VIEW THE MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS SITE

News Nuggets, 11.17.04
 —  —  —  —  —
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

Previous Day Nuggets...             Next Day Nuggets...

Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

National talent hunt lands 12 diamond prospects for ECU

While football and basketball generate the buzz among diehards at most schools when it comes to recruiting news, baseball recruiting stokes an equally strong interest among followers of East Carolina’s perennial powerhouse diamond program.

Pirate baseball aficionados got a big dose of the kind of news they crave on Tuesday with the announcement by ECU head coach Randy Mazey of a 2006 crop of 12 recruits that includes prospects lured to ECU from around the country.

The class consists of eight high school seniors and four junior college players, reported the ECU Media Relations Office.

East Carolina’s 2006 baseball recruiting class:

INCOMING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

Chris Buss: SS, Rosemount, MN
Josh Dowdy: RHP, Raleigh
Brandon Henderson: OF, Alpharetta, GA
Michael Hill: RHP, Proctorville, OH
Kyle Mussleman: RHP, Wilmington
Matt Olson: RHP, Chesapeake, VA
Drew Schieber: SS, Blue Springs, MO
Ryan Wood: P/SS, Woodbridge, VA

INCOMING JUNIOR COLLEGE TRANSFERS

Kyle Bonvechio: SS, San Jose (CA) City College
Jake Dean: 3B, Kansas City (KA) Community College
Andrew Fritz: C, Young Harris (GA) College
Ryan Tousley: P/OF, Johnson County (KA) Community College

Compiled from an ECU Athletics report.

BCA tourney takes on distinct Wolfpack flare

Julius Hodge will be the best North Carolina State player on the court Wednesday night.

A very good former Wolfpack player will be on the sidelines.

Monte Towe leads his New Orleans team into Raleigh to face Hodge and the No. 19 Wolfpack in the opening round of the Black Coaches Association Invitational.

The competitive reunion of Towe with his old team will occur in the tournament's third game of the day at 7 p.m.

East Carolina and Pepperdine tip off the action at noon, followed by a matchup between Oregon State and Siena at 2 p.m.  After the N.C. State-New Orleans contest, Elon will face Fairleigh Dickinson in the 9 p.m. nightcap.

Fairleigh Dickinson and Elon are also on the Wolfpack's side of the bracket, while Oregon State, Siena, Pepperdine and East Carolina are on the other side.

Playing in what seems to be the most competitive conference in the nation, the Wolfpack still have high expectations because of Hodge. The senior guard was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year last season after averaging 18.2 points, and was voted to this season's AP preseason All-America team.

Hodge may have to be even better this season if the Wolfpack are to make a fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Though ranked 19th, North Carolina State was only picked to finish fifth in the ACC by league coaches, behind No. 2 Wake Forest, fourth-ranked North Carolina, No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 11 Duke.

``I'm not even thinking of not winning,'' Hodge said. ``That's not an option. There's no possibility of that.''

The Wolfpack exceeded expectations last season, finishing second in the conference with an 11-5 record. N.C. State finished 21-10 overall, losing to Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

As good as last season was for Hodge and the Wolfpack, it doesn't compare to some of the ones Towe had in Raleigh.

Towe was the starting point guard on the N.C. State team that David Thompson led to the 1974 national championship. He was an all-ACC selection that season and helped the Wolfpack to consecutive conference titles in 1973 and 1974, including a 57-1 record at one point during that stretch.

After helping the Wolfpack to a 57-7 record in his three-year career, he played two years in the ABA before returning to Raleigh as an assistant under Norm Sloan.

Towe is now in his fourth season at New Orleans and comes off his best campaign. The Privateers were 17-14 last season, losing in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

New Orleans' top player is sophomore point guard Bo McCalebb, the preseason player of the year in the Sun Belt. He averaged 13.1 points last season, when he was voted league freshman of the year and became the first freshman to be voted MVP of the conference tournament.

N.C. State also expects to get strong point guard play. Tony Bethel is eligible to play this season after sitting out a year after transferring from Georgetown, where he averaged 10.5 points in 59 games.

``Tony is a real good player,'' Hodge said. ``I don't want to say we're the best backcourt in the nation, but I do think we are. With my size and the way I've been dominating the league so far, and Tony's quickness and his ability to shoot and create for others, I think we're going to be hard to handle.''

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:06 PM