News, Analysis and Opinion from Bonesville's Denny O'Brien

Pirate Notebook No. 130
Wednesday, July 9, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Sooner or later, Atlantic Coast Conference boss John Swofford will recommend another school for league presidents to ponder as a potential 12th member.

In the meantime, everyone from politicians to preachers will offer their two cents on which institution best suits the ACC’s finicky palate.

Notre Dame, Penn State, and Kentucky have been mentioned as desirable options, but it’s difficult to fathom the Irish, Lions, or Wildcats vacating their comfortable situations.

As a football Independent, Notre Dame essentially has formed its own conference, dictating its schedule while enjoying the benefits of a national television contract and easy access to the Bowl Championship Series. If the new BCS agreement forces Notre Dame to seek conference shelter, the first call will be placed to the Big Ten, which, geographically and financially, fits like a glove.

Penn State views itself as an eastern school and might be tempted by Swofford’s siren song, but school officials likely will conclude the Big Ten is a better economic fit when the bean counters start crunching travel costs and estimating per-game revenues.

Luring Kentucky could be an even greater challenge given its deeply entrenched Southeastern Conference roots and overall league supremacy in hoops. Joining a roster of heavyweights that includes Duke, North Carolina, and Maryland could threaten the ‘Cats position in the national pecking order.

Other rumored targets along the expansion railroad include Connecticut, Louisville, and South Carolina, each of which boasts a solid athletics program, but for one reason or another breaks the ACC mold.

UConn, for example, has a basketball résumé comparable to Duke, boasting dominant programs for both men and women. However, the Huskies’ isolation in New England would be a major stumbling block when ACC presidents hit the voting booths.

Strong all-around athletics programs and top-notch facilities make both Louisville and South Carolina viable solutions, but it still is difficult to imagine either in the ACC’s future.

A commuter school with a somewhat renegade reputation, the U of L would compromise the ACC’s emphasis on academics, while adding a school that lacks the traditional, tight-knit college town atmosphere present at most of the league’s outposts.

The Gamecocks are perfectly happy in the SEC, and even if they weren’t, would the ACC go fishing for a school with a history of secession? Probably not.

Then, there is East Carolina, the school mentioned in almost every breath of expansion discussion as the one place the ACC should not and will not explore. Most contend the Pirates bring nothing to the league piggy bank and don’t meet the criteria for athletics and academic excellence.

While there’s no question East Carolina would be the primary financial beneficiary of an alignment with the ACC, an objective evaluation of the Pirates’ merit will suggest they possess the necessary qualifications the league historically has sought in previous annexations.

Though the Pirates have fallen behind Virginia Tech on the gridiron, they are cut from the same cloth. In fact, you can draw similarities between the Pirates and each school the ACC has appropriated since the formation of the original seven.

Much like Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, and Virginia Tech, East Carolina’s athletics identity was born out of its obsessive football culture. The major difference is the numerous disadvantages the Pirates have faced — yet they still have maintained a competitive presence despite a shoestring budget.

It was often argued that former Pirates skipper Steve Logan squeezed more production out of his resources than any coach in the nation. Throughout his 11-year tenure, the Pirates conquered a Who’s Who list of college football Goliaths and became fixtures on national TV.

It’s conceivable that new coach John Thompson, who has quickly woven a thread of SEC enthusiasm into Pirate Land, can elevate the program to a new level given BCS funding.

One thing is for certain, East Carolina’s rabid fan base would do its share to help rival stadiums reach capacity when the Pirates come to town.

With the most recent additions of Miami and Virginia Tech, basketball no longer can be used as a sufficient reason for ECU’s exclusion. At the very least, East Carolina performs at a comparable level to the Canes, while the Hokies, who were throttled in Greenville last December, can attest firsthand to the Pirates’ strides on the hardwood.

ECU is a long ways from competing with the ACC’s upper crust basketball empires, but at the same time, the Pirates wouldn’t rub elbows with the league’s bottom feeders this season.

The same can be said for academics, which is an exhaustively worn-out stereotype that no longer applies. East Carolina doesn’t proclaim to rival the Duke or Virginia academic paradigm, but given its increasing number of high-profile degree programs and rising admission standards, ECU fits nicely within the parameters of the ACC fold.

Of particular note, when it comes to student-athletes — whom East Carolina graduates at a higher rate than most ACC schools — the league bar would be raised in the classroom.

Sure, the Pirates have welcomed an occasional partial qualifier, but is that really different than the growing number of recruits ACC clubs hide in prep school?

The fact is, you can analyze it seven ways to Sunday without pinpointing where East Carolina severely botches the ACC blueprint.

True, the Pirates don’t offer the big-city market that would help secure mega-millions with the ACC’s next television deal — nor would they extend the geographic footprint.

But if the ACC was looking to keep within the traditional boundary lines while continuing to embrace its historical values, East Carolina would be a solid choice.

When recently queried about his position on East Carolina and potential ACC inclusion, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley said he was focused on the budget and that ECU officials had not contacted him.

Now that the budget is signed, it would appear that North Carolina’s CEO has time to address the fate of his state’s third largest university.

Waiting on ECU chancellor Bill Muse’s call — which protocol might preclude anyway — isn’t the most prudent move given the number of e-mails with which the Governor has been flooded over the past few weeks. Each message represents a potential vote Easley could secure in 2004, not to mention the political clout of the untold number of ECU proponents who have not gotten around to firing off a message or an old-fashioned letter.

Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue, who has a legitimate shot to secure the Democratic Party’s endorsement for the big chair at some point — perhaps even next year — has been open about her support for ECU’s cause. Evidently, Perdue, a New Bern native, understands the economic shot-in-the-arm ACC inclusion would provide Eastern North Carolina.

With ACC membership, fall Saturdays would be a gathering of the masses in Greenville, with seats in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium becoming family heirlooms. That would provide a major boost to restaurant and hotel owners, retailers and gas station operators, and likely lure new businesses to the area.

Roundball season, which slowly is awakening from its dormant stage in Greenville, would blossom vibrantly with ACC foes come to town, quickly demanding additional expansion to Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena.

Though supporting East Carolina would far from assure Easley that he’ll retain his current post, if he stepped forward on the matter in a high-profile and unequivocal manner, it could go a long way toward securing the overwhelming support of a region that is a vital cog to his upcoming campaign.