East Carolina Pirates
Pirates Ink Two Junior College Players And One Prep Standout
Cory Farmer and Darrell Jenkins will each have two years of eligibility after transferring from junior college, while Brandon Evans will join the Pirates as a freshman this season.
"The primary goal with our spring recruiting class was to strengthen our perimeter," said Stokes. "We added three players that bring athleticism, skill level and experience. Collectively they are a great fit for ECU and we're excited about having each one of them in our program."
A native of Charlotte, Farmer, a 6-foot-3 guard, spent the past two seasons at Tallahassee Community College, where he helped his team to a Florida Community College Athletic Association title and a National Junior College Athletic Association Region VIII championship with a 31-4 record as a sophomore.
Farmer, who played for Pirate assistant coach Larry Dixon while Dixon was the head coach at Charlotte's Garinger High School, also earned All-Panhandle Conference team honors, averaging 10.1 points per game.
Jenkins, a 5-11 point guard from the College of Southern Idaho, started 28 of 32 games last season and averaged 9.1 points and 4.3 assists per game helping his team to the NJCAA championship tournament. He began his collegiate career as a walk-on at UNLV, but did not play, before spending his freshman campaign at Santa Ana College.
Before moving with his family out west, where he concluded his secondary education at the Aristar Learning Center in Irvine, Calif., Jenkins attended high school at Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga.
Evans, a 6-2 shooting guard from Liberty Technology Magent High School in Jackson, Tenn., originally signed a NLI with Murray State, but was given a partial release after head coach Mick Cronin left to take over at the University of Cincinnati.
As a senior, Evans averaged 19.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game, while leading his team to the Tennessee Class AA state championship. Before his family moved to Jackson, Evans played his first two seasons of high school basketball in North Carolina at Fayetteville Westover.
The trio joins Gabe Blair (6-8, Kings Mountain), John Fields (6-9, Fayetteville), Hillary Haley (6-6, Fort Washington, Md.), and Chad Wynne (Marietta, Ga.), all of who signed with the Pirates in the fall, to comprise this year's recruiting class.
Pirates sign basketball recruit
Actually, he found them.
Brandon Evans, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Liberty Technology Magnet High School in Jackson, Tenn., signed a letter of intent to join the Pirates in Greenville on Wednesday morning — the final day of his official visit at the university.
The signing comes after Evans, who originally committed to play at Murray State during the fall, was granted a release from his letter of intent when former Racers coach Mick Cronin accepted the head coaching job at Cincinnati. After hearing of Cronin's departure and obtaining his release, Evans immediately called the ECU coaching staff, which said it would welcome him with open arms.
"I like the coaching staff and the atmosphere at East Carolina," said Evans, a prolific shooter who averaged 19.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game while leading Liberty Tech to the Tennessee Class AA state title last season. "You could just tell there was a really friendly atmosphere there. That made me want to be a part of it."
Aside from the Pirates recruiting him during the fall, Evans became quite familiar with ECU while spending the first two seasons of his high school career at Fayetteville Westover. At the start of his junior season, his family moved to Jackson, where he began playing for coach Dexter Williams.
Evans, who was considered to be the prize recruit of Murray State's fall class, became familiar with ECU assistant Chris Ferguson when the coach recruited him during Ferguson's coaching stint at Tennessee, and that was one of the influential factors in his decision.
Also, Evans says he is anxious to get an opportunity to help the Pirates attain the same success that his 33-4 Liberty squad experienced this past season.
"I enjoyed every bit of the run while competing for the state title," Evans said. "I want to compete for championships in college also. I can see they're rebuilding at ECU and I'm looking forward to being a part of it."
East Carolina 86, N. Carolina A&T 75
Sam Hinnant scored 19 points, while Courtney Captain and Jonathan Hart each scored 10 for the Pirates (1-0).
Austin Ewing and Demetrius Guions each had 16 points, Jason Willis had 12 and Christopher Faison had 10 for the Aggies (0-1).
The Aggies took an early 8-2 lead before East Carolina went on a 22-7 run and took a 24-15 lead with just more than four minutes left in the first half.
North Carolina A&T trimmed the lead to 35-31 late in the half, but Captain and Hinnant had back-to-back 3-pointers to increase the Pirates' lead to eight, 41-33, less than two minutes into the second half.
East Carolina took its first double-digit lead, 58-48, after Captain hit another 3-pointer with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Central Florida vs. East Carolina
Peppers connected on 8-of-14 shots, including 5-of-10 from the arc, as the fifth-seeded Golden Knights built an early lead and were never threatened in the second half.
The victory moved UCF (14-14) into Thursday's game against Houston, the tournament's fourth seed, which had a bye.
Corey Rouse scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the 12th-seeded Pirates (8-20). Rouse's points came despite being the focus of the UCF defense. Most of the time, the Pirates' leading scorer faced double-teams down low.
Jeremy Ingram finished with 16 points, all in the second half, for East Carolina.
UCF buried the Pirates early behind Peppers, the only Golden Knight to finish the game in double figures. Peppers had 17 points in the first half as the Golden Knights hit five of their first seven shots from long range, and 6-of-11 in the half.
The Golden Knights' 54 percent shooting from 3-point range was better than its overall 50 percent shooting in the half.
Southern Miss. 74, East Carolina 56
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Jason Forte had 17 points and Southern Mississippi snapped a five-game losing streak with a 74-56 victory over East Carolina on Saturday.
Jarekus Singleton and Craig Craft added 12 points apiece for the Golden Eagles (9-20, 3-11 Conference USA), who clinched the 11th seed in the 12-team league tournament which begins Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn.
Courtney Captain had 13 points for the Pirates (8-19, 2-12), who ended the regular season having lost three straight and seven of eight. East Carolina will be seeded 12th in the C-USA tournament.
Southern Miss - which entered having lost 11 of its last 12 - dominated for most of the way, leading by as many as 19 late and never falling further behind than four in the game's opening moments.
The Golden Eagles used a 12-5 run late in the first half to take a 28-20 lead at halftime.
Courtney Beasley added 11 points and Mildon Ambres finished with 10 for Southern Miss, which outrebounded East Carolina 42-32 and scored 18 points off 19 turnovers by the Pirates.
Corey Rouse had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Sam Hinnant scored 10 points for East Carolina.
Men's Basketball Faces East Carolina at Home
UCF (10-13, 4-6 C-USA) will be looking to sweep the season series with the Pirates. With four games remaining in the regular season, the Golden Knights are currently sixth in the C-USA standings.
East Carolina is 8-16 overall and 2-9 in league play.
Tickets for the game are still available. Call (407) UCF-1000 for more information or to purchase tickets.
The contest will be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, WQTM - 740 THE TEAM. Marc Daniels will have the call from courtside. Audio of the contest is also available on www.UCFathletics.com as part of the "Golden Knights All-Access" package.
UCF LAST TIME OUT SMU shot 54 percent from the floor for the game as the Mustangs claimed a 77-55 win at home over UCF on Saturday. In 26 minutes off of the bench, Josh Peppers led the Golden Knights with 14 points. UCF shot just 28.6 percent from the floor in the first half and trailed, 36-22, at intermission. Troy Lindbeck was 4-of-5 from three-point range and finished with 12 points in the loss. Anthony Williams matched a career-high with 13 rebounds.
ABOUT EAST CAROLINA The Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak on Saturday with a 63-59 victory over visiting Marshall. Courtney Captain made four free throws in the last 14 seconds to secure the win for the Pirates. Corey Rouse led the hosts with 20 points and 14 boards for his 14th double-double of the year. East Carolina was 14-of-14 at the free-throw line.
On the season, Rouse is averaging 14.3 points per game and ranks first in Conference USA with a 10.8 rebounding average. He is shooting at a 53.3 percent clip. Japhet McNeil leads the league in assists per contest (6.3). The Pirates are averaging 64 points an outing and rank last in the league in field-goal percentage (40.5). The team is 1-9 on the road in 2005-06 and 0-5 in conference play.
SERIES HISTORY UCF has a 3-0 edge in the all-time series and the squads will be meeting in Orlando for the second time. On Jan. 25 in Greenville, N.C., Justin Rose scored 18 points to lift UCF to a 64-59 win over the host Pirates. The Golden Knights shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first half and 46.5 percent for the game. The Pirates trailed by only five late in the contest, but the Golden Knights hit six free throws in the final 1:30 to secure the victory. Anthony Williams totaled 11 of his 14 points in the first half. Corey Rouse paced the Pirates with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
In the only series meeting in Orlando, UCF posted an 88-81 victory over East Carolina on Dec. 30, 2000. Paul Reed scored a game-high 22 points for the Golden Knights.
UCF-ECU CONNECTIONS East Carolina junior guard Courtney Captain attended San Jacinto College in Texas before transferring to ECU. San Jacinto is the same junior college that produced former Golden Knight standout Roberto Morentin. Morentin played at UCF from 2002-04.
IN RESERVE In UCF's last three games, its bench is averaging 36.3 points. The Golden Knight reserves accounted for 47 points against Houston on Feb. 15, compared to 24 for the starters. Josh Peppers, who came off of the bench for the first time in 42 games versus Tulane on Feb. 11, is averaging 14 points in the last three contests as a reserve.
GETTING DEFENSIVE UCF is limiting opponents to only 64.1 points per contest this season, the third-best mark in Conference USA. This season, the Golden Knights have held 12 foes to below 60 points, including four in league play.
HOME COOKING Dating back to the start of the 2001-02 season, the Golden Knights are 51-15 in games played at UCF Arena. In 2004-05, the team went 12-3 at home, the second-best home win total in program history (14 in 1993-94). This season, the squad is 8-5 in Orlando.
TOUGH SLATE Two of UCF's 2005-06 opponents are ranked in the Feb. 20 Associated Press Top 25 poll -- Memphis (4) and Florida (12). Five teams that the Golden Knights have faced or will play are currently receiving votes in the poll. UAB, Western Kentucky, UTEP, Houston and Kentucky are all receiving votes.
CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP For the second-straight year, Memphis will host the Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship at FedEx Forum from March 8-11. Twelve teams will compete for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The squads with the four best conference records earn first-round byes. First round games are slated for March 8. The championship contest is scheduled for March 11 at 11:45 a.m. Eastern on CBS.
THIS DATE IN UCF HISTORY On Feb. 22, 1995, UCF recorded a 75-64 victory at Florida Atlantic. Ochiel Swaby led the Golden Knights with 19 points against the Owls.
UP NEXT UCF will make its third and final trip to Texas this season as it faces Rice on Saturday in Houston. The Owls have a 1-0 series edge... Rice recorded a 65-63 win over the Golden Knights at home on Dec. 13, 1977. Cleveland Jackson paced UCF (then called Florida Tech) with 26 points. Jerry Prather scored 17 points in the losing effort. Rice was paced by Frank Jackson who had 18 points and eight rebounds. The Golden Knights had a 33-30 lead the half and shot 55.6 percent overall for the game... The 1977-78 season marked one of the best campaigns in school history. UCF, coached by Torchy Clark, posted a 26-4 mark and advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The loss at Rice was one of the team's two regular season losses, which both came to Division I squads (Lamar, Rice)... In 2005-06, the Golden Knights have already faced Houston and SMU in the Lone Star State.
East Carolina Falls to UAB
Wen Mukubu and Paul Delaney scored 12 points each for UAB (17-5, 7-2 C-USA). Lawrence Kinnard added 10 point for the Blazers.
Corey Rouse had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead East Carolina (7-15, 1-8). Sam Hinnnant added 14 points and Jeremy Ingram had 13 for the Pirates.
UAB led 28-25 at halftime as both teams shot poorly from the field. The Blazers started the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 35-25 lead and prompt an East Carolina timeout.
The Pirates crept back into the game but they could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
A dunk by Rouse brought East Carolina to within 52-48. But a jumper by McDonald and three free throws by Brandon Tobias put UAB back in charge.
East Carolina out rebounded UAB 41-26. But UAB had 13 steals and forced 26 East Carolina turnovers.
Houston and East Carolina to OT
But the Cougars' shooting improved as steadily as East Carolina's offense deteriorated in the second half and regulation ended with a 56-56 tie.
The Pirates collapsed in overtime, making just one of eight shots and only two of six free-throws.
Houston sank two of its five field goal looks in the extra period, and made three of six from the line for the win.
Jeremy Ingram led the Pirates with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ingram had three 3-pointers and was five-for-five on free throws.
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Pirates Ink Two Junior College Players And One Prep StandoutPirates sign basketball recruit
East Carolina 86, N. Carolina A&T 75
Central Florida vs. East Carolina
Southern Miss. 74, East Carolina 56