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