Wednesday column

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 18, 2014 1:48 PM

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Is East Carolina athletics director Jeff Compher playing it close to the vest regarding the head baseball coaching vacancy?

One has to wonder.

Nearly a month after dismissing Billy Godwin, Compher has refused to reveal a possible replacement. Virginia associate head coach Kevin McMullan and Ole Miss hitting coach Cliff Godwin are rumored to be among Compher's top choices.

Social media boards and Twitter buzzed when Compher fired Godwin, who averaged 37 wins a season during his 9-year tenure with the Pirates. While some fans agreed with and applauded Compher's decision, a majority felt maybe Godwin deserved at least one more year.

Upon hearing the news, some of Godwin's recruits immediately texted him and said they would not attend ECU. That doesn't bode well for the new head coach who has to rebuild a team that lost its top performers to either the MLB Draft or graduation.

And Compher will undoubtedly have to sweeten the pot to match the salary currently doled out by Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference schools. Godwin's paycheck hardly scratched the surface compared to that of Mike Fox at North Carolina and Elliott Avent of N.C. State.

Should either an ACC or SEC coach land in Greenville, regardless of his experience, Compher will need to find some extra cash to keep him around for a few years.

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Charles B. Aycock is expected to announce its new varsity girls' basketball coach within in the next few days.

Administrators are waiting for Wayne County Public Schools officials to finalize the paperwork. CBA athletics director Charles Davis, principal Dr. Earl Moore and an advisory council member interviewed candidates to succeed Ryan Wells, who resigned in mid-spring.

Wells guided the Golden Falcons to a 6-18 record in the split-classification Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference. He replaced Laura Romo, who spent four seasons on the bench in Pikeville before moving back to Utah.

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High school football schedules are already popping up online and dropping into the News-Argus' email account.

It's hard to believe the 2014 prep season starts in 43 days.

Area teams are getting ready for Aug. 1 -- the official opening day of practice -- with weight-lifting sessions, summer camps and 7-on-7 passing league games.

Teams are allowed to scrimmage Aug. 11.

Regular-season play kicks off Aug. 22 with Franklinton at Goldsboro, C.B. Aycock at Rosewood, North Lenoir at Eastern Wayne, James Kenan at Southern Wayne, Southside at North Duplin, Princeton at East Carteret and Lejeune at Spring Creek.

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Rosewood placed seventh overall in the statewide Wells Fargo Cup Class 1-A competition.

The Eagles compiled 272.5 points, bolstered by a runner-up finish in the N.C. High School Athletic Association eastern regional baseball championship series.

In its 35th year, the Cup program recognizes the North Carolina high schools that achieve the best overall interscholastic athletic performance within each state's four competitive classifications.

Rosewood also won its fifth consecutive Wells Fargo Carolina 1-A Conference Cup.