East Carolina hires Stokes as new coach

Before Ricky Stokes ever played on a pair of Final Four teams for Virginia, coach Terry Holland told him he was too small to play point guard in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Two decades later, Holland is giving his former player another chance to prove people wrong - this time by reviving East Carolina's struggling men's basketball program.

The South Carolina assistant coach took over Wednesday in Greenville, replacing Bill Herrion in a move Pirates fans hope marks a step forward for a program that has had to fight to stay out of the Conference USA basement.

"The only way I know how to (win games) is hard work," Stokes said at a news conference. "For me, there's no substitute. We have the resources and the fan support, so all that's left is for us to do it."

That's been a long-running challenge at East Carolina. At Drexel, Herrion went to the NCAA tournament three times and compiled a 121-32 record in eight years. In Greenville, he managed just a 70-98 record - and no NCAA tournament trips - in six seasons.

Herrion announced his resignation last month, though he coached through the end of a 9-19 season.

East Carolina has just two NCAA appearances in program history, the last coming in 1993, and traditionally has had trouble finding its share of the spotlight in the shadows of ACC schools Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. But Holland said his 5-foot-10 former player is the man to turn things around.

"I'm very partial to people and institutions that have to prove themselves," Holland said. "I'm partial to East Carolina that way, and Ricky Stokes falls into that category. He was told by people, including me, that because of his size he couldn't play in the ACC. He proved everybody wrong."

Stokes has previous head coaching experience at Virginia Tech. He bracketed that job with stints as an assistant to Dave Odom at Wake Forest and more recently at South Carolina.

Stokes wasted no time assembling a staff, announcing immediately that former Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth coach Mack McCarthy will be his associate head coach. McCarthy coached the Mocs to the round of 16 in the 1997 NCAA tournament.

Wednesday's announcement came during a break in the NIT schedule for South Carolina, which beat Miami 69-67 on Tuesday night. The Gamecocks next face the winner of the Arizona State-UNLV matchup. Stokes said he and Odom would play it by ear on whether he would stay with the Gamecocks through the end of the season or begin work on his own program.

"Ricky's departure from our staff leaves a void that will be difficult to fill," Odom said in a statement. "Personally I could not be happier for Ricky as he has worked hard to earn this opportunity."

In four seasons at Blacksburg (1999-2003), Stokes coached Virginia Tech to a 46-69 record being replaced by Seth Greenberg.

Stokes said he always expected that he would get another chance as a head coach.

"All things don't work out all the time, but if you have faith and you're doing the right things, then you're doing your best," he said. "I fully expected to get another shot. I didn't know when and didn't know how, but I kept my fingers crossed. A lot of times when you're not looking is when things happen."

Greenberg credited Stokes for helping the Hokies transition from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East Conference. Virginia Tech moved to the ACC this season, and finished 8-8 in the league with several players recruited by Stokes.

"There's no doubt that the foundation Ricky laid has enabled us to enjoy the success we have now," said Greenberg, who was named league coach of the year this week.

As a player at Virginia, Stokes was part of Cavalier teams that played in four NCAA tournaments. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant during the 1984-85 season, joining Odom on Holland's staff.