GREENVILLE — For Jeff Lebo and the East Carolina basketball team, plans at the forward positions changed from the start of the season with the loss of Marshall Guilmette.

Deng Riak, Clarence Williams and Kentrell Barkley are three fresh faces at forward for the Pirates. Lebo kept it simple when giving his expectation of playtime for the young big men.

“The better they do, the more they’ll play,” Lebo said Wednesday afternoon before the Pirates’ second-to-last gear up before Friday’s season opener. “They’re going to have to play some. Again, we’re down a guy that we were counting on. So that means great opportunity for those guys to come in here and play.”

Riak, a 6-foot-10 center, is originally from Australia but came to the United States to play his prep basketball in Florida. The 20-year old missed three weeks of practice recently, but has been back on the court recently. Riak has drawn high praise from his coach and teammates ahead of his first season in college basketball.

Michael Zangari is also in the mix under the basket. The senior is looking to get back on track himself after a difficult junior season, but highlighted Riak as a potentially important piece down low.

“Deng is playing really well right now,” Zangari said. “As a freshman, he’s just so smart. He’s always a play ahead.

Zangari knows this is an important season for him in his penultimate year. As a sophomore, Zangari had a breakout season. He started all 34 games and averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Entering his junior year, there were some expectations that the 6-foot-9 forward would have another impact season. However, the jump in conferences from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference seemed to take Zangari by surprise. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.3 boards for the 2014-15 season. In conference, Zangari scored just 1.5 points and 2.2 rebounds as his minutes dropped significantly.

“I hope that I can come in and provide some scoring,” Zangari said on replacing the production of Guilmette by committee. “Obviously I need to step up my rebounding, too, because we know that was a big problem for us last year.”

Zangari is one of three, three-year letter winners on the ECU roster this season. He said he is excited about taking on a leadership role with the influx of youth at the forward position.

“It goes by so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was a freshman,” Zangari said. “With being here so long, I do feel like I’m a play ahead. It’s so easy to pick up on things.”

Junior Caleb White has started in 62 of his career 67 games and has been the image of versatility for the program of late. Defensively, White can cover anywhere from a shooting guard to a power forward. White has also been one of the most consistent players in each of his first two seasons, offensively. He averaged 12.3 points per game in his first two seasons.

White will also be looked to as a presence underneath the basket, something the junior is willing to do.

“In (swinging defensively) so much, I’m comfortable with it now,” White said. “This preseason, I’ve been covering a lot of guards then going down to covering a forward. Mental reps are my biggest thing, to remember our schemes. It’s all just to help the team.”

ECU will have its first game action Friday as a struggling Grambling State program comes to Minges Coliseum for an 8 p.m. tip off.