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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook No. 42
Monday, January 14, 2002
By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist |
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Lutz Sees Rewards Growing Out of New
Rivalry
©2001 Bonesville.net
GREENVILLE — In the span of one week, East Carolina witnessed both ends
of the Conference USA coaching spectrum.
First, there was Bob Huggins, whose nationally-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats
flirted dangerously with defeat against the Pirates. Grim, sour, and overly
pompous, Huggins didn't try to hide his obvious displeasure about East
Carolina's presence in C-USA.
Then, there was Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz, who couldn't say enough
about Bill Herrion and his young Pirate basketball team. With passion and
energy, Lutz embraced the atmosphere in Minges Coliseum on Saturday,
pointing out after the game that not everyone was against ECU joining the
family.
"I'm happy they're in the league," Lutz said. "I know some people said
other things. I don't like coming here to play, because they are hard to
beat, but I like the fact that they are in our league — I think it's a
positive thing."
Not only does Lutz think that the Pirates will reap benefits from
upgrading leagues, he believes his program will also prosper as a result of
ECU's inclusion.
East Carolina provides the Niners a little something extra, an in-state
conference rival to be precise, to stir competitive fires and spark some
attention.
"I think (the rivalry) is good for both schools," Lutz said. "We are in
North Carolina, which is ACC country. This gives us a presence in both the
west and the eastern part of the state.
"Obviously, high school kids are going to love the ACC, and they should —
it's a great league. I think this is going to make more awareness of
Conference USA and our two programs. We're going to end up going
head-to-head on a number of recruits."
Much like East Carolina, Charlotte has struggled to gain attention in the
shadows of The Old North State's four ACC schools. After all, this is the
state where for decades college basketball has known only one avenue —
Tobacco Road.
But with an annual home-and-home series between East Carolina and
Charlotte now in place, Pirate and 49er fans have a new foe to hate. In due
time, that passion could develop into an intense rivalry, which could add to
the state's basketball mystique.
"It takes time for rivalries to develop, and overall, that's the problem
with Conference USA," Lutz added. "The league is in its seventh year. The
ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big East — those people have so many years of tradition.
It takes time to develop that, but I think it's a natural."
Lutz's sideline antics on Saturday may have gone a long way towards
nurturing a love-hate relationship between the two schools. With his short
stature and high-pitched voice, Lutz was an easy target for the boisterous
Minges' Maniacs, who mocked almost every exclamation from Charlotte's
fourth-year head coach.
In the waning seconds, with the game all but decided, Lutz leaned
comfortably against the scorer's table with utter satisfaction. As several
purple-and-gold-clad students continued with their best Lutz impressions,
the 49ers' coach pointed to the scoreboard in taunting fashion, a subtle
reminder of who was on top.
"I enjoy talking to the students," Lutz said. "That's what college
basketball is all about."
College basketball is also about rivalries, much like the one born on
Saturday.
Building Takes Patience
When Lutz arrived in Charlotte as an assistant, the 49ers were in a
situation similar to the one the Pirates now face. For years, Charlotte had
competed in the now-defunct Metro Conference, but had just made the jump to
the newly-formed C-USA.
The league had an immediate impact on on the 49er program, providing much
of what it was lacking in its former league.
"What Conference USA has done for Charlotte is allow us to recruit at a
much higher level than we could before," Lutz said. "You could work as hard
as you want to in recruiting, but in the past, the Metro was a good league,
but it wasn't Conference USA.
"Now, with our city, our campus, and our visibility in the league, it
opens doors for guys like Cam Stephens. You can get in on guys that in the
past we weren't able to. I'm sure that as hard as coach Herrion's staff
works, that that is going to happen for them."
The key, according to Lutz, will be patience. Though he believes the
Pirates are competitive right now, and will spring a few upsets this season,
building a successful program is a drawn-out process.
"You've got to be patient — it's not going to happen over night," he
said. "It takes a couple of years to establish yourself in the league, and
in the recruiting base. If I was here, I would be very positive about it."
Despite losing three straight, ECU Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick is
very upbeat about the Pirates' basketball future. Though he realizes the
road to being consistently competitive could be a long one, Hamrick says the
Pirates are making progress more quickly than he had anticipated.
"We're not as far away from competing in this league as I thought we were
going to be," Hamrick said. "I thought it would be really difficult to stay
in games.
"But the last three games, we've been right there with opportunities to
win the game. We're just a player or two away from doing it."
Hamrick said the Pirates are already benefiting from their inclusion in
C-USA. Saturday's game was televised nationally on ESPN-Plus, which is the
pay-per-view package offered by the Bristol network.
Television appearances are a rare occurrence in the CAA, save for a
handful of regional telecasts. C-USA, on the other hand, has a multi-year
deal with ESPN, which is the home network for the league's games. That's the
primary difference between the two leagues, according to Hamrick.
"Conference USA takes you from a regional program to a national program,"
Hamrick said. "Now, we're not playing in just North Carolina and Virginia,
we're playing all over the country."
The national exposure should pay ever-growing dividends for Herrion and
his assistants on the recruiting trails. The staff has already lured in a
few gems, with names like Mikulas, Bing, and Badiane leading in the way.
Even though Herrion has found success in polishing those diamonds in the
rough, Hamrick knows the Pirates' third-year head coach can now target
blue-chippers, those all-everything performers with big-time dreams.
"The young kids have proven that they can play in this league — we've
just got to keep adding better players to that, and we will," Hamrick said.
"The caliber of player will go up every year. The future of this basketball
program is very bright. The sky is the limit. "
'Equalizers' Making Impact
Prior to the Cincinnati game, Herrion said Pirate fans had an opportunity
to become "equalizers," giving East Carolina a tangible extra lift on its
home court when high-profile opponents from one of the nation's better
league's come calling.
ECU fans responded in near-capacity fashion against Cincinnati, which was
followed by almost 6,500 in attendance against Charlotte.
Against the Bearcats, noise reached new heights. That was no big deal,
though, according to Huggins, whose team is self-advertised as everybody's
big game.
"The crowd is pretty indicative of every time we play," he said. "We play
in hostile environments everywhere — our guys are used to that."
Charlotte's Cam Stephens, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds,
was a little less smug about the ECU crowd. The junior forward gave credit
where credit was due, admitting that Herrion's "equalizers" played a key
role in the Pirates' late-game run.
"The crowd was so loud that it was kind of hard for us to hear each other
and hear the plays that were being called," he said.
As for Huggins, he took his Bearcat show to Houston on Saturday. As
expected, his post-game comments were dominated by his perception of the
road crowd.
"This is everybody's Super Bowl (when they play us)," Huggins said. "It's
everybody's big game."
The announced crowd in Houston was less than 6,000. That must have been
some Super Bowl.
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02/23/2007 01:45:58 AM
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