Jan. 26, 2006

The individuals who are the most frustrated by our lack of success on the court are the players on this year's team who have dedicated themselves to working harder than they ever have in their lives. They have given a supreme effort - in the classroom, in the weight room, helping with recruiting and on the court - to provide us with a program that we can be proud of here at ECU.

While the most visible results are not immediate, the foundation being laid at this time will produce results. For starters, our team GPA has gone from under a 2.0 to over a 2.5 and we have a "ranked" recruiting class for perhaps the first time in ECU history.

Realistically speaking, this is still a team that lost the two leading scorers from last year's team that won a total of seven games versus Division I competition while losing 19.

Some might also say that C-USA is not as strong as it was last year, but that is a "relative" term. The six new teams are not likely to beat us by 51 points as Louisville did last season but each of those teams has a much stronger basketball tradition than the one here at ECU. So while the conference RPI has dropped some, each of the six new teams brings a stronger RPI to the table than ECU's teams of the last decade.

There can be no doubt that we are in the midst of a massive "building" (not rebuilding) effort that, unlike that of our football rebuilding effort (or the rebuilding efforts of our competitors), has relatively little tradition of success to build upon.

I firmly believe that the changes that have been made in personnel from last season to this season, including transfers, were necessary in order for us to have a chance to build a basketball tradition. However, change in personnel alone cannot build that foundation. There have been far too many previous coaching staffs and transfers for us to believe it was THEIR fault we do not have a basketball tradition.

WE who remain must accept the challenge of helping our coaching staff and players continue to build on a promising foundation, even if the game results do not show the progress that has been made behind the scenes.

I do believe we will see on-court progress before this season is over as long as the players and the rest of us do not lose the "We Believe" mentality that is the backbone of Pirate Pride and the Pirate Spirit.

So please join me in mourning (and even cussin') each loss but let's be ready when the horn sounds for the next chance to kick some butt! OUR TIME WILL COME and it is not as far away as it may seem.

TH

LAST 10 YEARS COMPARISON:
ECU - 2 winning seasons, 0 twenty-win seasons, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA
Rice - 4 winning seasons, 1 twenty-win season, 2 NIT
UTEP - 4 winning seasons, 3 twenty-win seasons, 1 NIT, 2 NCAA
Marshall - 5 winning seasons, 2 twenty-win seasons
SMU - 6 winning seasons, 1 twenty-win season, 1 NIT
UCF - 7 winning seasons, 3 twenty-win seasons, 3 NCAA
Tulsa - 9 winning seasons, 7 twenty-win seasons, 1 NIT Champions (2001), 6 NCAA