Pirates Host Virtual Media Day

East Carolina men's basketball hosted its virtual media day on Thursday with head coach Joe Dooley and selected student-athletes taking part in press conferences. Below are selected quotes.

ECU Head Coach Joe Dooley
Opening Statement
"Obviously excited to get started tomorrow. The guys have had a good preseason from where we started and have made a lot of progress. We've remained relatively healthy for the most part. They're excited and ready to get to full throttle practice."

On having an experienced roster

"The familiarity in all aspects has helped us. We're not teaching from ground zero this year. We have lost some time, but so has everybody else. These guys were able to retain some things from last year and there has been maturity; that's been evident so far."

On the status of the 2020-21 schedule

"We have a lot of tentative things. We must make sure [opponents] are able to comply with the American Athletic Conference as far as [Covid-19] testing protocol. We have a tentative schedule; we don't have all the contracts back so we're going to proceed like that. As you know this thing can get flipped upside down in a second, so we've also got to have some alternative plans."

On the American Athletic Conference

"It's a very underrated league. You've got elite level coaches, some good venues, good mature teams. Its multiple bid league. You've got to get to that top half to get to the NCAA or NIT and that's what we're focused on."

On the keys to having a successful season

"Obviously we need to shoot the ball better from the three-point line. That's been an emphasis [during preseason]. If we can take that for 28, 29 percent to 32, 33 percent that opens the floor. I think we can be a good rebounding team. If we can keep our turnovers down and get shot every time down court, eliminate some of those transition baskets, I think we can be a noticeably different team."

Junior Jayden Gardner

On areas of his game he and the team have been working on

"Three-point shooting. When we first came back, we just kept working on shooting. Shooting hundreds of shots, a day. A lot of skill work. Everyone's development has come along. We've become a solid fundamental team. Shooting has been a big emphasis, for me especially; expanding my range and working on my all-around game."

Sophomore Brandon Suggs

On the difference between being a freshman and a sophomore

"I feel like I know what's ahead of me now. I feel like I can play more comfortable than last year because last year I was getting used to everything. I feel like our team bond and team chemistry is better and you'll see that one the court."

Sophomore Tristen Newton

On the difference from this time last year compared to now

"I'm a little bit more comfortable now. I know my role and I know my players around me. I'm just a lot more comfortable with what I'm doing. Last year I was forcing some shots and I wasn't to engaged on defense, so I'm trying to improve on that."

Freshman Noah Farrakhan

On what led him to East Carolina

[Coach Dooley] is someone who has always been around throughout my high school career. He's a winner. Why wouldn't I want to play for a winner? Making the transition, I felt like it was home, and it was easy."

Players Mentioned

Noah Farrakhan

Jayden Gardner

Tristen Newton

Brandon Suggs

Footer