Nov. 10, 2010

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Conference USA held its annual preseason coaches teleconference Wednesday with each of the league's 12 head coaches participating. Below are East Carolina Head Coach Jeff Lebo's comments from his question and answer session.

What are some of the goals you have set for this first season?
"We've got a lot of goals set for this year's team. Our goals are not so much in terms of wins and losses, our goals are to get better every single day, to learn what it takes to work hard every single play and to get better defensively. We've been last in defensive efficiency in Conference USA the last four years and that's an area we've tried to address with our kids and spend a lot of time with.

"We've got an experienced group of players back, including four seniors that have been through the wars and have high expectations for this team. Our kids have been working awfully hard are excited about the start of the season on Friday."

What do Brock Young's leadership and skills bring to the team?
"He brings a lot to the table. Anytime you have a senior point guard that has the ability that Brock has, you feel good as a coach. Brock has been fighting an injury and hasn't been in practice very much. That has set him back a little bit, but he is itching to get healthy and get out there. He played limited minutes in our exhibition, but we haven't been able to have him out there consistently in practice.

"He brings so much to the table with his ability to score and his ability to pass. He's got speed and quickness which also makes him hard to trap. He can also find people and if we can get somebody else to go with him that can shoot the ball consistently from the perimeter, he'll be able to get them some shots.

"We just want to get him back healthy. It's been very frustrating for him to not be healthy at the start of the season, but he's worked awfully hard in his rehab. Hopefully we will see the benefits of that in the next few weeks."

Who are some of the players that have stepped up in Brock's absence and could be a surprise this season?
"I've been really impressed with Corvonn Gaines. He's gotten a lot of reps at the point guard position with Brock being out. Corvonn is much different that Brock because he's bigger. I've been impressed with his ability to pick up things quickly. He doesn't turn the ball over and has run our team very well. He didn't play much at all last season until the end of the year. I think he may have had hard time making the adjustment from high school to college, but it started to kick in for him toward the end of the year and has carried over into this season. He's playing with a lot of confidence and understands what we expect at the point guard position."

Having played college basketball at North Carolina and understanding what the sport means in that state, how does that help infuse excitement into your program?
"We've got bubbling interest right now. It reminds me of a volcano. We've got to put a product out there that our fans can identify with and the volcano will erupt. We can make this a very tough place to play like it has been here in the past when top-ranked teams like Marquette and Cincinnati came in. We need to get it back to that [environment] . People will come out and support, but we have to give them a reason to come out every single night. Basketball is important to the people of East Carolina."

What were your observations about this conference before coming to East Carolina?
"This conference is very good. I have a lot of respect for the league. When you talk about Conference USA the first thing that pops in your mind is Memphis. Their superiority in the league over the years has forced other people in the league to put even more emphasis on basketball in order to catch them or just be close to them. This a high-level league with excellent coaches that has produced multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament with 12 NBA Draft picks the last three years. I know we're going to play against good teams every night and I'm excited to be a part of it."

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