The current school year has been one of the best ever f0r East Carolina based on performance in football, basketball and baseball.

The turning point in an exhilarating football season took place on Oct. 20 when athletic director Jon Gilbert replaced Mike Houston as head coach with defensive coordinator Blake Harrell.   The Pirates were 3-4 at the time and had been dealt decisive losses on the road by Charlotte and Army.

Significant leads had disappeared against Appalachian State and Liberty.

The Pirates regrouped to finish 8-5 with an amazing comeback from a 21-0 deficit at North Texas for a 40-28 victory. ECU took the Military Bowl, 26-21, over N.C. State on a dramatic 86-yard touchdown run by Rahjai Harris with 1:33 remaining.

That was the fourth bowl win for the Pirates over a team currently in a Power Four conference.

ECU finished its best football season ever with a 37-34 win over the Wolfpack to cap the 1991 season with an 11-1 record.

The Pirates did not keep pace across the board in 1991-92. Basketball was an unspectacular 10-18 and baseball was 25-24 in 1992 with a two and through in the  Colonial  Athletic Association tournament in Greenville.

Basketball and baseball showed improvement the following year. The hoops team made a run in the CAA Tournament for an NCAA berth to cap the 1992-93 season although the overall record was 13-17.

Baseball went 41-19 in 1993, winning the CAA Tournament in Wilmington and playing in an NCAA regional in Atlanta. Football success did not mesh in 1993 as the Pirates were 5-6 at the outset of the Steve Logan coaching era.

Logan had the program going in 1995 when ECU went 9-3 with a 19-13 win over Stanford in the Liberty Bowl. Joe Dooley guided basketball to a 17-11 mark for the 1995-96 season. Baseball went  22-24 in 1996 and lost out in the CAA Tournament in Kinston.

The Pirates completed an 8-4 season in football in 2000 with a 40-27 win over Texas Tech in a bowl game in Houston. Basketball broke even at 14-14 in 2000-01 but didn’t get to play in the  CAA Tournament because ECU was transitioning to Conference USA.

ECU’s 2001 baseball season was exceptional. Keith LeClair’s fourth season as coach produced a 47-13 record, an NCAA regional championship in Wilson and a Super Regional matchup in Kinston with Tennessee, which the Volunteers won, 2-0.

So ECU has never had a school year that included a bowl win against a Power Four foe in football, a winning record in basketball and an NCAA berth in baseball.

ECU basketball went 19-14 overall for its first winning season since the 2012-13 team went 22-13 and won the College Invitational Tournament.

The Pirates were a best ever 10-8 in the American Athletic Association hoops this season although the league is not as powerful since Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston exited for the Big 12 before the 2023-24 season.

There is some work to be done on the diamond for ECU to realize a multi-sport level of success that the Pirates have never accomplished.

ECU (12-9) controls its fate in that regard as AAC play starts on Friday at 6 p.m. at home against Memphis (11-9).