East Carolina gives McCarthy contract

Coach gets five-year deal with Pirates

Mack McCarthy thought he had done everything possible to help East Carolina's perennially struggling men's basketball program this year. Apparently, the school thought the same.

East Carolina officials said Thursday they have decided to keep McCarthy, who led the Pirates to their highest win total in four years, as their permanent coach while continuing their efforts to revamp the program. The Pirates have reached the NCAA Tournament just twice and haven't had a winning record in more than a decade.

McCarthy, who moved from an assistant to acting coach when Ricky Stokes resigned last summer, was charged with showing clear progress in Greenville. By the end of the season, McCarthy had helped the Pirates to an 11-19 record that included five Conference USA victories, matching the school's highest total since joining the league in the 2001-02 season. There was also an upset of N.C. State in December for the program's first win against an ACC program.

"I felt we had made a pretty strong case," McCarthy said in a phone interview. "I didn't think there was any doubt, but I wasn't making the decision so I guess there was some concern. I truly thought we had done all we could do with this group."

He'll sleep even better now after the school agreed to terms for a five-year contract, though details were not released since it still must be approved by the university's board of trustees. That's quite a bit more security than he had at the beginning of the year, when he inherited a team that had lost 44 of 58 games over two seasons.

Terry Holland, ECU athletics director and former coach at Virginia, said in a statement that "the forward progress on and off the court during the past year is impressive, unprecedented and measurable" under McCarthy.

School officials have talked frequently about the need to improve facilities, most notably by building a practice facility for the men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball teams so they won't have to fight for space in Minges Coliseum. But McCarthy, who led Chattanooga to the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 in 1997, said the Pirates have enough in place to improve.

"There are some things we don't have, but there are a lot of things we do have," he said. "The biggest thing is watch who's in the NCAA [Tournament]. ... The common denominator is they have good people: coaches, administrators and people. And if you've got those things, it doesn't matter about some of the things you don't have."

FORMER CHAPEL HILL PLAYER HONORED: Guilford College senior Ben Strong won his second straight South District Player of the Year Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches on Thursday.

A 6-foot-11, 220-pound center from Chapel Hill, Strong earned his second straight Old Dominion Athletic Conference Kurt Axe Memorial Men's Basketball Player of the Year Award on Feb. 28.

METHODIST SUPPORTS YOW FUND: The Methodist women's basketball team traveled to N.C. State on Thursday to visit Wolfpack coach Kay Yow at Reynolds Coliseum and present a check.

Last month, the Monarchs hosted a "Think Pink" game night to increase awareness and raise fund for breast cancer. The team decided to donate their $3,350 in proceeds to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Yow and the Wolfpack welcomed Methodist coach DeeDee Jarman and her team as the Wolfpack prepare for the Women's National Invitation Tournament.