Pirates In Action This Week

Pirate Nation:

I hope you had a great holiday season and the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

Our department is gearing up for an exciting 2020 as our student-athletes begin the spring semester next week. Pirate Nation has plenty of opportunities over the next seven days to see several of our programs in action.

The Pirates' swimming and diving teams welcome South Carolina to Minges Natatorium for a dual meet on Saturday at 1 p.m. It's the final home meet of the season and our 11 seniors will be honored. Free admission and parking are available in the Lower Minges Lot.

Winners of four of their last five games, the men's basketball team will host two conference contests beginning with South Florida tonight at 7 p.m. before following with SMU on Saturday at 2 p.m. The first 500 fans Saturday will receive a special Pirate coaster set. I was given an advanced set and I can tell you it's one of the better giveaways I have seen.

I'm proud of the men for battling through a slow start to the season. This group really enjoys being around each other and I commend Coach Dooley and his staff for the culture they are forming inside the program. We are making progress which was evident with their performance at nationally-ranked Wichita State on New Year's Day. If you watched any basketball on television last weekend, you have an idea of the competition that exists in the AAC. Every game will be a battle in conference play.

The women's basketball team will host SMU on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Wichita State on Sunday at 1 p.m., and before going any further, I want to spend a minute bragging about first-year head coach Kim McNeill's program. You might see a record of 3-11 and not have a full picture of what is transpiring daily. We have a group of ladies competing and representing the Pirates the right way.

Due to injuries, we have had only seven healthy players for a seven-game stretch from Thanksgiving until after Christmas and will only have eight student-athletes dressed for the near future. And if you have watched the Pirates play, you've seen a fast-paced style of basketball with non-stop pressure defense. ECU currently ranks third in the NCAA in both steals per game (13.6) and turnovers forced per game (25.08), while recording the fourth-most steals in the country.

With only seven healthy bodies, Lashonda Monk, Taniyah Thompson, Necole Hope and Dominique Claytor have each averaged at least 30 minutes per game during a six-game stretch. I really hope you get an opportunity to watch this group and I know our coaches and student-athletes would appreciate your support.

Being around for a year now, I'm starting to get a full appreciation for how loud Minges Coliseum can be on game day. Help us fill up Minges beginning tonight and get the Pirates off to a solid conference start.

Opening Day around the corner
It's hard to believe but we are a little over a month away from opening day for Pirate Baseball. It should be another exciting season for head coach Cliff Godwin and his group who were picked first in the 2020 AAC Preseason Poll, as chosen by the league's nine head coaches. In addition, junior Alec Burleson was named preseason player-of-the-year and junior Jake Kuchmaner was selected as preseason pitcher-of-the-year.
 
We are finalizing the location for the Kids Zone for home baseball games with the most likely location being in The Jungle area. Season ticket sales are trending well with several different options to fit your budget. You can purchase tickets by utilizing ECU's Online Ticket Center or by contacting the ECU Athletic Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500. Friday is the deadline for season ticket renewals and priority seating. Single-game ticket sales go on sale on January 31.

Minges renovations
If you have visited Minges Coliseum lately, you have seen all the different renovations taking place.

We added another item to the list last week with the installation of new shot clocks. Our staff has worked diligently to add more graphics throughout the venue on both the upper and lower levels, which really gives it a different feel.

I appreciate your patience as construction continues on the replacement of the tile floors in Minges. Our goal is for all the floors to be polished concrete with work being completed by the end of the month. You will see some imperfections in the floor, but we feel strongly it's a much more appealing look than the older style tile.

New flooring, carpet and graphics were also added to the women's basketball offices and locker room.

Thanks to a group of generous donors, our men's basketball team moved into a renovated locker room over the holidays. The list of donors who funded the project are The Harold Bate Foundation, Becky and Parker Overton, Harvey Wooten, Phil Lewis, Robbie Moore, Vern Davenport, Fielding Miller, Jason Poole, Jim Segrave, Harry Smith, JB Davis and Mike Steadman. I can't thank these individuals enough for getting this project completed.

The team had been relocated to the visiting locker room for the last three months as construction took place. The renovation transformed the current space with an enlarged locker room and lounge areas, enhanced audio-visual capabilities, a hydration station and Fuel Zone. As part of the renovation, the locker room features new graphics, carpet, lighting and technological updates. Multiple televisions and seating options were added for student-athletes to review game strategy and convene before and after practices. Ceilings were raised in certain areas so our student-athletes can walk freely throughout the space without having to duck in certain areas due to height.

Pirate Club
We had a productive meeting with Pirate Club staff Monday as we move forward looking for different ways to evolve in the future. The Pirate Club is essential to the success of our athletics department and I really appreciate the work they do on a daily basis. We don't have a timetable right now on filling the role of executive director, but our staff continues to work on a vision for the future. As I mentioned in my last letter, Ryan Robinson has assumed the role of interim director and please don't hesitate to reach out to Ryan or any other staff members for questions or concerns. You can reach Ryan at robinsonry18@ecu.edu.

Don't forget to fulfill your 2019 commitment to the Pirate Club Annual Fund as these dollars are crucial to funding scholarships for our student-athletes. You can call the Pirate Club at (252) 737-4540, send an email to ecupirateclub@ecu.edu or fulfill your commitment online via ecupirateclub.com.

Softball gets facility upgrade
Work was just completed on a new addition for our softball program. Earlier this month, workers enclosed the batting cages at the ECU Softball Stadium. The facility had three covered batting cages outside the right field fence to use during all weather conditions and now the entire area is enclosed. Head coach Courtney Oliver and her team open the home portion of their season on Feb. 14 at the Pirate Clash with DePaul, George Washington and Hampton visiting Greenville.

Go Pirates –

Jon

Related News

Related Videos

Footer