking, of course, about
the 2012-13 East Carolina basketball season. With the Lady Pirates tipping
off Friday in Williamsburg and the men’s team opening at home on Saturday,
it’s time to stop the speculation about the chances of hardwood glory this
year and pass, shoot and rebound.
There’s something tantalizing
about that clean slate, a little bit like the primary season when anyone
seems to have a chance to make the ballot. In early November, anyone’s team
can run the table and dominate the postseason. Half of the Pirate Nation
might be dissatisfied with last night’s results, but the promise of
basketball to come under Jeff Lebo and Heather Macy is something on which
every buccaneer can agree.
In honor of post-Election Day
and this warm fuzzy unanimity we can enjoy with the first fast breaks just
days in our future, let’s honor a few of the top office holders of the two
Pirates hoops squads. These are the leaders of today and tomorrow, the men
and women who might hold future rafter banners in their agile hands:
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Court Executive:
Miguel Paul, who could be considered the incumbent after a year of
prolific play for the Pirates. Paul, who transferred to East Carolina
last year after two seasons at Missouri, led Conference USA in assists
and comes in as the second-leading returning C-USA scorer. Expectations
are high for Paul, a preseason first-team All-C-USA selection, and
Saturday is day when he grabs the opportunity to step it up his senior
year.
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Governor of the Lane:
Britny Edwards, the 6-1 center whose presence in the post will be a
major factor for the Lady Pirates this season. Like her father Blue
Edwards before her, Britny will make her presence known in her final
season for ECU. Last season, in her first campaign after transferring
from Virginia, she led the Pirates in rebounding (7.0 per game) and
blocks (45 for the season) and played in all 31 contests.
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Outstanding Incumbent:
Senior guard Corvonn Gaines has been a model of consistency in his years
as a Pirate, and Lebo will look to him and his four fellow seniors to
push the Pirates to new heights. Gaines is a model of hustle for his
younger teammates, already claiming a spot as one of nine Pirates in
history to record more than 100 steals in his career. He has scored in
double digits 11 times at ECU, and this season should open up more
possibilities for him to create turnovers and score points as one of the
team’s steadiest leaders.
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Commissioner of the
Basket: Shala Hodges is expected to be a spark for Macy’s squad as
the top returning scorer for the Lady Pirates. A 5-8 guard, she
contributed 10.4 points per game last season and led the team in
three-point percentage, making 34 percent behind the arc. Hodges once
scored 50 points in a game as a star for Raleigh’s Enloe High School,
and her maturity and athleticism should go a long way toward fulfilling
her proposed slogan for this season: “Expect the Unexpected.”
Whether you’re rejoicing or
mourning the direction of our nation’s government today, there is plenty of
cause for universal celebration in Minges Coliseum as the weekend matchups
approach.
I can’t think of any better
news than this — with two solid seasons under each of their belts, Jeff Lebo
and Heather Macy are each returning for their third campaign with strong
seniors, promising newcomers and a healthy comfort level between players and
staff as to their system and their expectations.
Lebo and Macy are coaches with
the vision and strength to find that mythical next level that ECU basketball
has been reaching toward for years. And unlike our nation’s leaders, they
serve an open-ended term and have their sights set firmly on the next big
milestone of this important season: March.
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