The Myth of Minges

 

 .....Being a Dump.......

 

The Facts: Minges is the 145th largest venue out of the 385 teams play in. While it's one of the oldest technically (built-in 1968) it's had a massive renovation in the mid-90s and was refitted with the seats and other amenities of that day which would put it 128th in the newness range.  There are plenty of fine arenas that are much older. Duke, Washington, Butler, Minnesota, California, Oklahoma State, etc were built before 1940. Renovations is the key and ECU had those. 

More important ECU was 119th in attendance last season. That's averaging 3,341 fans a game last, which shows how down support is everywhere. ECU has had 5k to 6k before in seasons multiple times. 119th after a decade of averaging 200+ finishes is a strong. This is out of 363 teams. Fans have no concept or context of what a dump actually is.

 People say I'm negative, but it's the opposite. I believe ECU basketball the "program" itself has tons of potential and resources most of the 363 schools can't match. It's in the top 3rd most funded. Things like Minges could be a massive advantage if the right coaches and players were here. Many ECU fans deride everything foundational it seems to make excuses for why the teams continue to lose. Others will blame history from as far back as the 70s and 80s when it was a completely different funded program.  

 

There are many myths and the biggest misnomer is that this program is poor. I expect the average ECU graduate would just believe it's comparable to Western Carolina financially as they pull for Duke or UNC. This isn't accurate as it pays its coaches in the top 100 range out of 363 schools and has a basketball budget from 116th to 122nd in the last decade.

Contrary to what is stated as fact usually every school doesn't have a practice facility. ECU has had one for nearly a decade now while similar supported and much more successful schools like UAB have just completed theirs in 2022. Many if not most other solid mid-majors don't have them at all or didn't get them until well after ECU. Yet if you read any excuses a decade ago that was always near the top. ECU built one and got worse almost from the moment it was complete.

 

Once that excuse was taken off the table, Minges was the most consistent whipping boy by the fans. I would wager that most making the claim have only been to Dean Dome or RBC a few times that call it a dump. ECU doesn't compete with those schools on the court, for recruits or anything else. It's a warped perception. With ECU's typical national rankings averaging 200+ in the last decade the competition on the court or for players is more with schools like UNCW, UNCG, App State Coastal Carolina, and all the other NC and regional schools. The gap in the arena is certainly not the issue. Everything is basically top 145 in that matters measurable other than results.

It's ass-backward. If you have ever been in Minges for a game where it was packed you know what kind of advantage it can be. That's more valuable than 3 more inches of legroom or a seat cushion. People complain about not having a scoreboard in the center of the court hanging from the rafters when having one of the lowest roofs is the massive advantage if a team was good.

Even when it's half full it has won ECU games it shouldn't simply. You aren't going to find arenas that can pack 8k people in a space as confined with that noise is the advantage. With the capability to get 50k football fans built in, they only need a product that warrants it more support to make it special. Instead, the product is 200+ so they just root for UNC or Duke instead. Build a decent team and the people will come, I think the CIT run proved that. That's how starved ECU fans were to care.

You just need the right coach.  Randy Bennett took over a 2-27 team and hasn't missed the NCAA's or NIT in 16 years. He's had a top 20 ranked program the last 5 years the NET existed playing here.

 

They recently added the scoreboard to their glorified high school arena built in 1978.  In the AAC Tulane figures out how to build a top 100 program with a worse arena. Yet as always even in a hotbed of talent ECU just makes weak excuses and tries to shift the blame. There are schools in cold states like Wyoming, Vermont, or South Dakota where no one wants to live and there aren't many good players that run circles around ECU. Bill Herrion somehow has a team just about as good in New Hampshire.

Boise State is top 25 again and wasn't successful before this coach. Yet in ECU fan's minds, you can't have good basketball and football, that's another myth they create for their excuses. It's stupid too because good football and basketball play off each other and raise each's profiles.ECU went to two NCAA's before Gonzaga even went to their first despite the zags playing longer.  The lack of even a minimum standard and fans so quick to make an excuse for everything is the biggest issue holding ECU back.