Pirates look to continue making progress under McCarthy

East Carolina hopes to earn first winning season since 1996-1997 campaign

During the 1996-97 season, current East Carolina head coach Mack McCarthy led UT-Chattanooga to the Sweet Sixteen.

Unfortunately, that was also the last year the Pirates produced a winning season. The current 12-year drought without a winning campaign is seven years longer than any other dry spell in the program’s not so illustrious history.

Now, the Pirates’ head man with a history of winning is well on his way to leaving his mark on the East Carolina program.

McCarthy, who arrived in Greenville prior to the 2005-06 season as Ricky Stokes’ top assistant, is in his third season guiding the program—but just his second since having the interim tag removed.

The former UTC and VCU boss, who had a 309-177 mark at those institutions, is just 24-36 at East Carolina. However, much improvement has been shown—both on and off the court—in each of his first two seasons.

On the court, the Pirates have become much more fundamentally sound and exciting to watch. The up-tempo style McCarthy’s club employs has utilized much better ball movement than East Carolina fans were accustomed to seeing. As one would surmise, these higher percentage looks have equated to a steady climb in the shooting percentages. After shooting just 32 percent from behind the arc in ’05-’06, ECU has shot 38 percent or better the past two seasons. It also shot over 44 percent from the floor last year.

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In Ricky Stokes’ second and final season, ECU averaged less than 60 points per game and shot below 40 percent from the floor. The Pirates increased that mark by nine points to 68.3 in McCarthy’s first season at the helm and upped it to 72.5 per contest last year. The ’08-’09 season saw them top 80 points on nine occasions and the 90-point plateau on five. That type of scoring was previously unfathomable.

In addition to better shots, the increased point production is also the result of the Pirates getting more attempts due to taking better care of the basketball. They turned it over just 12 times per game last season after giving it up over 14 times the two previous years. Another factor is the fact that East Carolina has gone from a poor free throw shooting team to a very good team at the line. After shooting 57.8 in ’05-’06, the Pirates improved to 69.4 percent the following season and built on that by shooting 73.2 last year.

Off the court, the basketball and administrative staffs have worked together to improve the program’s infrastructure. Stability and success usually go hand in hand and the East Carolina program currently has more continuity than it’s had in quite some time—maybe ever. One reflection of this was the Pirates leading Conference USA in team GPA in 2007-08. Additionally, a poor APR status no longer haunts the program, as its now working with a full complement of scholarships—13—for the first time since the Bill Herrion era.

These advancements in all aspects of the program have resulted in more wins on the court. The Pirates won just six games in ’06-’07, but nearly doubled that by winning 11 in McCarthy’s interim season and bettered that total by two last year. These successes have been despite the Pirates being down scholarships due to APR issues.

While East Carolina was unable to capitalize on its 8-1 start and 13-11 mark in mid-February to produce that elusive winning season, the improvement has been evident and there have been enough quality wins—George Mason, NC State, Houston and VCU to name a few—and visible advances that Pirates can perceive what the program can become under McCarthy.

The prospects for continued progress this season are promising despite the Pirates losing two of the top three-point threats—Sam Hinnant and James Legan—the program’s ever seen.

Hinnant and Legan combined to take nearly 40 percent of the team’s shots and score 40 percent of the club’s points. Hinnant set a single season record for made three-pointers with 85 last year. He connected on 221 trifectas in his career and was only nine shy of breaking Lester Lyons career record of 229. Meanwhile, Legan tied the previous single-season record of 80 with his effort as a senior. The duo was primarily known for their shooting prowess, but Hinnant ranked second in assists and Legan was second in steals.

While those losses undoubtedly create significant voids to fill, East Carolina returns the other six of its top eight in minutes played and three double figure scorers.

Player retention has plagued the Pirates in recent seasons, but in a rare occurrence that McCarthy would like to see become the norm, the program lost no key contributors during the offseason. The only defections were rarely used freshman point guard Chris Kupets and walk-ons Matt Steele and Derek O’Bryan.

East Carolina will still be relatively young as it will have no scholarship seniors, but this team will have much more experience on its side than last season’s did and McCarthy likes his club’s make-up.

The Pirates’ third-year head coach stresses that this team will be play an entertaining brand of basketball and feels that this will certainly be his best squad yet.

While its ability to score improved dramatically over the past two seasons, East Carolina was still very one-dimensional in its attack with how heavily it relied on the three-point shot. If the Pirates experienced a poor night from beyond the arc, they were often in danger of being uncompetitive.

With the addition of four talented freshmen and the hard offseason work by the returning players, ECU will be bigger, deeper and more athletic this season.

Offensively, the Pirates will be able to include the three-point shot as part of their arsenal instead of the foundation of it. This team should be much more diversified in the ways it can score. The post scoring should be improved while ECU should also score more off the dribble.

The offense is led by one of the nation’s finest point guards in junior Brock Young. Young, who ranked second nationally with 7.6 assists per game last year, set a single-season ECU record with 227 assists in his sophomore campaign. He had an assist to turnover ratio of 2.4 to 1.

If this year is anything like last, Young will get the 106 assists he needs to surpass Travis Holcomb-Faye as ECU’s all-time assist leader by the midway point of the season. As flashy as his ball handling and passing can be, Young is also a scorer and pesky defender. The Raleigh-native can create his own shot off the dribble and his quickness allowed him to get to the free throw line regularly. This could be the case even more so if his perimeter shooting continues to improve where defenders can’t sag. He made 84 percent of his 118 attempts—second most on the team. Young scored in double figures 14 times and had eight games in which he had ten assists or more. He poured in a season-high 25 points at NC State and 14 assists against Rice. Defensively, he leads the team with 39 steals.

Young will be backed up by true freshman Corvonn Gaines. Gaines, who is the brother of former Louisville standout Reece Gaines, attended Worcester Prep Academy last season and will provide the Pirates with a taller and more physical option at point guard.

Gaines’ arrival should allow last year’s back-up Jontae Sherrod the opportunity to play his natural position of shooting guard. Sherrod, who possesses nice skills and athleticism, has struggled with consistency and maturity during his first two years in Greenville. However, he appears to be making strides in each of those areas. Last season, the native of nearby Tarboro averaged 4.1 points while playing in 28 of his team’s 30 games.

East Carolina also expects to receive more backcourt help from sophomore Chris Turner. Turner, whose development was hindered by a preseason injury last year, played just over 12 minutes per game while seeing action in every game but one. He possesses a tremendous amount of athleticism, but needs to develop consistency with his shot and playing in a structured offense.

The Pirates have lacked that 6’5 or 6’6 wing over the years, but they will have three such players this season.

Junior Jamar Abrams, who came into his own last season, will be able to play with his face to the basket more now that his club has more options in the post. Abrams, who started 25 games in ’08-’09, averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds while establishing himself as one of the team’s top three-point shooters. He shot 42.6 from behind the arc and sank five trifectas in his 25-point effort against UCF in Minges. Abrams’ athleticism is often seen by him producing highlight reel follow dunks. On a team that lacks any scholarship seniors, expect Abrams to join Brock Young as one of the team’s leaders.

Newcomers Wakefield Ellison and Erin Straughn should contribute fairly significantly in their freshman campaigns. Ellison, who stands 6’5”, is an explosive athlete that can really shoot and pass the basketball. He has the potential to score points in bunches. Straughn is also multi-dimensional and the 6’6” wing should help a team that needs to improve its rebounding.

Former walk-on Greyson Sargent, who was awarded a scholarship for his senior season, and current walk-ons Howard Hurt and Evan Salzano will provide depth in the backcourt. Sargent is the team's lone senior while Hurt is a redshirt freshman that is battling his way back from a knee injury.

One of East Carolina’s Achilles heels last season was the lack of depth on the interior. The Pirates will still be a post player short this year, but Darius Morrow and Chad Wynn will receive some much-needed assistance with the return of DaQuan Joyner and addition of Darius Morales. Foul trouble won’t be such a strong concern this season and the Pirates won’t have to worry about playing a line-up that looks more like a high school team with regard to height as opposed to a Division I program.

An improved frontcourt will be led by sophomore Darius Morrow. Morrow, who averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in 26 minutes per game during his All-Freshman CUSA debut last year, possesses a good body and has a nice touch around the basket. McCarthy already considers the Georgia-native to be one of the most talented players that he’s ever coached. Morrow’s physical nature and quality post moves resulted in him shooting 160 free throws as a frosh. He knocked down 65 percent of those attempts and gained confidence at the charity stripe as the season progressed.

The Pirates’ tallest player is 6’10”, 255-pound Chad Wynn. Wynn’s preseason practice has been slowed due to an off-season foot injury, but McCarthy is confident that he will contribute even more this year. Wynn, who started 24 games a season ago, produced 7 points and 4 rebounds last season; however, he will need to be a better rebounder and more aggressive with the basketball than last season. His lack of aggressiveness was reflected in him shooting just 51 free throws—which was not even half of what Morrow made.

While his experience is extremely limited, redshirt sophomore DaQuan Joyner has a tremendous upside. Joyner played in the first five games of last season before missing the remainder of the season with a knee injury. He produced a promising 12-point, 8-rebound effort in 33 minutes during the Pirates’ 93-90 overtime victory over VCU. He is deceptively athletic and will provide some power in the post with his 6’7”, 238-pound body.

Two of the areas that East Carolina needs to improve the most are rebounding and defending the post. Freshman Darius Morales isn’t nearly as advanced on the offensive end as Morrow was last season, but he should help the interior defense and on the glass. He spent the summer playing for the Puerto Rican Junior National Team.

While it certainly won’t be easy to replace the scoring production and perimeter shots of Hinnant and Legan, this year’s team possesses the potential to be even more dynamic offensively. While the Pirates will be able to score in many more ways this season, they will face the task of establishing an offensive identity after being a perimeter-dependent team of late.

East Carolina will be forced to establish that identity against a much more difficult early season schedule than what it has faced in the recent past. After what should be an easy win in the season opener versus NAIA foe UVA-Wise, the Pirates will do battle with ACC foe Wake Forest in Greensboro. That contest with the Demon Deacons begins a stretch of seven straight games away from Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum. That stretch includes a trip to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam. The Pirates will open play in St. Thomas with a match-up against No. 10 Tennessee. They will play either perennially strong Northern Iowa or Big East member DePaul in their second game. From December 5 to January 3, McCarthy’s team will leave Minges just once. That will be on December 29 when it heads to VCU to face the Rams and first year coach Shaka Smart. The five December home games includes intriguing contests with 24 th-ranked Clemson and Atlantic 10 member George Washington as well as “should-wins” against Coker, St. Andrews and North Carolina Central.

The conference slate will feature the Pirates playing a pair of games against Marshall, Rice, UCF, Tulane and Southern Miss. Thus, it avoids playing two games against some of the league’s projected cream of the crop— Tulsa, Memphis, Houston, UTEP and UAB. It will also play a single game against Matt Doherty’s SMU Mustangs. Tulsa and Houston will come to Greenville while the Pirates will hop on a plane for meetings with Memphis, UTEP and UAB.

While it will certainly require continued improvement as the season progresses as there won’t be much margin for error, East Carolina does possess the potential to earn its first winning season in 13 years. The Pirates are more athletic, bigger, deeper and just flat-out more talented than they’ve been in sometime. McCarthy feels like there are six to eight players that may score in double figures. The team will be tougher mentally and physically, which should help spur the necessary improvements on the defensive end and the backboards.

Expect the Pirates to win somewhere from 14 to 16 games. They will continue to show improvement, but there likely won’t be more than one to three more victories than a year ago due to a difficult schedule and four freshmen being asked to play meaningful minutes.

Whether the Pirates have a winning season or not could be determined by the team’s performance in the CUSA Tournament. ECU has never won a conference tournament game.