2024-25 North Carolina Sports Network
NC Basketball Spotlight, 10-Year Snapshot:
East Carolina


By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network


School: East Carolina University

Location: Greenville, N.C.

NCAA Division I Member Since: 1965-66

Conference: American Athletic Conference (AAC)

AAC Member Since: 2014-15

AAC Ranking Among 31 Leagues (KenPom): 10th (2025), 9th (2024), 8th (2023), 8th (2022), 7th (2021), 7th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 2 (1972, 1993)

Conference Titles: 2 (1972 in SoCon; 1993 in CAA)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: none

Head Coach: Mike Schwartz (48 years old, 3rd season at ECU)

As A Player: Sonoma State (1996-98), Texas (1998-99)

Record as Head Coach (through Jan. 31): 43-44 (.494) in 2+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: none

College AC Experience: UTSA (2004-05), Miami (2007-11), Fresno State (2011-15), Tulsa (2015-16), Tennessee (2016-22)

Assistant Under: Tim Carter, Frank Haith, Rodney Terry, Rick Barnes

2023-24 Record: 15-18, 7-11 (8th in 14-team AAC)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 9th in 13-team AAC

2024-25 Record (through Jan. 31): 12-9, 4-4 AAC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #157 nationally (8th in AAC)

Upcoming Schedule: at Temple (2/1), Rice (2/5), at UTSA (2/8), UAB (2/11), at Charlotte (2/15), at Tulane (2/19), UTSA (2/23), Charlotte (3/2), Tulane (3/6)


East Carolina has been a difficult place to win in men’s basketball for a long, long time.

In their 60 years as a Division One member, the Pirates have played in only two NCAA Tournaments, and they have never had a first-place conference finish — not in the Southern Conference a half-century ago, and not in the Colonial Athletic Association, Conference USA or American Athletic Conference more recently.

Since the 2012-13 season, when coach Jeff Lebo led ECU to the only 20-win campaign (23-12, 9-7 CUSA) in program history, the Pirates haven’t had a single winning season, and they’ve had 11 consecutive losing records in conference play.

This year, under third-year head coach Mike Schwartz, those trends may change.

Near the midpoint of the 18-game American Athletic Conference schedule, ECU had a 12-9 record, with a 4-4 mark in league play. The Pirates posted a huge nonconference victory in November over George Mason, one of the top teams in the Atlantic-10, and they edged a solid Temple team in their early AAC schedule.

The 11-year-old AAC isn’t quite as imposing as it was at its 2014 creation, when UConn, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville and SMU were among its members. Memphis and North Texas appear to be the league’s top teams this season, and the Pirates battled both well in mid-January before suffering single-digit defeats.

ECU lost a whopping nine players (please see details below) to the transfer portal last year, including starters Ezra Ausar (Utah), Brandon Johnson (Miami) and Bobby Pettiford (High Point), but they also added two of this year’s top performers via the portal: guard Jordan Riley (Temple) and forward CJ Walker (UCF).

This year’s Pirates are led by senior guard RJ Felton (18 ppg, 7 rpg), a third-team All-AAC honoree last season whose four-year career in Greenville ranks among the best in program history.

If Felton gets enough help offensively down the stretch, ECU could finally post another winning record and reach or even exceed the elusive .500 mark in conference play.

“CJ Walker has shot the ball better, Yann (Farell) is shooting the ball, RJ is shooting the ball better, and Cam Hayes made some big shots the last few games,” Schwartz said. “So our guys work on it in practice and work on it outside of the gym. And, you know, sometimes they drop, and sometimes they don’t. That’s why you have to have a foundation of what you do.”


2024-25 East Carolina Pirates
(12-9, 4-4 AAC; through Jan. 31)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

PG Cam Hayes*, Sr. (6-3/190) — 2023 LSU transfer (starter)
30 mpg, 9 ppg, 3 rpg, 34% FG, 81% FT, 27% threes, 80//37 ATO, 1 block, 21 steals

G RJ Felton*, Sr. (6-3/214) — 2021 3-star HS signee (Aiken HS in S.C.)
34 mpg, 18 ppg, 7 rpg, 40% FG, 76% FT, 33% threes, 54/41 ATO, 13 blocks, 29 steals

G Jordan Riley, Sr. (6-4/209) — 2024 Temple transfer (starter)
33 mpg, 14 ppg, 6 rpg, 49% FG, 70% FT, 21% threes, 36/35 ATO, 14 blocks, 47 steals

F Trevion LaBeaux, Jr. (6-3/210) — 2024 Indian Hills CC transfer (NJCAA A-A)
20 mpg, 2 ppg, 4 rpg, 41% FG, 54% FT, 28% threes, 17/15 ATO, 14 blocks, 10 steals

F CJ Walker, Gr. (6-8/214) — 2024 UCF transfer (3-year starter)
31 mpg, 17 ppg, 7 rpg, 52% FG, 72% FT, 31% threes, 16/36 ATO, 16 blocks, 14 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Jayshayne Woodard, Jr. (6-7/180) — 2024 Indian River CC transfer (NJCAA A-A)
21 mpg, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, 45% FG, 60% FT, 40% threes, 31/31 ATO, 18 blocks, 23 steals

G/F Yann Farell, Jr. (6-6/211) — 2024 St. Bonaventure transfer (2-year starter)
19 mpg, 6 ppg, 3 rpg, 44% FG, 69% FT, 39% threes, 14/9 ATO, 5 blocks, 9 steals

G Julien Soumaoro, Sr. (5-10/168) — 2024 Gardner-Webb transfer (2-year starter)
17 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 30% FG, 64% FT, 24% threes, 13/13 ATO, 0 blocks, 5 steals

C Cyr Malonga, So. (6-11/239) — 2023 3-star HS signee (Evangel Christian in Ky.)
7 mpg, 1 ppg, 2 rpg, 50% FG, 50% FT, 0 threes, 0/6 ATO, 8 blocks, 0 steals

Departures from 2023-24: F Ezra Ausar* (So./transfer/Utah), G Benjamin Bayela (Sr./transfer/Jacksonville State), G Logan Bourgeois (Fr./transfer/Northwest Florida State CC), G Quentin Diboundje (Jr./transfer/Rhode Island), PG Kalib LaCount (So./transfer/Cal Poly Humboldt), F Brandon Johnson* (Jr./transfer/Miami), G Bobby Pettiford* (Jr./transfer/High Point), F Valentino Pinedo (So./transfer/St. Francis-Pa.), G Jaden Walker (Sr./transfer/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of the Pirates’ games last season)

East Carolina Pirates
10-Year Snapshot

Season: Overall, League (Place), Postseason

2023-24: 15-18, 7-11 AAC (8th), no postseason (Mike Schwartz)
2022-23: 16-17, 6-12 AAC (9th), no postseason (Mike Schwartz)
2021-22: 15-15, 6-11 AAC (9th), no postseason (Joe Dooley)
2020-21: 8-11, 2-10 AAC (11th), no postseason (Joe Dooley)
2019-20: 11-20, 5-13 AAC (11th), no postseason (Joe Dooley)
2018-19: 10-21, 3-15 AAC (11th), no postseason (Joe Dooley)
2017-18: 10-20, 4-14 AAC (11th), no postseason (Jeff Lebo)
2016-17: 15-18, 6-12 AAC (9th), no postseason (Jeff Lebo)
2015-16: 12-20, 4-14 AAC (9th), no postseason (Jeff Lebo)
2014-15: 14-19, 6-12 AAC (7th), no postseason (Jeff Lebo)

*—conference champion

NOTE: In the coming weeks and months, please visit the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2024-25 profiles and 10-year snapshots for all 19 Division One men’s basketball programs in North Carolina and all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference programs. The items below will become “live links” as new articles are posted.

Appalachian State Mountaineers, Sun Belt Conference

Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference

California Golden Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference

Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association

Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference

Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Davidson Wildcats, Atlantic-10 Conference

Duke Blue Devils, Atlantic Coast Conference

East Carolina Pirates, American Athletic Conference

Elon Phoenix, Coastal Athletic Association

Florida State Seminoles, Atlantic Coast Conference

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, Big South Conference

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Atlantic Coast Conference

High Point Panthers, Big South Conference

Louisville Cardinals, Atlantic Coast Conference

Miami Hurricanes, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina Tar Heels, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina A&T Aggies, Coastal Athletic Association

North Carolina Central Eagles, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

North Carolina State Wolfpack, Atlantic Coast Conference

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Atlantic Coast Conference

Pitt Panthers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Queens Royals, Atlantic Sun Conference

SMU Mustangs, Atlantic Coast Conference

Stanford Cardinal, Atlantic Coast Conference

Syracuse Orange, Atlantic Coast Conference

UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Big South Conference

UNC Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference

UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Coastal Athletic Association

Virginia Cavaliers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Virginia Tech Hokies, Atlantic Coast Conference

Wake Forest, Atlantic Coast Conference

Western Carolina Catamounts, Southern Conference