Isaiah Foote had played football, but fancied himself a basketball player while advancing through the elementary and middle school ranks in Maryland Calvert County. "My dad played football in high school, but my mom was not a big fan of football. She still really isn't,'' Foote said. "I played organized football the first time when I was 12. But I really played a bunch of … [Read more...]
News & Features
Insights from BrettSelective memory has its advantages
Every now and then, usually when I’m looking for something else I can’t find, I’ll stumble across the Atlanta Braves 1991 highlight tape I have stashed away for safekeeping. When I do, I’ll usually pop it into my old antiquated VCR (yes I still have one, so get off my lawn) and relive one of the most satisfying seasons ever enjoyed by my favorite Major League Baseball … [Read more...]
The Bradsher BeatBakich and Michigan chasing dogpile moments
In the late ‘90s as an East Carolina baseball player, Erik Bakich internalized the word “Omaha” as a symbol of the journey and the goal wrapped up into one. As a volunteer assistant at Clemson in 2002, he got to experience the storied College World Series in that city for the first time. Now, seventeen years after that last visit, Bakich is the head coach of one of the two … [Read more...]
Football RecruitingD-lineman McCray brushing off new suitors
J'Vian McCray didn't make much a first impression on Brett Hickman when the latter was named head football coach at West Brunswick High School in Shalotte, NC, in March 2018. Hickman, whose father Yogi led the Trojans to 53 wins between 1994-99, had spent most of his young coaching career at the college level. He served as a grad assistant at East Carolina under Skip Holtz, … [Read more...]
Insights from BrettLeClair’s protégés hotly pursuing mentor’s quest
Of all the things Keith LeClair accomplished in his successful but too-short tenure as baseball coach at East Carolina — including 212 wins, four NCAA tournament appearances and one Super Regional in five seasons — the one thing he didn’t live long enough to do was take a team to Omaha and the College World Series. It’s a goal many of his former players continue to pursue … [Read more...]