An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

It is that time of year when the Grady-White Boats Athletic Campus starts to ramp up with activity as our spring sports get underway and we finish the final stretch of basketball season.

I want to start by congratulating the members of our women's basketball program led by head coach Kim McNeill on their success this season. The Pirates sit tied for third in the American Athletic Conference standings with a 16-8 overall record. The 16 wins are tied for the most by the Pirates since the 2014-15 season. Winning on the road is never easy and the five road wins this season by the Pirates are the most in eight seasons.

The Pirates won their second straight game on Wednesday with a 67-52 win in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in front of an enthusiastic crowd. I have really enjoyed seeing the considerable number of children at the games and they definitely add to the atmosphere. You can catch the women in action again on Sunday at 2 p.m. when Wichita State visits for the annual Pink Game. The first 300 fans in attendance will receive a Pirates Pink t-shirt and players will sign autographs post-game.

Defense remains the calling card for Coach McNeill as the Pirates lead the conference and rank 14^th in the nation allowing only 54.6 points per game. Freshman Amiya Joyner, a native of Farmville, continues to put up record-breaking numbers for the Pirates. Joyner has earned AAC Freshman of the Week honors five times in her first year. Yes, five times! Senior Danae McNeal ranks third in the conference with 16.5 points per game.

Minges Renovations Update
If we can secure the additional funding for the Minges Renovation project, we expect to have several upgrades beginning in the fall of this year. These upgrades will enhance our athletic events along with the numerous University and campus-wide events and outside rentals in Minges.

As previously mentioned, our goal is to install chairback seats to replace the bleachers on one side which will allow additional premium seats in the lower level with greater comfort and accessibility. We are finalizing the design of the seats and length of the process.

One item that has our immediate attention is an upgrade to the lighting system in Minges. As you are aware, we are currently having technical difficulties with our current lighting system that affects the fan experience. We are exploring different options that would create a better overall experience for our fans.

We will provide more updates when funding is complete.

Lacrosse Gets Underway Beginning Today
Head coach Amanda Moore and the Pirates Lacrosse team begin the 2023 season this weekend with a pair of games at Johnson Stadium. In the first of four straight home games, the Pirates clash with Radford today at 1 p.m. followed by a tilt with Navy on Sunday at noon. The American Athletic Conference expanded to seven teams in 2023 with James Madison joining Florida, Vanderbilt, Temple, Cincinnati, Old Dominion and ECU.

We had two student-athletes represented on the AAC's 16-player Preseason All-Conference squad with Frances Kimel and Alexandra Giacolone. Kimel was one of 10 unanimous selections to the team after she led the team with 59 points a year ago and earned second-team All-AAC honors. Giacolone leads the Pirates defense and returns after also earning second-team all-conference honors in 2022.

Admission is free to all lacrosse home games.

Opening Day, A Week Away
Thank you to all the Pirate faithful who purchased baseball season tickets in 2023. It is really a testament to the commitment and hard work of head coach Cliff Godwin and our student-athletes that we can sell out season tickets in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

We sold just over 2,700 tickets which puts a premium on purchasing single-game tickets. I have been informed single-game tickets are moving well so please call the ECU Athletics Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500 to reserve your seat.

Pirate Club Executive Committee
We are extremely fortunate and thankful to have an engaged Pirate Club Executive Committee who provide tremendous leadership throughout the year to the Pirate Club and ECU Athletics.

The Executive Committee is led by Tony Cannon, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Greenville Utilities Commission, Executive Vice President Sean Smith of Charlotte and Immediate Past President Glenn Hall of Little River, SC. Current members include Mike Aman (Greenville), Lance Clark (Greenville), Doug Gomes (Greenville), Chris Knott (Cary), Sharon Raynor (Dunn), Meredith Hinton (Greenville), Bob Lucas (Selma), Carl Rogers (Wrightsville Beach), Richard Twilley (Davidson) and Sandra Warren (Washington).

During the final meeting of 2022, new members were elected to begin serving in 2023. New members for 2023 are:

Harold Varner III (Charlotte) – Professional golfer, ECU Men's Golf letterwinner and founder of the HV3 Foundation
Kenneth Blizzard (Kinston) – President, Blizzard Contract Flooring, Inc.
Landon Minges (Greenville) – Vice President Operations & Business Development, Minges Bottling Group
Margaret Henry (Raleigh) – Vice President & Controller, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Raleigh Pirate Club Chapter President, ECU Women's Golf letterwinner
Gary Dunstan (Kitty Hawk) – Retired real estate developer

We are looking forward to working with all the new members to move ECU Athletics and the Pirate Club forward.

Special Day Planned For Feb. 25
Be on the lookout for information concerning a Fan Fest on Saturday, February 25 outside the TowneBank Tower. It will be a busy day with the Pirates baseball team hosting North Carolina at 2 p.m. and the Pirate Clash Softball Tournament will have multiple games at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.

In the early evening, we will have food trucks, games for kids, refreshments and other entertainment available as we get ready for our men's basketball team to host the nationally ranked Houston Cougars in Minges Coliseum at 8 p.m. We hope you will make plans to spend the afternoon with us.

Pigskin Pig-Out Date Set
Spring football is right around the corner and the 38th Annual Great Pirate Purple/Gold Pigskin Pig-Out Party is scheduled for April 7-8. We will host the annual ECU Purple-Gold Spring Football Game on Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday, April 8 which is slated for 11 a.m. kickoff. Admission is free and we will allow fans on the field following the game for an Easter egg hunt. The meet & greet with the 2023 team will be on Friday evening.

Our staff has prepared a fun weekend of events, highlighted by the pig cookin' contest on Friday night. Cooker registration is open for individuals and/or teams so get your spot before it fills up. It will be a busy weekend on campus with the Pirates baseball team in action against UCF beginning Thursday afternoon. The Pirates lacrosse team battles Cincinnati on Saturday at noon. A full schedule of events can be found on the Pigskin Pig-Out Webpage.

The Pirate Club Golf Tournament at Brook Valley Country Club sold out in 10 days, so we expect a fun day on the links. Special thanks to Ken Blizzard and his company, Blizzard Contract Flooring, for being our presenting sponsor. Hole sponsorship opportunities are still available and interested businesses can contact Ryan Robinson at robinsonry18@ecu.edu. All funds raised go toward the Pirate Club annual scholarship fund.

Come Cheer On The Pirates!
If you are in the Wilmington area this weekend, you can catch our softball team in action at the UNCW Invitational. The Pirates split a pair of games yesterday and will battle Purdue Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. and No. 11 Virginia Tech at 4:30 p.m. today. The tournament wraps up for the Pirates on Saturday with a tilt against host UNCW at 12:30 p.m.

Head coach Shane Winkler and the Pirates will be in Conway, SC next weekend from Feb. 17-19 at the Battle at the Beach Invitational. Our student-athletes love seeing Pirate fans on the road so wear your purple and gold if you live in the area and cheer on the Pirates.

Women's Swimming And Diving Team Honored
Congratulations to our women's swimming and diving team for being selected by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of American (CSAA) to the Scholar All-America Team. The Pirates earned a 3.36 GPA for the fall semester.

The honor marked the 27^th semester the women's program was recognized by the CSAA.
This is a tremendous accomplishment for our student-athletes and I appreciate our coaches and support staff for their commitment to academics. Teams must have accumulated at least a 3.0 team grade point average for the fall of 2022 to be considered and represent a total 19,426 student-athletes from both the women's and men's teams.

Track And Field In Action
The Pirates track and field team will send athletes this weekend to the Kenneth Giles NSU Invitational in Virginia Beach and the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational in Lynchburg. It will be the final competition before the AAC Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Feb. 24-25.

Last weekend, junior Royal Burris won the 200m at Virginia Tech with a time of 21.28 and finished second with a time of 6.79 seconds in the 60m final. L'Nya Carpenter captured the triple jump title with a mark of 12.66 (41-6.5), tied for the third-best in program history. Burris earned the AAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week for his performance.

The Pirates will host the Bill Carson Invitational at the Bate Family Foundation Track and Field Facility on March 31-April 1.

Tennis On The Road This Weekend
Our women's tennis program will be in Blacksburg, Va. this weekend for two matches against Radford and Virginia Tech. The Pirates dropped a close match last week against Georgetown in Rocky Mount. You can check out the women in action on Feb. 18-19 when Richmond (2 p.m.) and Hampton (1 p.m.) visit Greenville.

We are excited about the future of ECU Athletics, and I could not be more appreciative of all the individuals and businesses that continue to support our vision. The Pirates Unite Campaign is nearing $16 million, and all the proposed projects will be impactful to the continued development of our student-athletes.

Thank you for being on this journey with us and see you on campus soon.

Go Pirates!

Jon

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