Fifteen Questions for Heather Macy

By W.A. Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
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Heather Macy has the East Carolina women's basketball team playing exceptionally well thus far in the 2013-14 season. The Lady Pirates are 21-3 overall and 9-2 in Conference USA heading into a game at Texas-San Antonio on Thursday night.

The ECU women have been especially successful at home. They are 13-0 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum this season and were 14-1 last season when Macy was named C-USA Coach of the Year. The Lady Pirates were rewarded as a team with a bid to last year's Women's NIT.

Macy has a record of 71-47 in three-plus seasons at ECU and is 34-25 in C-USA during that span. The former Greensboro College player has been an assistant coach at Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, High Point and Maryland-Baltimore County. She was a head coach at Pfeiffer and Francis Marion before coming to ECU. Her overall record as a head coach is 186-86.

Macy spoke with Bonesville during a break on the recruiting trail on Monday.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant?

A: I do zero cooking so I keep the majority of restaurants in Greenville open. I do most of my dining out. Any restaurant that is a Pirates Supporting Pirates.

Q: What is your favorite TV show?

A: I like 'Law and Order.'

Q: Who is your favorite musical artist?

A: John Mayer.

Q: What is your favorite movie?

A: The war movie (Lone Survivor) with Mark Wahlberg. I took my entire team to see it. That's the most recent movie I've seen.

Q: What was your highlight as a player?

A: Probably being inducted into the (Greensboro College) hall of fame.

Q: Who influenced your development as a coach?

A: Coach (Sylvia) Hatchell, obviously, at North Carolina has had an influence.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to be a coach?

A: Since I was teeny-tiny, it's what I've always wanted to do.

Q: You studied at Southern Miss (master's degree in human performance and recreation). What was that experience like?

A: It was an accelerated graduate school program. I was there two summers.

Q: What are qualities that you look for in a recruit?

A: Kids that are passionate, that love to work hard and who truly buy in to Eastern North Carolina and ECU.

Q: Do you have any hobbies or pastimes?

A: No. Getting this basketball program turned around for the past few years has been keeping me pretty busy.

Q: What have been keys to success this season?

A: I think we've just continued to build. The foundation was just so strong. We lost our three leading scorers a year ago and I just think the culture we've built has trumped all strategy.

Q: What are the advantages of the new practice facility?

A: I think it gives us a 'Wow' factor when we bring recruits on. I know for sure our recruiting has been elevated.

Q: What was the biggest adjustment for you, moving from Francis Marion to East Carolina?

A: Probably the base. I dealt more with transfer recruiting and at this level you've got to really start recruiting when they're freshmen in high school. You need an early jump. That was the largest transition, not having the previous relationship with the recruits.

Q: What do you think about joining the American Athletic Conference next year?

A: We're looking forward to it. Women's basketball is going to be a tough transition. Some of the tops from Conference USA have moved over and obviously joining what is the current No. 1 team in the country (Connecticut) is in that league.

Q: What do you think it would be like for UConn to be playing in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum?

A: I would hope that we could continue to grow the fan base to where we give them a great experience.

E-mail W.A. Myatt.

PAGE UPDATED 02/18/14 03:50 PM