An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation!

It is always a great day to be a Pirate, but it feels a little extra special on this Monday. The Pirates did a little plundering this weekend. Congrats to all our student-athletes and coaches who competed over the weekend. We are going to celebrate the victories!

Before we get to the exciting news, I want to thank our athletics staff that worked tirelessly over the past three days, shoveling snow and adjusting to last-minute changes, while continuing to produce outstanding events. We have great people working to assist our student-athletes achieve success.

Okay, where do we start? I think it's only fitting to begin with the newest conference champions.

The Pirates men's swimming and diving team won its fourth American Athletic Conference championship Saturday evening in Houston. In addition, head coach Matthew Jabs was deservedly named AAC Men's Swimming Coach-of-the-Year.

The Pirates won eight events during the championship meet, including the 400 free relay to earn the title. Here's the full recap.

On the women's side, the Pirates finished fourth with Houston taking home the team title.

How about the Pirates women's basketball team? Winners of three straight and five of the last seven, the Pirates erased a 17-point deficit to rally for a 56-50 win against Temple on Saturday. I'm proud of this group for the culture they are forming in Kim McNeill's first year as head coach. Kim had to miss Saturday's game to attend the funeral of a close family member and Cory McNeill and staff did a tremendous job leading the team in her absence. The women have one final home game in remaining, Saturday at 6 p.m. against Tulane.

Our attendance on Sunday for the men's basketball team's win over Temple wasn't a good indication of how loud it was down the stretch in Minges. Pirate Nation let their voices be heard as head coach Joe Dooley and his squad picked up their fifth conference win of the season. Sophomore Jayden Gardner was dominant from the start, pouring in 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the win.

Congrats to both Jayden and women's basketball junior guard Lashonda Monk on surpassing 1,000 career points. Both are having outstanding seasons for their respective teams.

The nationally-ranked Pirates baseball team swept Georgia Southern over the weekend to improve to 6-1. I hope you saw the performance of junior Alec Burleson on Saturday afternoon. Alec didn't allow a run and only two runners reached base in eight innings of work.

We have a great weekend of games lined up beginning Friday at Clark-LeClair Stadium for the 17^th Annual Keith LeClair Classic. The Pirates welcome Indiana, No. 13 Ole Miss and High Point to Greenville. Check out the schedule here.

The Pirates softball team went undefeated over the weekend in the Pirate Invitational, defeating Massachusetts on Saturday, posting a 9-1 victory against Pittsburgh Sunday morning before hitting back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon to defeat Towson 6-5. Congrats to head coach Courtney Oliver and her team for their four-game winning streak. Read more about the Pirate Invitational here.

Head coach Amanda Moore and the Pirates lacrosse team earned a 12-11 win at Campbell on Saturday, improving to 3-1 on the season. Come out and support the Pirates on Wednesday at Johnson Stadium when they host Longwood at 4 p.m. Free admission.

The Pirates women's golf team was in action last weekend at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational in Greensboro, Ga. Senior Dorthea Forbrigd finished in second place with a five-under 54-hole score and helped the Pirates to a third-place team finish.

Men's tennis head coach Shawn Heinchon and his squad swept a pair of matches with a win over Bryant on Friday and an outdoor win against Georgia Southern on Sunday. The Pirates are 9-2 and host Coastal Carolina on Sunday at the River Birch Tennis Complex at noon.

The Pirates women's tennis team will open the home portion of their schedule this weekend at the River Birch Tennis Complex with matches against Elon, George Washington and North Carolina Central. Find the full schedules here: men and women.

Thoughts on 2020 football schedule
I hope you have had a chance to dissect the 2020 football schedule that was released last week. It is a challenging slate with games against eight bowl teams from a year ago and the week-to-week grind is always competitive in the American Athletic Conference.

I want to thank the NCAA Football Oversight Committee and the NCAA along with so many of our staff members that worked hard to receive a waiver to move our season-opener against Marshall to Week Zero. Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick was a great partner throughout the process, and we feel strongly this will be a special night in Greenville.

We are forming a committee in our athletics department that will focus solely on the opener and how we can properly recognize the 50^th anniversary of a tragedy that has linked two communities together. Our staff will be traveling to Huntington in the coming months to work with Marshall's staff on how we can best honor the 75 people who lost their lives on Nov. 14, 1970. It's a great opportunity for both schools to have a national broadcast spot on the football calendar and share our support for Marshall University.

Numerous people have asked me about the Thursday night home game against UCF. The conference office does a tremendous job producing a fair schedule for all teams and we are excited to have a nationally televised game in Greenville. Per the new TV contract, the conference had 15 weekday slots that needed to be filled in 2020. I completely understand Thursday night games in Greenville aren't a favorite for our fans, but we really need the support as we welcome in a good opponent. Our staff will continue to look for ways to engage our fans for the game because it's vital we improve on last year's Thursday night attendance of 33,000.

A new initiative we will be implementing in the coming weeks is a graphic that will be shared via social media and on our website to illustrate the progress of season ticket football sales. As I have said numerous times, we want full transparency and I believe allowing our supporters to see our progress as we head into the 2020 season will be beneficial. Our goal remains 16,000 for this year and we have a lot of work to do to reach that number. We need your support.

Charles retiring from ECU
Jeff Charles will be retiring from East Carolina University at the end of February. Jeff will be back in the fall to continue as the "Voice of the Pirates" for football and men's basketball games. You can catch Jeff tonight on The Joe Dooley Show on 94.3 FM at Logan's Roadhouse at 6 p.m.

Pirate Golf Classic sponsored by Transportation Impact
Transportation Impact, based out of Emerald Isle, is the official presenting sponsor of the 2020 Pirate Golf Classic. We really appreciate the support of Transportation Impact as we get closer to the tournament on April 17 at Brook Valley Country Club. You can view our different sponsorship levels and register for the event here:

Inaugural Pirate "Baby Race" set
Spots are filling up quickly for the first ever Pirate "Baby Race" presented by Pizza Hut at halftime of the men's basketball game on Saturday against Connecticut. Crawling babies, 6-12 months old, are eligible to participate in the contest and we will award prizes for first, second and third place. Interested parties can sign up here: https://forms.gle/HWvihEDGABY25uWp7. Complimentary tickets will be provided for participants and two supervisors.

Big news for Greenville
Congrats to Greenville Mayor P.J. Connelly, Little League President Brian Weingartz and all the people who worked to secure the Little League Softball World Series in Greenville beginning on August 12-19, 2020. This is a monumental partnership that will give our city national exposure on ESPN and bring thousands of guests which will help our local businesses. I drive by Stallings Stadium at Elm Street Park a couple times a week and it will be a terrific venue for the event.

Go Pirates –

Jon

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