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Pirate Notebook No. 41
Wednesday, January 9, 2002

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

From Sandlot to Hardwood, Bing's a Smashing Hit

©2001 Bonesville.net

GREENVILLE — As a teenage boy, Erroyl Bing had heavyweight dreams for his athletic career. No, the Largo, Florida native didn't aspire to match blows with Mike Tyson, but he did envision himself chasing down American League home run titles, much like his boyhood hero, Cecil Fielder.

Not only did Bing share Fielder's passion for hitting the long ball, he resembled the former Detroit standout in stature. Short and heavy-set, Bing had the build of a clean-up hitter, and launched towering blasts with regularity.

As Bing began to grow, though, he lost much of the baby fat that defined him as a clean-up hitter. The fat was replaced by well-defined muscles, as he started to shape into a chiseled specimen of a man.

It was during that growth spurt that Bing realized he wouldn't become a modern-day sultan of swat. Instead of following in the footsteps of the slugger he once idolized, Bing realized his calling would be the same as another long-time hero, this one much closer to home.

"As I started to grow, I decided to concentrate more on basketball," Bing said. "Just like my father."

It was a wise decision.

Bing was a hit for Largo High, where he broke the school record for rebounding in a season as a junior. It was a record that wouldn't last long, though, as he re-wrote the record books again as a senior.

During his junior campaign, Bing was named the the Pinellas County Player of the Year after tossing in 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. He earned that honor again as a senior, netting 18 points and 12.8 rebounds per contest, while shooting 56 percent from the field.

Bing, perhaps, saved his best for last, though. Selected to play in the Florida High School All-Star Game, he dominated with a 17-point, 15-rebound, five-block effort, earning MVP honors for the effort.

It was that type of performance that lured East Carolina basketball coach Bill Herrion to the Sunshine State to court the bulky forward. Herrion immediately fell in love with Bing, who shared many qualities with another All-Star he coached at Drexel.

"I've got a real, real soft spot for Erroyl Bing, because I recruited him hard, and got him late in his senior year out of Florida," Herrion said. "He reminds me so much of a kid I coached at Drexel — Malik Rose — who plays for the (San Antonio) Spurs now."

"They've got the same personalities. Erroyl Bing is a great kid — he always has a smile on his face."

Off the court Bing loves to flash those pearly whites, but he is a fierce, nasty competitor who thrives off physical play on the court. And Herrion, whose style provided the perfect fit, had just the product to satisfy Bing's growing basketball hunger.

"Conference USA sold me," Bing said. "It's plain and simple. When Coach (Herrion) recruited me, he said 'If you come and work hard, you'll earn your playing time.' So, I figured if I worked as hard as I could, things would turn out well."

Bing held up his end of the bargain, working tirelessly to shape his body and hone his skills. In doing so, Herrion has held true to his promise, and the 6-6, 250-pound beastly forward has been a fixture in the Pirates' starting lineup since arriving in Greenville.

During his freshman year, Bing started 19 games, averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds, good enough to earn a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team. Teaming with freshman forward/center Gabriel Mikulas, the two became the strategic weapons of the Pirates' offense and formed the best frontcourt duo in the Colonial Athletic Association.

As impressive a first year as he had, Bing didn't make the trek from Florida to East Carolina for the weekly bus trips and mid-major stops of the CAA. He had his sights set on the big time, the type of atmosphere that C-USA would provide in his second season.

Through 13 games, Bing showed no signs of a sophomore slump. Forced to man the middle while Mikulas and freshman center Moussa Badiane served NCAA suspensions, Bing upped his production to 16.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

In East Carolina's first game in C-USA — a 72-62 loss to 10th-ranked Cincinnati — Bing more than held his own against the bigger Bearcats, leading the Pirates with 17 points and six boards. Despite the loss, Bing relished the frenzied atmosphere in Minges Coliseum, which suggested that prime-time basketball had arrived in Greenville.

"It was everything I imagined," Bing said. "We had 7,500 people here tonight. It was a big game — that's what I wanted.

"Cincinnati is a very physical team. Donald Little, Jason Maxiell, Jamal Davis — those are people you watch on ESPN every night. Those are things you dream about."

Bing wasn't the only one who left Minges in awe. The sophomore forward left an indelible impression on Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins, who has coached his share of frontcourt headliners over the years.

"He's a great player," Huggins said. "He's very aggressive and really attacks the basket."

With the absence of Mikulas, Bing has become even more assertive in the post. Now, even more fierce and tenacious, he has become a warrior on the court.

"Gabe's absence has really allowed me to expand and be a little more aggressive on offense," Bing said. "I've also had to learn to play a lot of minutes."

Even while missing in action, Mikulas has been of great service to Bing, offering pointers to help improve his game. Not to mention, the extra court time has done wonders for Bing, who has shown his versatility as an inside-outside threat.

"I've had the opportunity to play a lot of different positions," Bing said. "Coach (Herrion) said the more positions you can play on the court, the more valuable you are to the team.

"I'm trying to learn to play a lot of different positions. I'm never going to be a point guard or a shooting guard, but that's all right with me."

Perhaps most impressive is Bing's work ethic, which is best described as meticulous. Piece by piece, Bing is fine-tuning his game, working endlessly to become a complete player.

Ball-handling has been identified as one of the weaker facets of his game, which is already being addressed in practice.

"I'm really concentrating on improving my ball handling and making better decisions with the basketball," Bing said. "Late in games, teams have been double-teaming me a lot, and I've missed cutters going to the basket. I need to work on just calming down and taking better care of the basketball."

Bing's behind-the-scenes efforts haven't gone unnoticed by Herrion, who often raves about the practice habits of his trusty workhorse. Day in, day out, Herrion knows that Bing will leave it on the floor.

"The kid just gives you everything he has," Herrion said. "He's only a sophomore, and I think he's got a great future ahead of him."

If history is any indication, Bing's best days are ahead. Herrion, for one, is glad those days will be spent on the hardwood, instead of at Bing's first love — the old ballpark.

Blessing in Disguise

Mikulas's return has been eagerly anticipated by his teammates. Though the Pirates played well over the last five games, they struggled for much of his 13-game absence.

Nevertheless, Herrion mentioned after the Cincinnati game on Saturday night that while Mikulas will definitely bolster the Pirates' front line, his absence actually made a positive impact.

"I think in an unfortunate way, not having Gabe has helped a lot of these kids," Herrion said Saturday. "I think it has forced people to step up."

"Our perimeter players — Brandon (Hawkins), Fred (Primus, Travis (Holcomb-faye), Kenyatta (Brown) — will especially be happy to have Gabe back. Gabe's such a good inside player and makes the perimeter players so much better. He gets them more open shots."

Herrion also said Saturday that the addition of Mikulas enables the Pirates to become more versatile. The extra size could give East Carolina favorable match-ups in the post, as Herrion envisions Bing transitioning into a small forward.

"As we move on in this league, we're talking about a league that has such good size," Herrion said. "Now, with Gabe back, we're toying with the idea of pushing Bing off to the three a little bit.

"Erroyl can step out and shoot threes — he's our leading three-point shooter. We're going to try to push some big line-ups out there with Bing, Mikulas, and Moussa."

The extra bulk will definitely give the Pirates a boost in the rebounding department, where they struggled in many of their early-season losses.

Turning Heads

While Herrion said Saturday that he wasn't looking at the Pirates' 10-point loss to Cincinnati as a moral victory, he did hint that the surprisingly close score could have sent a message around the league. He pointedly noted that the challenge was to continue to play with the intensity and resolve that was shown against the now 10th-ranked Bearcats.

"What we can't do is expend everything tonight," Herrion said following last Saturday's game. "But maybe we've opened some eyes in this league, and maybe some people are going to look at that score and say, 'You know what, East Carolina is a good basketball team'.

"Their (Cincinnati) margin of victory has been like 25 points a game. I've watched five films on these guys, and they've played quality, quality people and beaten them pretty badly."

With the exception of a season-opening loss to sixth-ranked Oklahoma State (13-1), the Pirates have been UC's only challenge en route to notching 13-straight wins. Included among those victories was a 34-point blowout of Mississippi State (14-1), which currently is ranked 24th.

Though Cincinnati wasn't ranked in the pre-season, its early-season success should come as no surprise. Huggins' teams have made quite a name for themselves over the years, and are widely know for applying a hyper-aggressive defensive effort night after night.

"You're talking about a program that plays as hard as anybody in this country in Cincinnati — that's their reputation," Herrion noted. "They're the number one or two defensive team in the nation.

"But I like to think that our plays kids play really hard. I've been trying to sell that to our people here ever since we got here, and I think we do. I think we answered that tonight."

Now, Herrion just hopes the Pirates' efforts start paying dividends in the win column, which would really turn some heads in C-USA.

Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.

Click here to dig into Denny O'Brien's Bonesville archives.

02/23/2007 01:45:57 AM
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