THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050529
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 65 lines
East Carolina has long been college football's ugly stepsister, left out of the mix of conference realignment because it has a puny television market and lives in the shadow of ACC programs just down the road.
``We've got a great program here,'' ECU athletic director Mike Hamrick said. ``It kind of irritated me we didn't get the recognition or respect we deserve.''
That changed some on Wednesday when Conference USA commissioner Michael Slive announced in Greenville that ECU has been accepted as a football-only member, effective next season.
The Pirates, a Division I-A independent since 1977, will join Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulane, Southern Mississippi and Houston - which are competing in their first league season this fall.
``This is truly an historic day for the university,'' ECU chancellor Richard Eakin said. ``We have worked diligently for this outcome.''
The Pirates will remain in the Colonial Athletic Association for all other sports. Both Slive and Hamrick said there has been no discussion about bringing the Pirates in as full members.
Conference USA has 12 members for other sports, and is regarded as one of the nation's best basketball conferences with the likes of Marquette, DePaul, St. Louis and North Carolina-Charlotte joining the football-playing schools.
``Our goal is simple - to elevate the level of our football to that of our men's basketball, and the addition of East Carolina significantly strengthens our football league,'' Slive said.
The Pirates have been to bowl games three of the past five seasons. They frequent the national polls regularly, and are expanding their stadium to 48,000 seats. They have a five-year contract to appear on ESPN a minimum of nine times, and next year's non-conference schedule includes West Virginia, Syracuse, South Carolina and Wake Forest.
And yet, ECU battled unsuccessfully for years to be welcomed into a conference fold until Wednesday.
Both Hamrick and Eakin said Pirates fans were instrumental in getting the program in a conference. ECU took about 15,000 fans to last year's Liberty Bowl, which made a big impression on Conference USA officials.
``They stood with us during a time when it seemed 3-8 seasons would never go away,'' Eakin said.
Pirates coach Steve Logan helped overcome that futility, first as an ECU assistant who molded the career of current NFL star Jeff Blake and then the past four years as the head coach.
Hamrick said without the back-to-back Liberty Bowl bids, ECU also would not have warranted consideration by the conference. Now the Pirates are in a conference complete with a guaranteed Liberty Bowl bid for the champion, revenue sharing and a long-range television contract.
And, Logan said, the possibility that conference affiliation will do for the program what getting in the Big East has done for Virginia Tech. Logan said Tech coach Frank Beamer has told him repeatedly a conference has helped the Hokies get involved with a higher caliber of recruit.
``I know this is going to have the same impact for East Carolina,'' Logan said. ``You're going to be able to get in some living rooms of young men that maybe previously would not have been interested in you. This is the thing that will allow you to go get a little bit better football player, which is what everyone is after.''
Slive said Conference USA is after more football members. Discussions with Army are ongoing. League member Alabama-Birmingham - playing its first football season in I-A as an independent - is another possibility, as is South Florida, which will begin playing I-AA football next year with the long-range intent of becoming I-A. by CNB