East Carolina head volleyball coach Julie Torbett knows that a Purple-Gold game isn’t likely to produce any earth-shattering revelations about her team. After all, her players have been competing against each other for months. But the intra-squad scrimmage on Tuesday — staged with fans, uniforms, music in Minges Coliseum and all of the other game-day effects — did prepare … [Read more...]

As the first new head soccer coach at East Carolina in 20 years, Jason Hamilton has a boatload of tasks as he tries to elevate the program — ramping up conditioning, encouraging leadership on the field, blending transfers in with established Pirate players. But one key emphasis for Hamilton revolves around what he calls “dirty stats.” A dirty stat is any measure of … [Read more...]

Each in his own way, both Kendall Futrell and Chance Purvis were somewhat constrained prior to this preseason — Futrell because he spent much of the 2017 season limited by injury and illness, and Purvis because he’s a self-professed “late bloomer.” But with a new coordinator and a new defensive scheme designed to capitalize on their speed off of the ends, the two … [Read more...]

Sometimes the most profound answer to a question is also the simplest. Everyone in the Pirate Nation wants to believe in a dramatic turnaround for the East Carolina basketball program. As new head coach Joe Dooley has hired a seasoned staff and put his players through a grueling summer strength and conditioning regimen, fans and boosters want to believe that the new … [Read more...]

Harold Varner III wasn’t necessarily planning on playing five consecutive PGA tournaments. When he looked at his schedule he actually thought he would take the second full week in June off from traveling and competing. But then he qualified for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and he wasn’t about to turn down that opportunity. With unfriendly conditions and a course … [Read more...]