An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

I hope you are enjoying the summer and gearing up for a busy fall. Our department is returning to some sort of normalcy which is a positive sign. We have a lot to cover today. Let's get to it!

Baseball program gives Pirate Nation a season to remember
Thank you to all the fans who supported the baseball program through a magical run in 2021. It's unprecedented what has been accomplished by our coaches, student-athletes, and staff. In just the last three years, the Pirates have hosted three consecutive regionals and made two Super Regional appearances. That is rarefied air and takes hard work, perseverance, dedication, and discipline to do it consistently.

We are ecstatic that Cliff Godwin remains at the helm of the Pirate baseball program. Cliff embodies everything it means to be a Pirate. His countless contributions have not only been positive for our athletics department but also our university and community during his time as a student-athlete and coach. His success on the diamond is matched by the impact he has on every young man who comes through our program.

It's easy to take success for granted, but it's important to appreciate what has been accomplished in six full seasons (seven total seasons) under Cliff's leadership. In ECU baseball history, the Pirates have hosted an on-campus regional four times and three of those seasons have been under Cliff's tutelage. Here's a look at a few accomplishments for the baseball program under Cliff:

Five NCAA Regional appearances, including three-straight as a national seed at Clark-LeClair Stadium
Three Super Regional appearances, including back-to-back seasons
Three-time American Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year
Earned top seed in regional three times (2018, 2019, 2021).
Two AAC Tournament championships and two AAC regular season titles
Four seasons of 40-plus wins
16 All-American honorees
23 All-AAC selections
14 Major League Baseball draft picks
Combined to have over 325 members on the ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 grade point average or higher), while 87 players have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors
Four players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors
Back-to-back conference Male Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year Awards by ECU baseball student-athletes.

Following the Super Regional appearance in 2019, we reworked Cliff's contract and put in a clause that adds another year to his contract each time we advance to the NCAA Regionals. Following another regional appearance in 2021, Cliff is now under contract until 2026 and that's positive news for Pirate Nation.

Football season ticket update; renovations to Williams-Clark Club
As we head into July, I want to give you an update on where we stand with football season tickets. We have sold 11,400 and that number must increase for us to have an atmosphere inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium we all want and need to be successful. We don't expect any capacity restrictions for the 2021 football season so please join us back in person. Season tickets are as low as $99 per person.

Ticket sales in the TowneBank Tower continue to sell at a brisk pace with suites and loge boxes sold out for the season. We have approximately 85 Trade Club seats remaining.

We are pleased to announce a new look coming to the Williams-Clark Club premium area in 2021. New furniture has been purchased for the entire area and will be in place prior to the season opener. The additions will include large televisions mounted on walls adjacent to elevators, tables, chairs, and barstools. Give a member of the Pirate Club a call and ask about pricing for the upcoming season in the Williams-Clark Club.

Do you know anyone who would be interested in football season tickets? Please have them call the Pirate Club at (252) 737-4540 or visit ecupirateclub.com for more information. Let's work together and ensure Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is full of purple and gold when the Gamecocks visit on Saturday, September 11 for a noon kickoff.

Finally, we have sold a little over 3,000 of our ticket allotment, including all club seats, for the Appalachian State game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Thursday, September 2. We are encouraged by the sale, but tickets remain available at ecupirates.com. The Pirate Club and ECU Alumni Association will be hosting a tailgate event in Charlotte prior to the game. More information will be emailed next week to Pirate Club members.

Update on new legislation
As you might be aware, we are anticipating the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) legislation to be passed in the next 24-48 hours. We are excited that our student-athletes will have the opportunity to be compensated for their NIL. This will be a fluid process and our policy will continue to be finalized when additional information is made available.

Our athletics department has been preparing for this day for more than a year. We launched the SABRE program last week in an educational partnership with The Miller School of Entrepreneurship to prepare our student-athletes for the proposed legislation. The goal of the program is to give our student-athletes a road map to capitalize on the legislation. Educating our student-athletes is and will continue to be our top priority. We want them to understand and be cognizant of branding, entrepreneurship, marketing plans, financial literacy, tax management, social media strategies and licensing.

We are extremely fortunate at ECU to have the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, one of only seven named undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the country. I believe the education our student-athletes will receive will not only benefit them now but also in the long run when they are done competing.

The other side of this legislation is the opportunity for individuals (including donors), local businesses and/or outside entities to enter into agreements with our student-athletes for use of their NIL in exchange for money, goods, or services. The student-athlete will be required to disclose any proposed NIL compensation activity to our compliance department through an NIL Disclosure Form. As NCAA legislation and possible state laws are enacted, a more uniformed approach to these agreements could take place.

We will make additional information available to our supporters when the legislation is officially passed.

Mark your calendars
We are excited to host two events in August as we prepare for the start of the 2021 football season. Our annual "Meet the Pirates" event returns on the morning of August 21 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The football team will hold an open practice followed by an autograph session with members of the 2021 Pirates.

In addition, the Pirate Club will host a Kickoff Luncheon on Monday, August 23 featuring head coach Mike Houston and his assistant coaches. Additional information and registration forms will be available later this month. Please plan on joining us as Coach Houston and his staff preview the 2021 season.

Two new head coaches on board
We added two new head coaches, well one is not entirely new, to the Pirate family in Shane Winkler (softball) and Kevin Williams (men's golf). When you are going through a coaching search, the top priorities are finding the right fit for the respective program and an individual who will be a positive influence on our student-athletes. We think we found both qualities with Shane and Kevin.

Shane arrives in Greenville after a three-year stint as head coach at George Washington University where he led the school to its first two Atlantic 10 championships and a 91-43 overall record. The Colonials won both the regular season and tournament titles in 2021 to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time and made their second overall postseason appearance.

We are blessed with outstanding softball facilities highlighted by the Max R. Joyner Family Stadium. Shane understands that we have a foundation to be successful and has hit the ground running. It was evident during the interview process that his passion, drive, and enthusiasm to be a Pirate and a member of this community. As a former-student-athlete, he will be an asset to our players and program.

We are thrilled to welcome Kevin Williams back to Greenville where he will lead our men's golf program. Kevin is a Pirate, having previously served as both men's and women's head coach, and he truly loves everything about our University and community. It was difficult to see him leave for South Carolina as an assistant women's coach in 2019, but I understood it was a great opportunity for him at the time. He played a major role in the Gamecocks finishing No. 2 in the nation in 2021, winning six team titles and the top overall seed in the NCAA Championships. But we wanted him back home.

Kevin has never wavered in his loyalty and love for the Pirates, and he is excited about the challenge ahead. In his previous two tenures at ECU as a head coach for both men and women, the Pirates recorded a .710 winning percentage, captured 35 team titles, 44 individual championships and produced 23 Academic All-America selections. We received numerous phone calls and texts about Kevin's return from supporters and I know he's looking forward to reconnecting with Pirate Nation.

Thank you ECU Athletics staff
I want to acknowledge our staff and coaches for the financial sacrifices they all made over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We were forced to significantly reduce our operating budget and these decisions affected every member of our department. Temporary furloughs or salary reductions were instituted for the entire athletics staff. We are still faced with significant financial challenges, but our financial forecast has improved from what we originally thought in January. Our department is expecting an $8-9 million deficit, much lower than the $20.5 million anticipated. We had significant operational expense reductions which helped trim our bottom line.

Our staff continues to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and we continue to work toward a path of sustainability. But we are doing everything possible to give our coaches and student-athletes the best opportunity to be successful. They deserve nothing less. We must increase revenue and philanthropy to achieve the success we want as an athletics department. Chancellor Rogers and the University have been great partners in their support of athletics, but we are also counting on our fans, season ticket holders, alumni, and local businesses.

I hold our staff in the highest regard and appreciate all they have done to offset our financial losses. Our department is beginning to feel normal again and that's a great sign as we head into the fall.

Longtime employee to retire
Congratulations are in order for Gloria Gorham, a support specialist in our business office. Gloria is retiring after 18 years in the business office where she has performed a multitude of roles for our department. Enjoy your retirement Gloria! Now the fun begins!

Women's golfer earns U.S. Amateur spot
Congratulations to senior golfer Kathryn Carson for qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Women's Amateur. Kathryn, who had her father caddy for her, qualified for the event in Nashville, Tenn., and she earned her spot by making a 10-foot par putt on the second playoff hole. The U.S. Women's Amateur will be held at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., from August 2-8. And yes, she confirmed to me yesterday that her dad, Tom, will be on the bag for the event.

Track represented at NCAA Championships
Junior Sommer Knight earned All-America honors after finishing third in the pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Knight set the school record by clearing 4.35 meters. She became only the fourth Pirate on the women's team to earn first-team All-America honors.

Senior Ryan Davis also competed in the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw and just recently participated in the USA Olympic Trials.

Congrats to both Sommer and Ryan on representing the Pirates on a national stage.

Baseball duo receive numerous honors
Sophomore Connor Norby and junior Gavin Williams have been selected to six-plus All-America teams for their play in 2021. I was reading a press release earlier this week on ecupirates.com where it detailed the honors for both student-athletes, and I wanted to share the list. Congratulations to Connor and Gavin!

Norby's 2021 Postseason Honors

American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year
Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Winner
District IV Player-of-the-Year (NCBWA)
First-Team All-American Athletic Conference
American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team
First-Team All-East Region (ABCA)
First-Team All-America (ABCA, Baseball America, D1Baseball)
Second-Team All-America (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game)
All-Greenville Regional Team
Semifinalist for Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award

Williams' 2021 Postseason Honors

American Athletic Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year
First-Team All-American Athletic Conference (unanimous)
First-Team All-East Region (ABCA)
First-Team All-America (ABCA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game)
Semifinalist for Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award

We are truly grateful for the unwavering support of Pirate Nation. As we move forward to the 2021-22 academic year, I am optimistic about what we can accomplish.

Let's continue to work together because you are what makes this University so special.

Have a great summer,

Go Pirates!

Jon

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