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Mack McCarthy |
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East Carolina basketball coach Mack McCarthy headed off speculation
about his job status by announcing Saturday night that he will leave his
position after the Conference USA Tournament and accept an assignment
that will keep him involved with ECU hoops.
McCarthy, 57,
said after
the Pirates' 75-65 home loss to Southern Miss
that he will remain at the helm through the league tourney and then take
on a role within the athletic department aimed at helping ECU bring to
reality an on-campus basketball practice center.
"Over a period of
time, (ECU AD) Terry Holland and I have discussed a change in my role at
ECU related to the basketball program and Pirate athletics in general,"
McCarthy said. "Although it is never easy to give up something you love
doing as much as I love coaching, it is the right time for me to take
advantage of this exciting and challenging opportunity.
"Initially, my
main focus will be on the planning and fundraising for a much-needed
practice facility."
Holland, who is
expected to move quickly to hire a new head coach, indicated that the
move is not based on a sudden decision.
"... (T)he candid
conversations that Coach McCarthy and I have had over the last few weeks
have allowed me to begin thinking about the search process for finding a
new coach," stated Holland.
Holland expressed
his confidence that McCarthy will make important contributions to the
program in his new capacity.
"My goal as the
AD is to help get our personnel into positions that allow them to be the
most effective individually so that the athletic department team can
collectively be the most successful as possible," Holland stated. "Coach
Mack will be terrific in this new role and our overall program will
benefit greatly when this practice facility becomes available for use by
our student-athletes and coaches."
McCarthy has
compiled a 34-56 mark since
being elevated from associate head coach to
acting head coach on the eve of the 2007-08 season when
he succeeded Ricky Stokes. McCarthy was subsequently named head coach at
the end of that season.
Among the
program's milestone accomplishments during McCarthy's tenure was East
Carolina's
75-69 win over North Carolina State
on Dec. 8, 2007. It was the Wolfpack's first visit to the Pirates' home
court and marked ECU's first-ever basketball victory over an Atlantic
Coast Conference foe.
McCarthy, a
Virginia Tech alum, has built an overall record of 342-233 during 19
seasons as a head coach. Along the way, he secured 14 winning campaigns,
eight 20-win seasons and five NCAA Tournament bids.
He coached at
Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1985-1997 and guided Virginia Commonwealth
from 1998-2002. His 1996-97 UTC team reached the Sweet Sixteen.
McCarthy will
lead the 10th-seeded Pirates against No. 7 seed Houston on Wednesday in
the first round of the conference tournament at the BOK Center in
Tulsa. If ECU springs the upset, it will run head-on into No. 2 seed
Memphis on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
With their loss
to Southern Miss on Saturday night, the Pirates concluded the regular
season 10-20 overall and 4-12 in the league.
According to an
ECU Athletics release, McCarthy has three years remaining on a five-year
contract.