Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

Will be fun to see our growth but beating out the Cartel 5 schools for recruits will be tough. I think we need to market ourselves as the "bad ass rebel Pirates" in NC and the Mid Atlantic to get some of these kids. Play up the whole Pirates angle and get into these kids heads. "Stay Home, be a Pirate". Pirates are cool, we need to market that icon Nationally!

(03-01-2015 09:25 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

I don't think it's that simple for several reasons.

In no particular order: some kids don't want to stay home, they want to leave and see the world a little. Some kids play for a program. Lots of kids play for a coach. To some conference prestige matters. To others (not many) academics is considered.

Bottom line, the exposure the AAC gets on ESPN helps, but it's probably not going to be enough on its own to keep kids when you are facing an uphill battle in the following areas at ECU:

-kids that want to leave home...you won't get them
-kids that want to play for a bigger name program...you won't get them unless you turn your program into a name.
-kids that want to play for a particular coach...you won't get them unless you go out and hire a name. See SMU.
-kids that want to play for a conference that is high prestige...you won't get them.


Bottom line: ECU will marginally if anything at all benefit from the exposure you are talking about.

The #1 best thing you could do that is in your control to help get local kids, good local kids: hire a name coach and pay him big bucks. That won't make you ncaa regulars with top 25 recruiting classes by itself, but it is a step in the right direction.

That's my two cents.

(03-01-2015 09:35 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:25 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

I don't think it's that simple for several reasons.

In no particular order: some kids don't want to stay home, they want to leave and see the world a little. Some kids play for a program. Lots of kids play for a coach. To some conference prestige matters. To others (not many) academics is considered.

Bottom line, the exposure the AAC gets on ESPN helps, but it's probably not going to be enough on its own to keep kids when you are facing an uphill battle in the following areas at ECU:

-kids that want to leave home...you won't get them
-kids that want to play for a bigger name program...you won't get them unless you turn your program into a name.
-kids that want to play for a particular coach...you won't get them unless you go out and hire a name. See SMU.
-kids that want to play for a conference that is high prestige...you won't get them.


Bottom line: ECU will marginally if anything at all benefit from the exposure you are talking about.

The #1 best thing you could do that is in your control to help get local kids, good local kids: hire a name coach and pay him big bucks. That won't make you ncaa regulars with top 25 recruiting classes by itself, but it is a step in the right direction.

That's my two cents.

I hear you but don't agree.Lebo is a Dean Smith disciple. He has taken a terrible program an really made it respectable. You have to understand the zero rep ecu had in BBall. There are really good players in nc that go d2 before ecu.. That will no longer be the case. It was so bad I went to 1 game my whole time at ecu. Went to every football game. Lebo will get it done.

Big problem ECU,UCF and USF will have in basketball is that if any coach is able to win consistently there they will be snatched up by bigger programs

(03-01-2015 09:55 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:35 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:25 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

I don't think it's that simple for several reasons.

In no particular order: some kids don't want to stay home, they want to leave and see the world a little. Some kids play for a program. Lots of kids play for a coach. To some conference prestige matters. To others (not many) academics is considered.

Bottom line, the exposure the AAC gets on ESPN helps, but it's probably not going to be enough on its own to keep kids when you are facing an uphill battle in the following areas at ECU:

-kids that want to leave home...you won't get them
-kids that want to play for a bigger name program...you won't get them unless you turn your program into a name.
-kids that want to play for a particular coach...you won't get them unless you go out and hire a name. See SMU.
-kids that want to play for a conference that is high prestige...you won't get them.


Bottom line: ECU will marginally if anything at all benefit from the exposure you are talking about.

The #1 best thing you could do that is in your control to help get local kids, good local kids: hire a name coach and pay him big bucks. That won't make you ncaa regulars with top 25 recruiting classes by itself, but it is a step in the right direction.

That's my two cents.

I hear you but don't agree.Lebo is a Dean Smith disciple. He has taken a terrible program an really made it respectable. You have to understand the zero rep ecu had in BBall. There are really good players in nc that go d2 before ecu.. That will no longer be the case. It was so bad I went to 1 game my whole time at ecu. Went to every football game. Lebo will get it done.

If Lebo turns out to be as great as you think (and he may, I'm not arguing either way) he will end up at the next ACC, (or other big conference/big name program) opening sooner rather than later. Just sayin'

(03-01-2015 10:01 AM)Cubanbull Wrote:  Big problem ECU,UCF and USF will have in basketball is that if any coach is able to win consistently there they will be snatched up by bigger programs

I would love to see Lebo so successful that unc hires him to replace Roy.

(03-01-2015 10:07 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 10:01 AM)Cubanbull Wrote:  Big problem ECU,UCF and USF will have in basketball is that if any coach is able to win consistently there they will be snatched up by bigger programs

I would love to see Lebo so successful that unc hires him to replace Roy.

Lebo has already coached in the SEC. He will certainly listen to better offers than ECU (which are many), but I think he will be very cautious. In addition, his wife's family lives 30 minutes from ECU.

Not saying the exposure isn't going to help, but sustained success will play a bigger role.

Lebo leaves or not isn't the issue, we are getting in the weeds now. The point is, to answer the OP's question:

No, the AAC'c coverage on ESPN, while not hurting ECU, isn't going to in itself help you become one of the better teams in the AAC. That's my point.

That RPI doe

I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

(03-01-2015 11:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

We should do well in the Orlando market as well. Ron Dowdy an ecu alum is one of ucfs largest donors. This helps create a natural rivalry with ecu and ucf when ever we play..especially in Dowdy Ficklin..

(03-01-2015 09:33 AM)VirginiaPirate Wrote:  Will be fun to see our growth but beating out the Cartel 5 schools for recruits will be tough. I think we need to market ourselves as the "bad ass rebel Pirates" in NC and the Mid Atlantic to get some of these kids. Play up the whole Pirates angle and get into these kids heads. "Stay Home, be a Pirate". Pirates are cool, we need to market that icon Nationally!

recruiter to 5 star recruit, "Son, now you can be a pirate" Recruit: "But I don't wanna be a pirate!"

(03-01-2015 11:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

Tulsa offered Freeman as well. Personally I would take the TU offer based on the team I'd play for... But I guess Eastern Carolina is home.

(03-01-2015 09:55 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:35 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:25 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

I don't think it's that simple for several reasons.

In no particular order: some kids don't want to stay home, they want to leave and see the world a little. Some kids play for a program. Lots of kids play for a coach. To some conference prestige matters. To others (not many) academics is considered.

Bottom line, the exposure the AAC gets on ESPN helps, but it's probably not going to be enough on its own to keep kids when you are facing an uphill battle in the following areas at ECU:

-kids that want to leave home...you won't get them
-kids that want to play for a bigger name program...you won't get them unless you turn your program into a name.
-kids that want to play for a particular coach...you won't get them unless you go out and hire a name. See SMU.
-kids that want to play for a conference that is high prestige...you won't get them.


Bottom line: ECU will marginally if anything at all benefit from the exposure you are talking about.

The #1 best thing you could do that is in your control to help get local kids, good local kids: hire a name coach and pay him big bucks. That won't make you ncaa regulars with top 25 recruiting classes by itself, but it is a step in the right direction.

That's my two cents.

I hear you but don't agree.Lebo is a Dean Smith disciple. He has taken a terrible program an really made it respectable. You have to understand the zero rep ecu had in BBall. There are really good players in nc that go d2 before ecu.. That will no longer be the case. It was so bad I went to 1 game my whole time at ecu. Went to every football game. Lebo will get it done.

Let's not get overboard here. Still have a rpi over 200+. Ucf, houston, ecu, and usf need to all step up next year.

(03-01-2015 01:55 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 11:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

Tulsa offered Freeman as well. Personally I would take the TU offer based on the team I'd play for... But I guess Eastern Carolina is home.

I think that he would be better served taking the ECU offer, because ECU's upside potential in basketball is scary. Haith being from North Carolina might mean something to Freeman, but then again Freeman might end up at Tennessee, VT or with Sendek down at Arizona State.

(03-01-2015 02:42 PM)PirateMarv Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 01:55 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 11:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

Tulsa offered Freeman as well. Personally I would take the TU offer based on the team I'd play for... But I guess Eastern Carolina is home.

I think that he would be better served taking the ECU offer, because ECU's upside potential in basketball is scary. Haith being from North Carolina might mean something to Freeman, but then again Freeman might end up at Tennessee, VT or with Sendek down at Arizona State.

I just meant that he would be playing for the most senior laden team in the country next year. Plus he would have fit in tremendously to Haith's small-ball system as a tweener 3-4. I didn't mean Tulsa was necessarily the better program.

ECU has so much potential. If they had a team with the equivalent talent of this year's Tulsa or SMU your arena would be bursting at the seams. Is there any opportunity for ECU to play at a larger venue if need be?

(03-01-2015 03:40 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 02:42 PM)PirateMarv Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 01:55 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 11:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  I am just glad to see ECU landing the under recruited North Carolina kids like BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkley. Those are the kids that a program builds around, because those kids play with chips on their shoulders just like the kids on the ECU football team; and it is the efforts of those kids that will attract the upper end talent in the State.

Here is the top 2015 N.C. basketball player rankings. Notice that ECU already has the number 4 player on the list and the number 2 player is visiting ECU in a couple of weeks. http://www.thehoopscolumn.com/thc-2015-rankings/

ECU also offered a top JUCO Forward, DeShawn Freeman. Freeman's hometown is from Rocky Mount, NC, which is only 37 miles from ECU's campus. The AAC coverage and being able to play near their home towns, might be incentive for some kids to play near home.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/deshawn-freeman

So things are looking up, but the weirdest thing that I am noticing that ECU seems to get noticed by a fair number of Miami kids. Guys like Maurice Kemp, Lance Tejada, Jeantal Cylla and another top national 100 kid that I recently read an article about.

Tulsa offered Freeman as well. Personally I would take the TU offer based on the team I'd play for... But I guess Eastern Carolina is home.

I think that he would be better served taking the ECU offer, because ECU's upside potential in basketball is scary. Haith being from North Carolina might mean something to Freeman, but then again Freeman might end up at Tennessee, VT or with Sendek down at Arizona State.

I just meant that he would be playing for the most senior laden team in the country next year. Plus he would have fit in tremendously to Haith's small-ball system as a tweener 3-4. I didn't mean Tulsa was necessarily the better program.

ECU has so much potential. If they had a team with the equivalent talent of this year's Tulsa or SMU your arena would be bursting at the seams. Is there any opportunity for ECU to play at a larger venue if need be?

No. ECU's current arena can be very intimidating, so I wouldn't want them to play anywhere else.

(03-01-2015 02:21 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:55 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:35 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(03-01-2015 09:25 AM)Pirateoracle Wrote:  Gary Clark of Cincy is from Clayton NC about 30 minutes from Greenville. Now that kids like this can play at Ecu and get national exposure will they stay closer to home. Same with a Rodney Purvis at Uconn?I believe Ecu will up its game in BBall tremendously over the next several years.NC has always been a BBall state with a lot of talent. We can keep these players and be one of the bestin the AAC.

I don't think it's that simple for several reasons.

In no particular order: some kids don't want to stay home, they want to leave and see the world a little. Some kids play for a program. Lots of kids play for a coach. To some conference prestige matters. To others (not many) academics is considered.

Bottom line, the exposure the AAC gets on ESPN helps, but it's probably not going to be enough on its own to keep kids when you are facing an uphill battle in the following areas at ECU:

-kids that want to leave home...you won't get them
-kids that want to play for a bigger name program...you won't get them unless you turn your program into a name.
-kids that want to play for a particular coach...you won't get them unless you go out and hire a name. See SMU.
-kids that want to play for a conference that is high prestige...you won't get them.


Bottom line: ECU will marginally if anything at all benefit from the exposure you are talking about.

The #1 best thing you could do that is in your control to help get local kids, good local kids: hire a name coach and pay him big bucks. That won't make you ncaa regulars with top 25 recruiting classes by itself, but it is a step in the right direction.

That's my two cents.

I hear you but don't agree.Lebo is a Dean Smith disciple. He has taken a terrible program an really made it respectable. You have to understand the zero rep ecu had in BBall. There are really good players in nc that go d2 before ecu.. That will no longer be the case. It was so bad I went to 1 game my whole time at ecu. Went to every football game. Lebo will get it done.

Let's not get overboard here. Still have a rpi over 200+. Ucf, houston, ecu, and usf need to all step up next year.

Why would you even make a comment? You got beat twice this year by us. Better to be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

There is no doubt recruiting in the AAC will be a notch up from the old CUSA. Coverage is better, there is 4 to 6 solid programs at the top. No reason this league of 11 shouldn't get 3 or 4 teams in most years. If you do that the league profile will continue to rise, and bringing in recruits for BB will get even better.