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News Nuggets, 10.27.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Coaches predict Cards to dominate, Pirates to improve

Conference USA's basketball coaches don't figure that East Carolina will threaten Louisville for league supremacy this season, but they do feel more optimistic about the Pirates' prospects than in any preseason poll they've conducted since ECU became a C-USA member.

The Pirates were picked to finish 11th in the coaches' annual preseason vote released by the league office on Tuesday, their highest place in the preliminary pecking order since joining C-USA in 2001-02.

East Carolina earned 55 points in the poll, 10 less than 10th-place Southern Miss and 14 more than 12th place Tulane.

Louisville was the overwhelming favorite to finish first with 192 points and 11 first place votes. Memphis received two first place votes and was picked to finish second, while Cincinnati received the other remaining first place vote and was picked to finish third.

Charlotte was picked to finish fourth followed by UAB, DePaul, Marquette, Saint Louis and TCU. Houston and USF rounded out the poll in 13th and 14th place, respectively.

The Pirates, under sixth-year coach Bill Herrion, welcome back two starters and two other letterwinners and will count on eight newcomers to build on the momentum they established late last season.

ECU closed out 2003-04 by winning four of its final five games, finishing with an overall record of 13-14 and in 11th place in the league with a 5-11 mark. The Pirates were close in many of those losses, with seven of the 11 defeats coming by six points or less.

East Carolina will host an open scrimmage Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum prior to the Pirates’  3:00 p.m. football game with Army.

ECU plays exhibition games against Newberry (Nov. 4) and Barton (Nov. 11) before opening the season against Pepperdine on Nov. 17 at noon in the first round of the BCA Invitational in Raleigh.

Compiled from an ECU Athletics report.

Seahawks undergo management shuffle

It took only hours for UNC Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo to name an interim replacement after transferring the Seahawks athletic director to a different job.

Peg Bradley-Doppes, who headed up UNC Wilmington’s athletic department for the last five years, has been reassigned to the Division of Public Service and Continuing Studies, according to a Tuesday announcement by the school.

“I believe the University will be better served with this change in Athletic Department leadership," stated DePaolo. "This decision was reached after Peg and I continued to have philosophical differences in communication and leadership styles."

Later in the day, UNCW announced that Mike Capaccio had been named interim Director of Athletics. Capaccio, who has spent the past two years serving as the executive director of the Seahawk Club, will maintain that title and assume additional responsibilities as interim athletic director, noted the announcement.

“For years, he has served as a well-respected member of the UNCW community, and his commitment to our University is strong," DePaolo said of Capaccio. "As we move forward with a thorough national search for a permanent athletic director, we are confident that Capaccio possesses the knowledge, experience and skills necessary to lead our athletics program.”

Capaccio joined UNCW in 1999 to serve as director of basketball operations. He assisted both the men’s and women’s programs in several different areas, including academics, community service, travel, alumni relations, special events and fundraising.

Prior to joining UNCW, Capaccio directed the McHenry County College (Crystal Lake, Ill.) program from 1983-89. He then moved on to serve as head basketball coach and coordinator of prospective students at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Capaccio earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Mary in 1981 and completed his master’s in education at Drake in 1993.

Compiled from a UNCW Athletics report.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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