College Sports in the Carolinas
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from the East Monday,
January 31, 2005
By Al Myatt |
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Potential NFL suitors eye QB
guru Logan
©2005 Bonesville.net
Steve Logan is likely moving away from Greenville and possibly onto an NFL
coaching staff after another NFL Europe tour of duty.
The former East Carolina coach plans to sell the home he built in the Brook
Valley section of Greenville and relocate in the Raleigh area, according to
an informed source.
That will put Logan closer to son, Nate, who is playing baseball at Campbell
and son, Vince, who has accepted a position with the Durham Bulls. Moving
also will give Logan ready access to a major airport, which could be of
value if he intensifies his television analyst work or expands his role in
pro football.
Logan is returning to NFL Europe after helping the Berlin Thunder to the
World Bowl title last season as their quarterbacks coach. Logan will likely
be the Thunder's offensive coordinator this season. Logan, who will be paid
an annual salary of $200,000 by ECU for the remainder of 2005, could also
wind up as quarterbacks coach for New Orleans or Cleveland in the NFL,
either of which projects as an excellent utilization of his abilities as an
offensive tactician and developer of talent.
The New England Patriots apparently were very pleased with Logan's work with
former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey in NFL Europe last season.
Don't be surprised if former Pirates kicker Kevin Miller, ECU's leading
career scorer, winds up on the Thunder roster this year. Miller signed a
contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Friday and will go to NFL Europe's
kicker tryouts on March 1-3 in Tampa.
"I'm extremely excited," Miller said. "It's been a pretty good week."
Miller was set to sign with Seattle last year and go to NFL Europe but a
change in Seahawks special teams coaches delayed the opportunity. Miller
worked for the Hinton Media Group and refined his golf game, qualifying for
the U.S. Amateur, but maintained his dream of pursuing a pro kicking career.
The knock on Miller coming out of college was lack of depth on his kickoffs
but working with former Dallas kicker Chris Boniol has boosted his distance
through some technique adjustments.
"He helped me a lot," Miller said. "When I went to San Francisco in December
of 2003, I had a pretty good tryout field goal-wise but my kickoffs were
pretty bad. I had an idea of what I was doing wrong but I didn't know how to
fix it and (Boniol) gave me some things to work on that helped a lot."
Miller will also attend a camp in Tampa conducted by former NFL kicker Louie
Aguiar before reporting for the NFL Europe sessions.
Miller's size, build and personality compare favorably with New England
Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri, who also got his pro start in NFL Europe.
"Now that I've got my foot in the door, my main objective is to make one of
the six European teams, but it would be nice to be on Coach Logan's team,"
Miller said.
One of Logan's top former aides, Jerry McManus, also may be relocating to
the Triangle. Logan hired McManus in 1996 and McManus proved to be a
valuable asset as a recruiter and running backs coach. McManus, a former
Wake Forest quarterback who also worked with that position at his alma
mater, could wind up as receivers coach at North Carolina.
Thinking "inside" the box
Was East Carolina assistant basketball coach George Stackhouse thinking
outside the box when he suggested that the Pirates go to a box-and-one
defense on Charlotte's Brendan Plavich on Saturday?
Or would that be
thinking inside the box?
Actually, it was 49ers power forward Curtis Withers who was inside the box,
the 2-2 zone that the Pirates deployed while sophomore guard Japhet McNeil
attached himself to Plavich like a Siamese twin.
Given ECU coach Bill Herrion's work ethic and his emphasis on practice
effort, it is indeed ironic that Herrion could not recall even using a
box-and-one in practice after the Pirates rallied for a 54-51 home win over
the 49ers by holding their Conference USA rivals scoreless the final 6:41.
"I have to congratulate East Carolina," said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz, who
had never lost to the Pirates in seven previous C-USA matchups. "They hung
around. We had some leads but they just wouldn't go away. They out-executed
us down the stretch.
"The change to the box-and-one was excellent. We normally don't have trouble
with that. Today we did. We struggled when they made that change. Curt was
scoring inside and our guys were doing a good job of getting it to him."
Any defense with the long arms of 6-foot-10 Moussa Badiane on the backline
has a good chance to be effective because of his shot blocking ability.
Badiane rejected Withers several times on Saturday, the last time with 42
seconds left as Withers was positioned to slam home a go-ahead dunk that
would have restored the lead for the 49ers.
"I gave him time to recover," said a somber Withers after leading Charlotte
with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Badiane became C-USA's
career blocked shots leader, passing
former Cincinnati star Kenyon Martin.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Plavich had pushed Charlotte's lead to 42-34 with
11:47 left and it looked like the 49er train might be leaving the station.
But Stackhouse, the former Kinston High coach, chimed in with a valuable
idea at a subsequent break.
Plavich didn't score again and Badiane drew a charge with 5.8 seconds left
to thwart a drive by Charlotte's Eddie Basden that preserved a 52-51 ECU
lead.
"The charge was a little unexpected but certainly was a big play cutting off
Basden's path to the basket," Lutz said.
Withers' production prompted the defensive change.
"We really went to the box-and-one because we could not stop Withers."
Herrion said. "It might have confused them a little bit but it changed the
flow of the game. We really guarded Plavich and kept it out of his hands
because we didn't want him hurting us with threes.
"Then we went to the box and it didn't get inside. I think that was the key.
They missed shots and we did a great job of not giving them second shots. We
outrebounded them 45-37."
Niners worthy of emulation
Charlotte came into the game at ECU at No. 38 in the ratings power index
among 332 Division I programs. The 49ers have road wins at Valparaiso,
Davidson, Indiana, UAB and Marquette, and had won 11 of their last 12.
"They came in here today probably playing as well as anybody in the
country," said Herrion. "When you look at their team and you look at their
program, when you can go on the road at the major college level ... they're
a great road team. They play with no fear and they play with so much
confidence on the offensive end of the floor.
"I would love for our program some day to be like their program as far as
the success. They've taken like a mid-major situation and they've built it
into a high major program because they can go beat people."
Value of winning momentum
After topping Saint Louis 60-53 on Wednesday night for the first league win,
Herrion said there was a perceptible change in team attitude.
"Just the hop in their step the last couple of days of practice, the looks
on their faces," said the ECU coach. "When you try to explain the scouting
reports and game prep it's not like, 'Here we go again.' They're hanging on
every word. That's the way it's supposed to be."
Two wins also have resulted in a dramatic increase in confidence.
"If we play defense like we did today, we can beat any of the teams left on
our schedule," said sophomore guard Mike Cook after the 49ers game.
Future scheduling
Even though Charlotte leaves C-USA after this school year, Herrion would
like to continue a series with the 49ers.
"I don't want to speak for the administration but I think they would love to
keep playing them," Herrion said. "UNC Wilmington. Yeah, those are great
games. When you start losing the marquee teams (Cincinnati, Louisville,
Marquette, etc.), we're going to need some people on our schedule to draw
fans and I think those in-state rivalries are important. Absolutely."
Correction
The
Associated Press reported that
Charlotte's Mitchell Baldwin had a chance to tie the score at the buzzer
with a 3-point shot.
Baldwin actually stepped on the arc before shooting at the end of the game.
The trail official on the play signaled a 2-point attempt.
LeClair's No. 23 to Cavanaugh
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ECU baseball coach Randy Mazey announced Sunday night at "Meet the Pirates"
at the Murphy Center that senior outfielder Brian Cavanaugh, the only
remaining Pirate in the program to have played under former coach Keith
LeClair, will wear the No. 23 jersey in honor of the ex-ECU skipper, who
stepped down after the 2002 season due to his battle with Lou Gehrig's
disease.
The number is awarded annually to a deserving player who best displays the
hustle, determination and desire that made LeClair a great coach and player.
Ben Sanderson wore the honorary number in 2003 while Jamie Paige wore No. 23
in 2004.
ECU has posted two basketball wins since the baseball team walked across the
playing floor of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum at halftime of the Saint
Louis game.
"We brought them some love," said Mazey, who often attends Herrion's
postgame news conferences with his new wife, Amanda Ross.
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02/23/2007 12:32:57 AM
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