This Friday, sophomore B.J. Tyson and his teammates will return to the court looking to build off the experience they gained during the Pirates inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference.

East Carolina understandably struggled to find its footing in the deep conference last season, finishing 5-12 in conference play with a 13-19 record overall. Head coach Jeff Lebo’s team did, however, manage to post significant wins at home. The Pirates beat both Cincinnati and Memphis, two regulars in the NCAA Tournament.

“We have a chance to be as good as any team that I’ve had here,” Lebo said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of factors involved in that. We need to get increased play from our inside guys.

As a freshman last season, Tyson seized the spotlight and became the face of ECU basketball. He won the attention of fans with his explosive dunks and dependable scoring before being unanimously named to the AAC all-freshman team. Now in his sophomore season, Tyson said he’s excited to take his game to the next level.

“I’ve been here for a year now and I’ve learned a lot,” Tyson said. “I’ve been looking at a lot of film on myself from last year to see what I can improve on. The coaches are helping me out, especially working on avoiding turnovers.”

Lebo has not decided what players will be on the court when the Pirates host Grambling State on November 13, but Tyson figures to factor into that equation. The sophomore said he wouldn’t go so far as to call himself the starting point guard, adding that he’s actually been working on playing other positions.

“I have three positions that I’m learning now,” said Tyson. “The point, shooting guard and small forward. There’s a lot of expectations on my end, but there’s also expectations from my teammates too.”

While the Pirates young core remains in-tact, a few key pieces have moved on over the off-season. Starting point-guard Antonio Robinson graduated, and three-point specialist Terry Whisnant left to pursue a pro-career.

Without those veterans, junior Caleb White will have more weight on his shoulders. White started almost every game for the Pirates in his sophomore campaign, scoring double-digit points 23 times.

“I’m trying to take a different leadership role this season,” White said. “Last year I led by example, being one of the better veteran players. This year I’m trying to lead more with my voice. I can influence other people based not only on how hard I play, but how I communicate on the court.”

Without Whisnant, a lot of the Pirates three-point scoring will fall on the shoulders of Tyson and White. Lebo said last season that he wanted White to be more aggressive, an approach that the junior is fully embracing this time around.

“[Replacing Whisnant] will be a team effort overall,” said White. “Being one of the better scorers I’ll have to be more aggressive with my mindset. They’ve been trying to get me to do that since I’ve been here, but now it’s definitely what the team needs. It’s do or die now.”

The jump from Conference USA to the American was every bit as difficult as Lebo expected. Even though the Pirates now have experience playing in tough road environments, where the Pirates posted a 1-11 record, Lebo doesn’t expect conference play to get any easier.

“Our league is really strong. The majority of the league is returning its best players. I’ve seen several publications that have up to three teams from our league in the top 25. That’s more than some of the ‘power five’ groups. We’re right up there.”

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