Opinion: Pirate basketball earning respect

By: Kellen Holtzman

Posted: 12/4/08

There is no mistaking the names of two of the greatest venues in collegiate athletics at Duke and UNC. The Dean E. Smith Center-or the "Dean Dome," as it is better known-and Cameron Indoor Stadium are synonymous with college basketball.

On ECU's campus, Minges Coliseum is known for being the place where you took the swim test freshman year.

In a state mad for college hoops, it seems the basketball gods have overlooked ECU when it comes to success.

OK, Duke and UNC boast two of the top basketball programs in the entire country. And they call it the "Big Four" for a reason. N.C. State and Wake Forest have had their share of success as well. These would be unfair comparisons.

However, even less noteworthy schools like Charlotte, Davidson and UNC-Wilmington have had moments in the sun.

In the last 12 seasons, Charlotte has made seven trips to the NCAA tournament. Davidson's basketball history can be traced back to the 1960s-but recently Stephen Curry's Wildcats have become the talk of the nation after last season's Elite Eight appearance. UNCW has made four trips to the Big Dance since 2000.

So where does ECU fit into the mix? The Pirates haven't made an NCAA tournament since 1993 and the only previous appearance came in 1972.

Part of the problem for Minges Coliseum has always been its position in the shadows of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

People think about football when they think about ECU athletics-not basketball.

Like most in-state players, senior guard Sam Hinnant dreamed of playing for Duke, N.C. State or UNC while growing up in Charlotte. The notoriety of Pirate basketball has yet to reach every corner of the state.

"Coming up, I always heard about ECU being a football school," said Hinnant. "It's always been known as a football school and to this day it is. That was the only thing I ever heard about it."

But coach Mack McCarthy is well on his way to changing the climate surrounding basketball at ECU. The seasoned coach began stripping down the entire program piece by piece last season.

"Everything about the program needed to change," he said. "The public relations issues, promotions, marketing, academics and certainly the product on the floor had to change. None of those can be done overnight."

No, it won't come overnight. It is a gradual process, much like the one Skip Holtz employed with the football team four years ago. He took a program in shambles and made being competitive the team's first priority.

Every season under Holtz, the gridiron Pirates have improved and now the team, as well as the fans, fully expect to win every time out.

"I think in Skip's fourth year, he is right on schedule to building a team that is going to be competing for the Conference USA title every single year," said McCarthy. "And that would be a reasonable goal for us - to be in the top echelon and competing for postseason play in four or five years."

He doesn't rule out the team being able to do it this year.

The schedule hasn't been overloaded with powers, but recent home outings against George Mason and VCU illustrate the progression the program has made. ECU took the Patriots to the wire before knocking off the Rams in an overtime thriller.

But it wasn't that they won or lost these games. The outcomes could have gone either way. It was how they played. They played like a true team, one capable of reaching postseason play sooner than some might think.

In Hinnant's first two seasons as a Pirate, fans knew what to expect from the team. The idea of winning began to grow implausible.

"Then, we were hoping to win," Hinnant said. "Now, we're expecting to win because we have a better team, better coaching and the chemistry is so much better."

As McCarthy's tenure lengthens, don't be surprised if those wins grow in numbers in the coming seasons.

The 2008-09 Pirates are an exciting team to watch and worth a trip to the hardwood to see. If you don't believe me, come to Minges and check them out. It's the building beside the football stadium.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.