By
Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
 |
|
Terry Holland |
 |
|
Mack McCarthy |
|
(ECU SID Photos) |
|
|
There are many theories
behind the historical plight of basketball at East Carolina. Some are
serious. Some aren’t.
The most prevailing is the
hunch that proximity to so many ACC powerhouses makes Greenville a dead
end in hoops. Maybe Charlotte, Davidson, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth
and Winthrop missed that memo.
Another is that it’s just
too difficult to matter on the hardwood when most of the resources are
dedicated to cultivating success on 100 yards of turf. Perhaps someone
should tweet that to Oliver Purnell and Seth Greenberg, two builders of
upper division ACC programs at traditionally football-minded schools.
My personal favorite is
the urban legend behind the foundation on which Williams Arena at Minges
Coliseum was built. I bet some are seriously convinced that real estate
once existed as an ancient tribal burial ground.
That’s the only theory
that has any relevance behind East Carolina’s basketball predicament.
Not because there is any truth behind it, but because somewhere along
the way many resigned themselves to make ECU a punch line in men’s
hoops.
But it doesn’t have to be.
If you look hard enough,
you’ll discover that there is a formula for success in basketball at
East Carolina. A proven one. And you don’t have to look too far back to
see a brief time when the Pirates won on a fairly consistent basis.
From 1993-1997, East
Carolina had a run of four consecutive winning seasons, and that was on
the heels of an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1993. Had the Pirates not
lost sharp shooter Tim Basham and center Jonathan Kerner for much of the
stretch run in ’97, they would have been the favorite to win the CAA and
punch another ticket to the Big Dance.
There also have been
special moments in ECU basketball history that many would rival with
football. Fairly recent victories over Louisville, Marquette, and N.C.
State certainly qualify, and NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade probably would
rank the Minges Maniacs among the toughest crowds he’s faced at any
level.
So there is definitely
something to work with.
Sometime during the next
few weeks, athletics director Terry Holland must make a definitive call
on current coach Mack McCarthy’s future. It’s a slippery situation in
which he will draw some criticism regardless of what he decides.
But athletics directors
are paid big money to make shrewd decisions that ultimately aren’t going
to please everyone. And in the process, Holland must also make some hard
calls on the overall direction of the program and on ECU’s willingness
to invest the resources necessary to help it succeed.
Regardless of the head
coach, that likely will require a more generous recruiting budget and a
strategy that includes junior college and overseas talent. It is hard to
envision the Pirates being a competitive bunch with a roster made up
primarily of locally-grown high school talent.
When you look at some of
the more skilled players in ECU history, many were the product of either
junior college or international searches. Moussa Badiane, Evaldas Jocys,
Gabriel Mikulas, and Chuckie Robinson are examples who are currently
earning professional paychecks in international leagues.
It might make sense to
renew that strategy as long as those players prove not to be academic or
character question marks.
Given the number of
successful programs in North Carolina, ECU isn’t going to win too many
head-to-head recruiting battles with other in-state schools over local
high school targets. At least not while the Pirates are near the bottom
of the barrel in Conference USA.
When Holland was hired as
athletics director, the prevailing belief among fans was that East
Carolina had found the man who could right the ship in basketball. Given
his success as a head coach at both Davidson and Virginia, along with a
thick rolodex of college hoops contacts, there was reason to believe the
Pirates were on their way up.
For whatever reason, ECU’s
positioning on the court hasn’t shifted for the better.
Though basketball will
never replace football as East Carolina’s athletics emphasis — nor
should it — there is no reason the Pirates can’t be consistently
competitive on the hardwood. There is enough fan interest to support
both programs.
But it’s going to take a
stronger commitment from everyone to make ECU relevant in hoops.
