ECU Men's Basketball Media Day Quotes
October 17, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 17, 2003
Head Coach Bill Herrion
Opening comments
"Another new season is upon us and we're still in the process here of trying
to build a program and put the pieces together. I feel really confident about
where we're at and where we're trying to go with this basketball team and
this program. We're ready to go and it's time for us to get going."
"I think we have a very good mix this year of veterans that have played a lot of college basketball here at East Carolina and a good mix of new guys that we think are talented kids."
On going to one division in Conference USA
"I think it is going to help us. Playing everybody once and then flipping over
and playing three teams twice, I think is going to give us a more
competitive chance to be successful on the court."
On the level of play in Conference USA
"This is a talented, talented league. Every night you step on the court in this
league you're playing against pros. This is a great league for us because it
has opened our fans' eyes to big time basketball which we've never had
here at East Carolina."
On the freshman class
"We think the new kids are talented and we think that they are going to
contribute, but I don't think we can evaluate that until they put on a uniform
and get under the lights."
On seniors Erroyl Bing and Gabriel Mikulas
"If Erroyl Bing has a great senior year, which I think he is going to have,
particularly rebounding the basketball, he has got a chance to leave here as
the all-time leading rebounder in East Carolina history. Bing and Mikulas are
both going to be 1,000-point scorers at some point this year. We have two
kids here that have put numbers up."
On preseason workouts
"I think we've had a very good preseason and I'm happy with where we're
at. We're healthy and I like where we are physically. I think we're going to
have very physical basketball team this year."
On the support of the fans
" Our fans have been great. Our students have done an unbelievable job of
getting behind this basketball team and the Minges Maniacs are starting to
develop a reputation. We need people in that building every single night
supporting the Pirates and I believe that winning and winning consistently
will help that."
On the point guard position
"Belton Rivers will play both guard positions and he is capable of playing
both positions. We've got a freshman point guard, Japhet McNeil, that we
really like and we think he gives us an element that we haven't had here
the last four years and that is some real speed and quickness."
