Despite a crowd strength of only 3,400 at Minges Coliseum on Wednesday night, the Pirates — and the officials — gave the fans several opportunities to show both enthusiasm and frustration. Unfortunately, the latter emotion carried the night as Memphis outscored East Carolina 19-8 in the final minutes and prevailed 79-69 to hand the Pirates… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat on ECU Hoops
The Bradsher Beat on Football Recruiting
Pirates hit final targets on signing day
It’s fun to take a puzzle out of the box and start assembling it, but it’s exhilarating when you fit in the final few pieces. The new East Carolina football staff, celebrating National Recruiting Day with hundreds of Pirate fans at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Wednesday, got to enjoy that feeling of standing back and admiring… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat on ECU Tennis
Cosmopolitan recipe yields winning flavor
Elected officials might not see eye-to-eye on the right path to global understanding, but East Carolina’s mini-United Nations, AKA the men’s tennis team, has achieved enough strength in unity to put together a 4-0 record to open its dual meet season. Always one of the most globally diverse Pirate squads, the 2019 version of Coach… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
Women stretch league leading UCF into overtime
Both of the East Carolina basketball teams faced the teams at the top of the conference standings on Wednesday night. The men’s game was never close, ending with a 44-point drubbing at the hands of Houston. The women’s game against Central Florida, played before a small but spirited Minges Coliseum crowd, was tied 56-56 at… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
Pirates dig a hole too deep
If the East Carolina basketball team was trying to see how dramatically it could set the stage for another improbable Minges comeback, Wednesday night against Temple marked a major miscalculation. Despite heroics to close a seismic gap that formed in the game’s early minutes, the Pirates couldn’t sustain their comeback effort against a relaxed, efficient… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
LeDay’s eye still on the prize after long journey
By the time he was 21, Seth LeDay was in his fourth state on a basketball odyssey that included a stellar high school career in Dallas, two junior college stops and a redshirt year at Virginia Tech. He opted to leave Blacksburg for East Carolina, only to learn that the NCAA was making him sit… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
ECU women rally together for new leader
From the outside, three coaches in ten weeks looks like a recipe for turbulence, especially when the latest leadership change comes less than two weeks before conference play opens. But the East Carolina women’s basketball team, from the acting head coach to the staff of assistants to the players, believe together that their devotion to… [ More… ]