By Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.

Has Terry Holland found his man to replace Mack McCarthy as the next East Carolina basketball coach?

It was reported on 103.7-FM Friday afternoon that former North Carolina guard and Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo had been offered the ECU head coaching job. But as of late Friday there was no official news about any type of agreement.

Lebo was recently fired by Auburn and owns a 211-156 overall record as a head coach. He was a guard under former North Carolina coach Dean Smith and had successful coaching stints at Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Chattanooga before taking over at Auburn.

Lebo interviewed for the position on Thursday.

Former UNC-Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz interviewed with Holland on Tuesday, just one day after getting ousted by the 49ers. Lutz finished the season with a 19-12 record, but Charlotte lost seven of its last eight games including its Atlantic-10 Tournament opener.

Lutz owns a career record of 218-158.

Current ECU assistant Michael Perry, who just completed his third year on the Pirates’ staff, also interviewed for the vacancy. Perry previously served five seasons as the head coach at Georgia State, where he guided the Panthers to the Big Dance in 2001.

Georgia State upset Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that year.

The search for a new coach first centered on current Kansas assistant and former ECU head coach Joe Dooley, now believed to be a candidate at Seton Hall. Holland had serious discussions with Dooley about returning to ECU, but he chose to stay at Kansas instead.

Current Wright State coach Brad Brownell, who previously coached ant UNC-Wilmington, was mentioned early in the search process as a potential candidate.

Holland has not stated a specific time table for hiring a replacement for McCarthy.