ECU Board of Trustees approves a five-year extension

GREENVILLE — After approval by the Board of Trustees, East Carolina University has announced a five-year extension of head women’s basketball coach Heather Macy’s contract that will keep her at the helm of the program through the 2019-20 season, according to an announcement by director of athletics Jeff Compher Thursday afternoon.

Macy’s new contract has been prolonged to April 30, 2020 and will keep her tied to the Pirates for the next six seasons.

“One of the most important aspects of any successful collegiate athletic program is consistency at the head coach position,” Compher said. “This contract extension signifies the faith we have in Heather to lead our women’s basketball program into The American Conference. Heather promotes the concept of comprehensive excellence and understands the importance of balance between academic achievement and winning competitively. I am confident she will build a program that is nationally recognized and I’m glad she will be a Pirate for a long time to come.”

Macy was named the ninth women’s basketball coach in program history on April 30, 2010 and has helped East Carolina to 72 wins through her first four seasons. In 2013-14, the Pirates recorded 22 victories for the second-straight year, marking the first time ECU recorded back-to-back 20-win campaigns since 1985-86. Jada Payne earned first team all-conference honors, Abria Trice second team and Ondrea Shaw was named to the all-defensive team.

Additionally, Macy’s teams were champions in the classroom, earning the top team grade point average among all Conference USA women’s basketball schools for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

“I would like to thank Chancellor Steve Ballard, Jeff Compher and the Board of Trustees,” Macy said. “I appreciate their support and the confidence they have in me to lead this women’s basketball program into The American Conference. I think we have already made incredible strides in the right direction and now we need to evolve from a winning program into a championship-caliber program. The growth this program has experienced during the last four years has been very rewarding, and we are looking forward to all of the challenges that lie ahead.”

The Pirates posted a 28-2 record at home over the last two seasons, which included a program-best 26-game winning streak at Minges Coliseum that began during the 2012-13 campaign – the same season Macy was named Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year. At year’s end, forward Kristine Mial garnered the C-USA Sixth Player-of-the-Year accolade, point guard Celeste Stewart was selected to the league’s first team and post player Britny Edwards collected all-defensive team honors. Thirteen of the 17 players on the roster were named to the conference’s Honor Roll and Ariana Jackson was the recipient of the C-USA Winter Spirit of Service Award.

Prior to her arrival, Macy was tabbed the CVAC Coach-of-the-Year at Pfeiffer College following the 2006-07 season, before continuing on to Francis Marion where she received back-to-back Peach Belt Conference Coach-of-the-Year awards following the 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns.

Owning a 165-83 (.665) overall record and 110-53 (.675) mark in league games, Macy’s teams have won at least 21 games in six times and reached double-digit conference victories on seven occasions during her nine seasons as a head coach.

Her coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and High Point University, as well as a pair of Division II schools – Lenoir-Rhyne College and Catawba College.