Letters of Mack

Twice a month East Carolina Head Basketball Coach Mack McCarthy will blog about the latest happenings in ECU basketball in his "Letters of Mack." In addition, he will answer selected questions regarding the program, the state of college basketball, and a myriad of other topics. Questions can be submitted by clicking the link below.

• Submit a Question for Coach McCarthy

Pirate Fans,

Before I answer a couple questions I want to remind fans that our ECU Boy's Basketball Schools start next week. From June 22-26 we invite all aspiring basketball players ages 7-17 to attend the camp. Our staff and players do a great job with basketball and life instruction during our camps, and we have a tremendous return rate because everyone has fun. Our Director of Basketball Operations John Moseley runs our camps and does a terrific job. We have a second camp July 13-17 for ages 7 to rising 7th graders. These young campers will get outstanding individual fundamental instruction competing against kids of their own age and ability. You can visit www.ecupirates.com for further information, or call (252) 737-4592 and speak to Beth Kirkland or John Moseley. Now let's dig into this week's mailbag:

What are your thoughts on the non-conference schedule and how excited are you to be playing in an event like the Paradise Jam?
We are really excited about our non-conference schedule this year. Everyone knows most of the games and we won't release the final edition until we get our conference slate. Clearly getting to play in the Paradise Jam is a big deal. Getting an opportunity to play on a neutral court against the likes of South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, DePaul, Boston College, Purdue, St. Joe's, Boston College, and Tennessee will be a great experience for our young team. For a team with no scholarship seniors, it will be tough, but a great opportunity to show improvement.

Where do you see Jontae Sherrod in the coming year and could he possibly be the wing player you are looking for?
Jontae is having a very good summer. He has lots of areas he needs to improve in to become the student-athlete he has the potential to be. He seems to be growing up, and we'd love to see him blossom on and off the court. It was tough on our wing players the last couple years with the likes of Sam Hinnant, James Legan and Cory Farmer garnering the bulk of the minutes on the wings. Now we'll see what Chris Turner, Jontae Sherrod, Jamar Abrams and our incoming freshmen will do with the opportunity for significant playing time.

With regards to recruiting, whom do you consider ECU's recruiting peers within North Carolina and beyond and who do you find yourself competing with in attempting to attract a potential recruit and have him come to ECU?
We recruit against a varied group of institutions. We run into instate foes like Charlotte, Davidson, UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington. We compete against the top of the regional leagues like Old Dominion, VCU, George Mason, Richmond, and Winthrop. We do recruit against the ACC on occasion. Most times if we're seriously involved there will be only one or two ACC schools involved. More than that and we usually aren't truly in the mix. We do have kids on our roster who have officially visited ACC, SEC, and PAC-10 institutions. We also battle several schools in our league on a regular basis like Marshall, Southern Miss, UCF, Tulane and UAB.

Do you have an opinion on the move to reduce the amount of time players have to make a binding decision on entering the NBA Draft?
The less time the better. The rule should be equitable for all parties involved and the fact that some collegiate teams still have no idea who might not be on their roster is unfair.

How have members of the team been spending their summer?
All of our returnees are in summer school for both sessions. They are working hard in their classes, extremely hard with coach Danny Wheel in the weight room and spending countless hours shooting and playing pickup. The intensity will pick up in the second session as Erin Straughn, Corvonn Gaines and Wakefield Ellison join the ranks. Darius Morales is competing with the Puerto Rico Junior National Team in the world games in New Zealand and will matriculate in the fall semester. DaQuan Joyner is progressing nicely with his rehab work and is hopefully on schedule to be full speed early in the fall.

Thanks again for all your questions and comments. Keep sending in your queries!!

Coach Mack

Pirate Fans,

Just as we anticipated, the plethora of information available from different sources during the season limited the questions we received during that time. Y'all are back in force and the queries are rolling in. I will try to incorporate the questions I didn't get to this time in next edition of "letters." Keep the inquiries coming! I'm looking forward to answering your questions all summer and throughout the season. Thanks and Go Pirates!

Coach Mack

Will there be tryouts for regular students?
To the many young men who are interested in being walk-ons for Pirate basketball, we will probably have an open tryout in the fall. You should check back when school starts back in August with Coach Larry Epperly at (252) 737-4592. With the signing of four new scholarship players and the returning walk-ons, we may or may not have any spots available. However, we do appreciate your interest in being part of the program.

How can I become an undergraduate assistant coach or student manager?
Those young men and women who are interested in becoming managers should contact Coach John Moseley at (252) 737-4592. Our managers do an outstanding job and we anticipate the group being back, but there are many opportunities to be involved in the basketball program such as assisting in the video program, recruiting mail outs, office assistance, etc.

When the basketball plays on the road on the weekend, is the team able to site-see or is it all basketball?
When we go on the road we do try to take advantage of tourist or educational opportunities. We have toured the nation's capitol and been to NBA games.

With the starting shooting guard spot looking to be wide open, who do you see as the front runner for that right now?
There should be serious competition at both wing spots this fall. Chris Turner saw time as a backup to Sam Hinnant and James Legan last season. Jamar Abrams is likely to get a look on the wing as well as playing the step out power forward spot he started at last year. Jontae Sherrod played both guard spots a year ago. Wakefield Ellison and Erin Straughn are natural wing players who are very skilled and ready to compete as freshmen. Corvonn Gaines is primarily a ball handler, but his skills and size will certainly have him in the mix for time on the wing as well. Walk-ons Greyson Sargent and Howard Hurt give us added depth at the position. Greyson is our only fourth year senior and has been valuable to the team in every sense of the word. Howard is coming off knee surgery, but again should be a real asset to our team.

I received a lot of questions regarding our incoming freshmen class. Let me give you a thumbnail on each of them.
Erin Straughn is a big wing that is very skilled. He is an outstanding passer and shooter. This past season he dominated on the backboard averaging 17 rebounds a game for Pensacola High School leading them to the state semifinals.

Wakefield Ellison is another big wing that is very athletic. He can really score the basketball from the perimeter as well as driving it to the rim. Wakefield, along with the other three freshmen, really works at the game.

Darius Morales' defense is ahead of his offense at this time. He's about 6'8 1/2" and 220 pounds. He is a very good rebounder and shot blocker. His time this summer with the Puerto Rican Junior National Team should be a valuable experience for him coming to ECU in the fall.

Corvonn Gaines is a really good passer. He's a big point guard who is equally comfortable playing off the ball. While he can certainly score, he prides himself on involving his teammates and making everyone around him better.

All four freshmen have a chance to play right away. These four joining the seven returnees give us more depth than we had a year ago. This will certainly be beneficial playing the up-tempo style we like to play.

How is DaQuan Joyner doing?
DaQuan is doing well. He is still in a non-weight bearing mode, but that should change early in June. He has done an outstanding job of working at what he can in the weight room and the training room to be ready to get back in shape as soon as he is completely healed from his off-season surgery.

Based on what you've seen of player development, what players do you anticipate stepping up and filling some of the scoring void left by Sam and James?
We have a great deal of potential--that's a scary word, but I think we'll be okay. We have more weapons and the ability to score from more positions than in the past. The problem is youth and the big question is whether anyone will develop into that consistent "go to" guy inside or out. Jamar Abrams showed flashes of being that kind of player. Darrius Morrow is having a great off-season after a really good rookie year. Chris Turner has that kind of ability and is finally healthy. Brock Young averaged double figures last year even while deferring to Sam and James. Chad Wynn was dominant in several games and is really working hard at his agility and conditioning. And while they are young, the newcomers are very skilled.

What kind of role you see some of the walk-ons playing this year?
We've been fortunate to have the contributions of several good walk-ons here at ECU. Taylor Gagnon was a real success story during his career. Greyson Sargent will be a fourth-year senior and is a good leader. Derrick O'Bryan gave us good minutes and gained valuable time in big games and is working hard this summer.

Do you expect to press and/or trap more on defense with this group?
We will have to see how much we extend defensively as we get into the fall workouts. We are deeper and more skilled, but awfully young with no senior scholarship players and four freshmen possibly playing key roles. We would like to be able to dictate to our opponents by attacking on both ends of the floor, but we'll know a lot more by January and league play after a very challenging non-conference schedule.

East Carolina Head Basketball Coach Mack McCarthy will resume his "Letters of Mack" blog beginning June 1. Coach McCarthy will blog biweekly about the latest happenings with the men's basketball program, answering submitted questions while touching on a variety of topics outside the realm of college basketball.

The blog will updated the first and third Monday of each month both during the summer months and the academic year.

ECU assistant coaches and support staff will contribute periodically to the "Letters of Mack" as well.

ECU Athletics

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