At this point in the offseason, three-plus months after former East Carolina basketball star Jayden Gardner announced he was transferring to Virginia, ECU coach Joe Dooley views Gardner like he was a senior on last season’s team.

CARY — The start of a much-hyped North Carolina football season not only begins in five weeks and two days, but from a non-traditional sense, it also is the start of important Atlantic Coast Conference play for the Tar Heels at Virginia Tech.

CARY — Friday’s Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview served as yet another offseason opportunity for third-year East Carolina football coach Mike Houston, if he wanted, to maybe learn something new about Appalachian State quarterback Chase Brice.

CARY -- Check out a photo gallery from our Ronnie Woodward at the 18th annual Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview featuring in-state college football coaches and Ayden-Grifton's Alphonso Boyd as a $10,000 scholarship recipient Friday.

CARY -- Check out a photo gallery from our Ronnie Woodward at the 18th annual Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview featuring in-state college football coaches and Ayden-Grifton's Alphonso Boyd as a $10,000 scholarship recipient Friday.

Austin Knight was an unofficial assistant pitching coach for East Carolina’s baseball team the last few years, and now he is in charge as the official pitching coach.

East Carolina basketball coach Joe Dooley and his staff are working on finalizing a likely 30- or 31-game schedule for the upcoming season, providing a refreshing plan for a team that played only 19 last season and finished 8-11.

The hardest part for Connor Norby was knowing what was coming but not being able to tell the friends and family surrounding him.

Hard-throwing pitcher Gavin Williams became the second-highest Major League Baseball draft selection in East Carolina history when the Cleveland Indians picked him in the No. 23 slot Sunday night, which is accompanied with an expected signing bonus of nearly $3 million.

East Carolina alum and baseball coach Cliff Godwin confirmed Monday he interviewed with LSU last month, but he said he is fully committed to continue leading the Pirates.

A new quarterback and new offensive coordinator for Appalachian State are part of what East Carolina defensive coordinator Blake Harrell has looked at during early game-planning for Sept. 2, but not the entire focus.

High-jumper Tynita Butts-Townsend, who qualified for the NCAA championships every year she competed collegiately at East Carolina en route to seven All-America accolades, is on the U.S. track and field team for the Tokyo Olympics despite not competing at the Olympic trials.

Rebounding is a piece of coach Kim McNeill’s defense-first style for the East Carolina women’s basketball team, which is part of why this offseason for the Pirates centered around getting bigger and stronger in the post.

Pro Football Focus ranked East Carolina second in college football a year ago in blitz rate, which Pirate defensive coordinator Blake Harrell can somehow turn into a Chick-fil-A analogy.

How East Carolina’s Sommer Knight watched the Olympics when she was a kid compared to the upcoming Tokyo Games, fresh off Knight earning NCAA first-team All-America status in the pole vault, is vastly different.