There’s a line in one of my favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption, in which Andy Dufresne reminds his friend Red that “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of the things. And no good thing ever dies.” That might be the truth. But for East Carolina sports fans, hope has been on life support these past couple of years as the football team has suffered through back-to-back … [Read more...]

Special adviser to the chancellor Dave Hart found a basketball coach tailor-made for East Carolina, one that had already proven himself as a Pirate, albeit before the turn of the millennium. Hart took the personal approach in narrowing the field of candidates and ultimately selecting Joe Dooley. "The interviews we had in our home in Knoxville," Hart said. "I had done that … [Read more...]

The years have been kind to Joe Dooley on and off the court since he exited as basketball coach at East Carolina. Hairlines can recede and waist lines can expand with time, neither of which has happened to an appreciable degree with Dooley, who has the highest winning percentage at ECU among hoops coaches in the Division I era. Since going 57-52 with the Pirates in four … [Read more...]

Multiple reports Tuesday indicated that Joe Dooley would fill the basketball coaching vacancy at East Carolina. Dooley coached the Pirates from the 1995-96 season to 1998-99. ECU was 57-52 overall and 29-35 in the Colonial Athletic Association during that span. Dooley was dismissed by former athletic director Mike Hamrick after a 65-62 double overtime loss to Old Dominion … [Read more...]