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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
By Brian Bailey |
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Holland hits home
run with Moore hiring
By
Brian Bailey
©2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Wes Moore |
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(Chattanooga SID Photo) |
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East Carolina Director
of Athletics Terry
Holland has apparently
hit one out of the park
with the hiring of Wes
Moore as ECU’s new
women’s basketball
coach.
Moore's resume is one of
a true winner. He is
490-141 all-time as a
coach, which ranks
eighth among women’s
coaches. His Lady Mocs
team won 11 consecutive
Southern Conference
regular season titles
and went to the NCAA
tournament in eight of
his twelve seasons.
All of a sudden there is
a great connection
between East Carolina
and the University of
Tennessee at
Chattanooga. New Pirate
hoops coach Jeff Lebo
coached at the school,
as did former Pirate
coach Mack McCarthy and
ECU receivers coach
Donnie Kirkpatrick.
Coach Lebo took the ECU
men’s job and in the
process brought his wife
closer to her home of
Williamston, NC. Moore
now does the same,
bringing his wife in
proximity to her native
Jamesville, NC.
Unlike Lebo, Moore
inherits a winner in the
Lady Pirates. With
Moore’s track record,
this should be a win-win
for everyone involved.
“Coach Moore's
accomplishments as a
women’s basketball head
coach are in one word,
‘phenomenal’," said
Coach Holland in the
official release from
the university. “His
teams have been winners
on the floor at every
level — Division I,
Division II and Division
III — but more
importantly his players
have been winners in the
classroom and in the
community.
I talked with several
media members from the
Chattanooga area over
the last couple of days,
and they all were very
complimentary of the new
Pirate coach.
Each one of them said
Moore would go out of
his way for the media,
his players and the fans
at
Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Moore replaces Sharon
Baldwin-Tener at East
Carolina, another coach
who was extremely
popular with the media,
players and fans.
“Initially, I was
interested in the
position since my wife
is from Jamesville,
which is less than an
hour away from
Greenville,” Moore
stated in the release
from Monday. “Then,
after visiting campus
and meeting with several
people, it was great to
see their eagerness and
excitement about Pirate
athletics.
"Sharon did a fantastic
job with this program
and left it in great
shape. It is extremely
exciting to inherit a
team that was so
successful last season
and has so much talent.”
Backs against the
wall
A baseball season that
started with such
promise is turning into
one big disappointment
for Billy Godwin and his
Pirates.
East Carolina wrapped up
a rare 0-5 week by
losing all three games
to Rice in that battle
for first place in
Conference USA.
If there was a bright
spot, it’s the fact that
the Pirates played the
last two games in the
series error-free.
Before those two games,
East Carolina had
committed an eye-popping
25 errors in the team’s
previous five games.
East Carolina had nine
errors in the last two
games of the UAB series,
which oddly enough were
two wins.
The Pirates then
committed four more
miscues against
Campbell, followed by
six against N.C. State
and then six more in the
embarrassing 20-3 loss
to Rice in the first
game of the series.
The Pirates have 15
games to play and you
would have to think that
East Carolina has to win
11 or 12 of those to
have a chance at an NCAA
bid.
ECU would most likely
also need a couple of
wins in the Conference
USA tournament. The RPI
is also not what the
Pirates are used to, and
even 37 or 38 wins might
not be enough.
The Pirates travel to
UNC-Wilmington tonight,
before hosting Marshall
in a three-game series
this weekend at Clark-LeClair
Stadium.
The season is quickly
winding down and the
Pirates need “W’s” in
the worst kind of way to
build that resume for
the NCAA Tournament.
BB
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