Tyler Leinberger was angry and frustrated like many when COVID-19 forced the postponement of Virginia’s 2020 high school football season until the spring. But the unplanned hiatus led to a breakthrough for the Thomas Dale High School offensive lineman that turned him into a major college prospect. “I think that time, honestly, was a blessing… [ More… ]
Recent News & Features
VIEW FROM THE EAST
Dooley steers through tricky waters
College athletics are in a state of flux. Programs are coming out of pandemic restrictions. First-time transfers don’t have to sit out a year. Players are beginning to generate revenue from their name, image and likeness. East Carolina basketball coach Joe Dooley has been figuring out how to navigate the non-traditional currents as summer school… [ More… ]
Football Recruiting Report
Norcross star on track for early enrollment
When Zakye Barker would cry as an infant, his father Zach would flip on the TV and try to find a football game. “I’d cry all day, but when he’d turn on the TV and put on football I’d stop crying,” Barker said. “It was like I knew what was going on. So once I… [ More… ]
VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates pulling from portal
East Carolina has been affected by the ebb and flow of talent in the transfer portal since the NCAA ruled that student-athletes can have immediate eligibility the first time they switch schools. Pirates baseball coach Cliff Godwin said the new regulation is not “real life,” allowing athletes to seek greener pastures rather than adjust to… [ More… ]
Football Recruiting Report
Big man Allen tapping into ‘nasty side’
Greg Greene was strolling through the hallways at Durham’s Riverside (NC) High School in the spring of 2018 when he passed a very large freshman. Greene, an assistant coach for Riverside’s football team, didn’t immediately recognize the student who he’d actually worked with as an eight-year-old. But Greene knew the then-6-foot-4, 285-pounder looked like he… [ More… ]
VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates excelled despite complicated season
The challenges were just beginning when East Carolina’s 2020 baseball season was cut short due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Despite a continuing battle with the demands of the pandemic in 2021, the Pirates went 44-17 and finished No. 12 in national rankings published by Division I Baseball. ECU went 20-8 in the American Athletic… [ More… ]
Football Recruiting Report
ECU gets one of NC’s top D-line prospects
Being first paid off for the East Carolina Pirates when it came to recruiting one of North Carolina’s top high school defensive line prospects. The Pirates were the first college football program to offer a scholarship to J.D. Lampley from Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham way back in May 2020 while he was just… [ More… ]
VIEW FROM THE EAST
Getting back to normal
The 2020-21 athletic year at East Carolina was unique. Canceled games, games without fans, games without key personnel, cancellation of sports, restoration of sports, more adjustments due to diminished revenue, the potential for more revenue for athletes, an increasingly busy transfer portal and another trip to a Super Regional in baseball were among the developments.… [ More… ]
Football Recruiting Report
Coveted big play receiver picks Pirates
Defending Virginia Class 6 champion South County High School found itself trailing 22-21 with 3:40 left in the COVID-19 delayed 2020 state football semifinals last April against Madison. The Stallions needed to cover 90 yards during that span to make a return trip to the state finals. South County coach Tynan Rolander knew for the… [ More… ]
Football Recruiting Report
ECU lures hybrid DE/LB from Palmetto State
While coaching back at Marlboro County High School in Bennettsville, SC, in the early 2000s, Ronnie Baker helped tutor a defensive end named Robert Ayers. Ayers went on to earn all-state honors at Marlboro County, All-American status at the University of Tennessee and enjoyed a 10-year career in the National Football League. Baker compares the… [ More… ]
ECU Athletics News
Gilbert weighs in on Supreme Court decision
Athletic director Jon Gilbert has been dealing with a multitude of issues lately. Athletes will soon be entitled to a bigger piece of the financial pie. Athletic department revenue streams, parched by COVID, are starting to flow again. There is a proposal that is gaining popularity to expand the College Football Playoffs. The baseball program… [ More… ]