By By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — Improved chemistry and talent coupled with a travel-heavy but soft schedule could equate to the first winning season for the East Carolina Pirates since 1996-97, when they were members of the Colonial Athletic Conference.
The biggest reason for optimism for this young group is that, for the first time in a while, the East Carolina basketball program has a foundation.
Last season sophomore Brock Young took over the starting point guard role and flourished as he led Conference USA with 7.5 assists per game, which was good enough to place him second in the nation.
Young wasn’t the only breakout star last season. Freshman power forward Darius Morrow displayed major flashes of potential en route to being named to the Conference USA all-freshman team.
The 6-8, 240-pound Morrow tallied 9.7 points per game, while pulling down a team-leading 6.7 rebounds a night.
East Carolina will need a lot of production from the duo, as they will be asked to fill the void left by the graduation of sharp-shooters Sam Hinnant and James Legan.
Hinnant led the Pirates in scoring last season with 15 points per game, while Legan was second with 11.
Their points, along with their senior leadership will be sorely missed.
The Pirates feel that this year’s team is much more balanced than last season’s trigger happy run-and-gun bunch.
Playing a significant role for ECU this season will be versatile junior forward Jamar Abrams. The 6-6, 205-pound Abrams is a phenomenal athlete who plays with intensity and would be a star if he ever decided to don shoulder pads and catch a few passes.
Abrams has a decent shooting touch and can also bang underneath with bigger players because of his physical stature and mentality.
Abrams averaged 10 points and five boards a game in 2008-09 despite not really having a true position.
The Pirates will also benefit greatly from having a healthy Daquan Joyner back. Last year Joyner missed a large portion of the season because of a foot injury, but the 6-7, 235 redshirt sophomore is back and looks like he is in great shape.
Joyner brings to the table another big body who can score a few different ways.
It’s likely that Abrams will get the start at the small forward spot, but there was talk of him also playing center at times.
Joyner is definitely up there for starting consideration as well, along with guard Jontae Sherrod and junior center Chad Wynn.
As Friday’s home and season opener against University of Virginia-Wise approaches (6 p.m.), McCarthy said he is closer to piecing together his starting lineup.
“We have been going with Brock, Chad, Jontae, Jamar and Darrius, but I’m not married to any lineup,” McCarthy said. “I think we will change the lineup at points during the season based on performance.”
Wynn, the 6-10 center, was a bit of an enigma last season, but if he has improved it would help the team out immensely in solidifying its frontcourt.
It’s always a little bit harder to play center than any other position because most fans heap unrealistic, Manute Bol-sized expectations on any college player over 6-9.
With that being said, Wynn still underperformed last season and it has nothing to do with his stats (7 ppg, 4 rpg).
Wynn’s biggest problem was his feet, and their ability to not move fast enough.
Wynn routinely committed fouls early in games, leaving ECU thin at the post for long stretches.
The junior center must do a better job of eluding foul trouble and improving his foot speed and angles in which he defends.
If he can do that, then his stats will grow to a number that most reasonable fans would appreciate.
Wynn has a decent touch around the basket and, if he can borrow some of Abrams intensity, he can easily be a 10-points-per-game, eight-rebounds-a-night type player.
In years past, East Carolina’s most pressing flaw has been its lack of a true athletic slasher that can get to the basket, create his own shot and draws fouls.
Young can do that, but you don’t always want your point guard looking to score. His first priority should be to run the offense.
Sophomore Chris Turner could be the guy that steps up and takes that role. At 6-5, 200-pounds Turner has the right dimensions, plus ECU does not have any other true shooting guard with experience on the roster.
McCarthy appears to be high on Turner, as he played him a fair amount during his freshman season. If he can be that take-it-to-the-hole guy, it will be a big plus for McCarthy’s crew.
The Pirates added five new players to the roster in the off-season and they are all expected to compete for playing time right away.
Point guard Corvonn Gaines has a shot at being Young’s primary backup. Gaines, the brother of NBA draft pick Reece Gaines, has impressed throughout camp.
Also turning a few heads is 6-5, 195-pound guard/forward Wakefield Ellison, who has shown a knack for scoring along with fellow freshman wing Erin Straughn (6-6, 200).
Another highly-touted signing was F/C Darius Morales, who is expected to bring a defensive presence to the table right away.
Though at 6-9, 220 pounds he is rail-thin, Morales has competed at a high level of competition already as he has played for the Puerto Rican junior national team.
All these pieces may be able to form a puzzle that shows the Pirates holding a winning record.
ECU plays some tough teams in Wake Forest, Tennessee, Clemson and Memphis, but the other 26 games are all middle to lightweights.
After those four A-level games, the next tier of competition outside of the conference schedule consists of average teams such as DePaul and George Washington. Those are clubs that good teams look at as easy wins, while ECU looks at them as major challenges.
It is what it is.
Aside from a reasonably competitive Conference USA schedule, the Pirates play Division II patsies Coker College, St. Andrews and University of Virginia-Wise.
Some other very beatable opponents include low-level Div. I teams such as Campbell, Charlotte, N.C. Central, UNC-Greensboro and VCU.
Assuming the Pirates win all three of their Division II games, then beat four out of the five aforementioned low-level Division I teams, that gives them seven of the prerequisite 16 wins they need to get a winning record.
If that scenario plays out, then all ECU would have to do is go 8-8 in Conference USA play to finish with the regular season at .500 with a 15-15 record. If the Pirates can steal a game somewhere along the line and go 9-7, they would have their first winning season in 12 years.
So to sum it up, beat the patsies and go one game above .500 in conference play and East Carolina hoops breaks a 12-year skid.
Sounds simple.
The theory will be put to the test starting this Friday when ECU tips off the season at 6 p.m. versus UVa-Wise at home.