©2003 Bonesville.net

A few football notes before we focus on basketball:

New East Carolina football coach John Thompson told an ardent Pirates supporter at the signing day festivities last Wednesday that he is considering moving ECU to the south sideline at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Thompson recalled an incident when he was defensive coordinator at Southern Miss that got him thinking about the move. Obviously, switching sidelines would keep the Pirates from facing into the sun when the weather is warmer. It would put the opposing team in front of the ECU student section.

The Pirates have been on the south side before. It’s something to think about and, apparently, Thompson is.

Coordinator shortage

Thompson isn’t the long head coach in the region looking for an offensive coordinator. Four ACC teams have vacancies in addition to the Pirates. That group includes N.C. State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia. The Pirates apparently were waiting to see if Stanford hired Noel Mazzone, the Oregon State running backs coach and former Auburn OC. The waiting line for offensive coordinators seems to be getting longer.

Offensive lineman L.A. Watson of Heritage High in Lynchburg, Va. committed to ECU before Thompson was named head coach. After seeing Watson on tape, Thompson told Watson he probably wouldn’t play at ECU although he would honor the scholarship. Watson, who had been recruited by former ECU receivers coach Bob Leahy, opted for Division I-AA Richmond. “We’re happy for L.A.,” Thompson said at last Wednesday’s news conference. Since L.A. undoubtedly wants to play, he’s probably happy, too.

On to basketball

Coaches talk about being in position to win. East Carolina was definitely out of position with just under nine minutes left against Southern Miss in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday night.

The Pirates needed a win in terms of qualifying for the Conference USA Tournament at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. on March 12-15, but the shots just weren’t falling and ECU trailed the Golden Eagles 50-41 when Derrick Wiley drove for a lay-up and was fouled with 8:29 to go. Wiley converted a 3-point play the old fashioned way and then Travis Holcomb-Faye dropped a pair of 3-pointers from behind the arc for a tie game.

By that time, the crowd of 5,545 had recovered from the agony of watching ECU shoot 30.3 percent in the first half and was into the game. The Pirates completed a 15-0 run for a 56-50 lead as Wiley had two baskets and Gabriel Mikulas dropped two free throws.

Southern Miss managed just one field goal in the final 8:53 and ECU took a big step toward qualifying for the C-USA Tournament with a 60-57 victory.

“We want to go the league tournament,” said Wiley, who had 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. “We want to win that and go to the bigger dance.”

Holcomb-Faye warmed up for 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Erroyl Bing snatched 14 rebounds as the Pirates outboarded Southern Miss, 45-31. ECU hasn’t shot over 40 percent from the field in its last eight games but managed to hit 42.4 percent in the second half against the Golden Eagles.

“The kids really persevered,” said Pirates coach Bill Herrion. “... I was just very concerned about this time of year and whether winning was still a priority with these kids. I think the kids showed a tremendous amount of resolve and resiliency just bouncing back.”

The outcome ended a three-game losing streak for ECU (12-9, 3-7 C-USA), which equaled its overall win total of last season.

The Pirates had dropped seven of their previous eight games. Herrion planned to give the team Sunday and Monday off before starting preparation for a 2:10 p.m. game at Saint Louis on Saturday. ECU is 0-13 on the road in its two seasons in C-USA.

The Pirates are definitely in the tougher of C-USA’s two divisions. The American Division, which includes the Pirates, includes ranked teams Louisville and Marquette. ECU plays 12 of its 16 conference games against teams in the American Division.

The American Division leads the National Division 13-4 in interdivision games this season and has won head to head every year since 1997-98 when C-USA went to two divisions. The records by year in favor of the American Division: 17-7 in 2001-02, 20-16 in 2000-01, 27-9 in 1999-2000, 27-9 in 1998-99 and 25-13 in 1997-98.

Wake Forest found out how tough it is to play in the Bradley Center on Sunday with a 68-61 loss to Marquette but the Deacons held on to the top spot in the Division I Carolinas poll. Wake actually moved into first in the ACC during the loss to the Golden Eagles as Georgia Tech knocked off Maryland. The top two teams, Wake and Duke, play in Winston-Salem on Thursday night.