Ok, it has been too long since I fulfilled my responsibility to this board, so here is my latest thoughts. On ECU hoops...I feel like the team, with Jeremy Ingram now playing, is world's better, yet I can't help wonder what it is going to take to make ECU competitive in the sport most identified with Tobacco Road.
With losses to the likes of UNC-G, Gardner-Webb, Western Carolina, Winthrop & Toledo, I can't help wonder how it is that those teams...all small budget, no name schools, somehow can find five guys good enough to beat a Division I, fully-funded ECU program?
Now before anyone goes to the trouble of pointing out that these teams, though not household names, are all top teams in their leagues, please don't try to convince me that we should have lost. Look at that damn Winthrop score...we lost by more than 20 points! Dayum!
Historically, we have whined that you cannot recruit against the ACC in NC... Well, apparently, UNC-G, Winthrop, Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina figured it out. I have come to the conclusion that the only thing keeping ECU from competitive hoops is our own historic incompetence in recruiting and Xs & Os. I really liked Joe Dooley and Billy Herrion and even watched Herrion do excellently at Drexel, recruiting out from under the likes of Villanova, Temple, Penn, and LaSalle, so maybe it is just something in the Greenville water.
I think that with Terry Holland in place, coach Ricky Stokes will have all the support necessary to fix whatever is ailing ECU hoops. And with nice tries against Wake and Memphis, things look much better. But, it is going to take a whole lot more to get me excited about the hoops program.
Here is hoping that things are truly changing.
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Great points. I didn't realize how embarassing our losses were. But this team also lost to Wake Forest only in the final minutes and played well against Memphis. What does that suggest? A problem with level of talent or ability to coach?
You know, Matt...I don't know. After watching the pathetic shooting performance we had against UTEP, my guess is that we definitely do not have the talent that most low-end D1 schools have. Ingram and Rouse are legit guys and McNeil is a serviceable PG, but really, I don't see a whole lot of true D1 talent on our team. Most of our top guys would be 6 or 7 guys on C-USA teams.
I do not know about coaching ability. As I said, Herrion was a giant killer at Drexel and they were regulars in the NCAA Tourney under him. Dooley is considered one of the nation's top recruiters out at Kansas. So, it must not be coaching, except that coaching also entails the ability to go out and recruit and we have truly failed on that front.
Jury is still out on Coach Stokes, though I must admit that I give him the benefit of the doubt because he is Holland's guy.
Frustrating for sure...one of these days, I suppose.
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