East Carolina Pirates men's basketball

East Carolina Pirates

2015–16 East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team

University

East Carolina University

First season

1931–1932

Conference

American Athletic Conference

Location

Greenville, NC

Head coach

Jeff Lebo (6th year)

Arena

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
(Capacity: 8,000)

Nickname

Pirates

Student section

Minges Maniacs

Colors

Purple and Gold

Uniforms

Home

Away

Alternate

NCAA Tournament appearances

1972, 1993

Conference tournament champions

1972, 1993

The interior of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team represents East Carolina University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the American Athletic Conference. The Pirates are coached by former University of North Carolina player and Auburn coach Jeff Lebo, and play their home games in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

History

The Pirates appeared in the NAIA National Tournament two years (1953 and 1954), each year losing in the first round. The Pirates combined record in the NAIA was 2-2. The Pirates have also made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with the latest appearance occurring in 1993 where they played the North Carolina Tar Heels. East Carolina has had four players to reach the NBA level, Theodore "Blue" Edwards, who was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 21st overall pick of the 1989 NBA Draft, Oliver Mack who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the third pick in the second round of the 1979 NBA Draft, George Maynor, who was selected by the Chicago Bulls as the sixth pick in the fourth round of the 1979 NBA Draft, and Charles Alford, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the ninth pick in the tenth round of the 1968 NBA Draft. The Pirates opened a new 49,000 square foot, two-story practice facility in 2014 called the Smith-Williams Center, which will be attached to Minges Colliseum, where the Pirates hold home court.

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum

One of the most intimate, beautiful and fan friendly arenas in all of NCAA Division I is Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, home of East Carolina men's and women's basketball and volleyball. The cozy 8,000-seat arena gives the Pirates a distinct home court advantage. Now in its 45th season of hosting Pirate basketball, the coliseum is connected to the second level of the Murphy Center, the Pirates' state-of-the-art athletic training facility, by an indoor walkway. The floor inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum recently received a fresh look prior to the 2010-11 season with new designs and logos.

Constructed at a cost of $2 million, Minges Coliseum was dedicated on Jan. 27, 1968, in the name of the Minges family of Greenville, N.C. As owners of Pepsi-Cola bottling operations in Greenville, Kinston and New Bern, the Minges family has provided leadership and support of East Carolina University Athletics over the years, going back to the days when the late Dr. Ray Minges served as President of the Century Club (forerunner of the Pirate Club), from 1965-68. After 27 years of basketball, Minges Coliseum underwent a facelift prior to the 1994-95 season. The renovations, totaling almost $12 million, have made the arena one of the finest on-campus basketball facilities on the East Coast.

Williams Arena is named in honor and recognition of Walter and Marie Williams for their support of East Carolina Athletics over the years. As alumni of East Carolina College, Walter and Marie have endowed two Men's Basketball Position scholarships, the Spirit of the East Post-Eligibility Scholarship, and an unrestricted student-athlete scholarship on behalf of the University's athletics program. Further, through Trade Oil Company, the Williams family gave the first $1 million gift ever given to the Educational Foundation in support of ECU Athletics, through the Shared Visions Campaign. In addition to his financial support, Walter Williams has given his time unselfishly in support of the Pirate Club. During 1997-98, Walter served as Executive President of the Educational Foundation.

Smith-Williams Center

The Smith-Williams Center, which is structurally connected to Minges Coliseum, is the headquarters for and is devoted exclusively to the men's and women's basketball programs, providing them with a state-of-the-art venue in which to practice, train and condition. The 49,000-square-foot, multi-level facility features mirror image practice courts, locker rooms, coaches' offices, meeting rooms, training rooms for each program and will also house the Athletics Hall of Fame, which will feature a prideful display of the rich tradition of intercollegiate athletics at ECU.

Named in honor of principal donors Harry and Tammy Smith and Walter and Marie Williams, the center has a total project cost of $17 million that was funded entirely through private gifts. The Smith's commitment of $1 million toward the Step Up To The Highest Level Campaign in December 2011, coupled with leadership gifts from the Williams family and contributions of numerous other donors enabled the construction of the facility. Each court is named for donors who contributed significantly to the Step Up To The Highest Level campaign. The floor inside the women's practice gym is called Barnhill Court in recognition of the financial support of Bob Barnhill of Tarboro. The men's gym floor is named Rogers-Whitaker court in appreciation of the monetary gifts of Mike and Janet Rogers of Cary, N.C. and Don and Donna Whitaker of Virginia Beach, Va. Whitaker was a two-year ECU letterman on the hardwood for coaches Dave Patton and Larry Gillman.

Division I post season results

NCAA Tournament

The Pirates have appeared in two NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 0–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1972	First Round	Villanova	L 70–85
1993	First Round	North Carolina	L 65–85

CIT

The Pirates have appeared in three CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournaments (CIT). Their combined record is 5–2 and they were CIT champions in 2013.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First Round	Jacksonville	L 66–71 ^OT
2013	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Savannah State Rider Loyola (MD) Evansville Weber State	W 66–65 W 75–54 W 70–58 W81–58 W 77–74
2014	First Round	Wright State	L 59–73

NCIT

The Pirates appeared in one of the only two ever Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournaments. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1975	Quarterfinals	Arizona	L 78–94

Team record

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
East Carolina (Southern Conference) (1965–1977)
1965-1966	Wendell Carr	11-15	5-7	5th
1966-1967	Tom Quinn	7-17	4-8	8th
1967-1968	Tom Quinn	9-16	6-7	7th
1968-1969	Tom Quinn	17-11	9-2	2nd
1969-1970	Tom Quinn	16-10	9-2	2nd
1970-1971	Tom Quinn	13-12	7-4	4th
1971-1972	Tom Quinn	14-15	7-5	3rd	NCAA 1st Round
1972-1973	Tom Quinn	13-13	7-7	4th
1973-1974	Tom Quinn	13-12	8-6	4th
1974-1975	Dave Patton	19-9	11-3	2nd	NCIT quarterfinals
1975-1976	Dave Patton	11-15	7-7	T-3rd
1976-1977	Dave Patton	10-18	3-9	5th
East Carolina (Independent) (1977–1981)
1977-1978	Larry Gillman	9-17	-
1978-1979	Larry Gillman	12-15	-
1979-1980	Dave Odom	16-11	-
1980-1981	Dave Odom	12-14	-
East Carolina (Colonial Athletic Association) (1981–2001)
1981-1982	Dave Odom	10-17	2-8	7th
1982-1983	Charlie Harrison	16-13	3-7	5th
1983-1984	Charlie Harrison	4-24	1-9	6th
1984-1985	Charlie Harrison	7-21	1-13	8th
1985-1986	Charlie Harrison	12-16	6-8	T-4th
1986-1987	Charlie Harrison	12-16	4-11	7th
1987-1988	Mike Steele	8-20	3-12	8th
1988-1989	Mike Steele	15-14	6-8	T-5th
1989-1990	Mike Steele	13-18	6-8	5th
1990-1991	Mike Steele	12-16	4-10	7th
1991-1992	Eddie Payne	10-18	4-10	6th
1992-1993	Eddie Payne	14-16	4-10	7th	NCAA 1st Round
1993-1994	Eddie Payne	15-12	7-8	5th
1994-1995	Eddie Payne	18-11	7-8	4th
1995-1996	Joe Dooley	17-11	9-9	T-4th
1996-1997	Joe Dooley	17-10	9-7	T-3rd
1997-1998	Joe Dooley	10-17	5-11	T-7th
1998-1999	Joe Dooley	13-14	7-9	7th
1999-2000	Bill Herrion	10-18	5-11	T-8th
2000-2001	Bill Herrion	14-14	6-10	T-7th
East Carolina (Conference USA) (2001–2014)
2001-2002	Bill Herrion	12-18	5-11	T-11th
2002-2003	Bill Herrion	12-15	3-13	T-13th
2003-2004	Bill Herrion	13-14	5-11	11th
2004-2005	Bill Herrion	9-19	4-12	T-12th
2005-2006	Ricky Stokes	8-20	2-12	12th
2006-2007	Ricky Stokes	6-24	1-15	12th
2007-2008	Mack McCarthy	11-19	5-11	10th
2008-2009	Mack McCarthy	13-17	5-11	9th
2009-2010	Mack McCarthy	10-21	4-12	10th
2010-2011	Jeff Lebo	18-16	8-8	T-7th	2011 CIT 1st Round
2011-2012	Jeff Lebo	14-15	5-11	10th
2012-2013	Jeff Lebo	24-12	9-7	T-4th	2013 CIT Champions
2013-2014	Jeff Lebo	17-16	5-11	12th	2014 CIT 1st Round
East Carolina (American Athletic Conference) (2014–present)
2014-2015	Jeff Lebo	14-19	6-12	T-7th
Total:		1035-1053
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Retired Number

14 - Sonny Russell 1949-1953

Pirates Drafted by NBA

Theodore "Blue" Edwards - Utah Jazz (21st overall) 1989
Oliver Mack - Los Angeles Lakers (third pick in the second round) 1979
George Maynor - Chicago Bulls (sixth pick in the fourth round) 1979
Charles Alford - Los Angeles Lakers (ninth pick in the tenth round) 1968

Players in the NBA

Oliver Mack - 1979-1982
Theodore "Blues" Edwards - 1989-1999
Jonathan Kerner - 1998-2001

References

East Carolina Pirates men's basketball

Venues	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (1968–present)

Culture & lore	History

People	Head coaches NBA players

Seasons	1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

East Carolina University

Academics

Undergraduate: College of Allied Health Sciences; College of Arts and Sciences; College of Business; College of Education; College of Fine Arts and Communication; The College of Health and Human Performance; The College of Human Ecology; College of Nursing; College of Technology and Computer Science

Graduate: Graduate School

Professional: The Brody School of Medicine; School of Dental Medicine

Other: History

Athletics

Pirates Clark–LeClair Stadium Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Baseball Men's basketball Football Men's soccer (defunct)

Campus

Buildings Greenville North Carolina Eastern North Carolina Main Campus Health Sciences Campus Libraries Mattamuskeet Field Station Vidant Medical Center Wahl-Coates Elementary School West Research

Chancellor — Presidents

Robert Herring Wright Leon Renfroe Meadows Howard Justus McGinnis Dennis Hargrove Cooke John Decatur Messick Leo Warren Jenkins Thomas Bowman Brewer John McDade Howell Richard R. Eakin William Muse William Shelton Steven Ballard

People

Alumni Faculty Steven Ballard Marc Basnight Sandra Bullock Randolph Chitwood Pat Dye Billy Godwin Terry Holland Leo Warren Jenkins Jeff Lebo Ruffin McNeill Robert Burren Morgan Emily Procter Billy Taylor Kay Yow

Student life

The East Carolinian Greek life Student Government Association WZMB

American Athletic Conference men's basketball

Teams	Cincinnati Bearcats Connecticut Huskies East Carolina Pirates Houston Cougars Memphis Tigers SMU Mustangs South Florida Bulls Temple Owls Tulane Green Wave Tulsa Golden Hurricane UCF Knights

Championships & awards	Conference Tournament Player of the Year

Seasons	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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