The 2017–18 East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team represented
East Carolina University
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...
during the
2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2017. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season ended with the Final Four in San Antonio on April 2, 2018. Practices officially began on September 2 ...
. The Pirates were led by interim head coach Michael Perry and played their home games at
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in Greenville, North Carolina, US.American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 10–20, 4–14 in AAC play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to
UCF
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
.
Following a 2–4 start to the season, eighth-year head coach
Jeff Lebo
Jeffrey Brian Lebo (born October 5, 1966) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for his alma mater, North Carolina. He was previously the head men's basketball coach at East Carolina (2010-2017), Auburn Univer ...
announced his resignation from ECU on November 29, 2017 and Perry was named interim head coach. On April 4, 2018 the school announced that Florida Gulf Coast head coach
Joe Dooley
Joe Dooley (born 13 November 1963) is an Irish former hurler and manager.
Dooley enjoyed a successful playing career at club level with Seir Kieran and is the only Offaly player ever to have won three All-Ireland titles. After a spell as pl ...
, who coached the Pirates from 1995 to 1999, would return as head coach.
Previous season
The
Pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
finished the 2016–17 season 15–18, 6–12 in AAC play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Temple in the first round of the AAC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to SMU.
On January 16, 2017, head coach Jeff Lebo underwent hip surgery and was unable to coach for the rest of the season. Assistant coach Michael Perry took over as acting head coach beginning with the January 22 game.
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Recruiting class of 2017
Recruiting class of 2018
Roster
Schedule and results
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!colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season
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!colspan=9 style=, AAC regular season
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!colspan=9 style=, AAC tournament
East Carolina
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...