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GREENVILLE, N.C. – The ECU Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held the annual Goldspys end of the year awards show on Tuesday night. The Goldspys, now in its fifth year, is styled after ESPN's ESPY awards, honoring and highlighting the success of ECU student-athletes both inside and outside the arenas of competition.
With the 2017-18 school year coming to a close, the Goldspys honored several student-athletes with 15 awards voted on by the ECU administration, coaching staff and SAAC representatives.
The Goldspys began with a social held in the Smith-Williams Center where two photo booths were set up for student-athletes to take pictures. SAAC President
Austin Allen began the ceremony with a welcoming statement before dinner was served.
Following dinner, student-athletes who have completed over three or more semesters in college and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher were recognized for their academic accomplishments during the year. Individual awards began with the naming of Mighty Pirate Cheerleader and Dancer, followed by Pirate Club Donor of the Year, and then Female and Male Rookie of the Year.
Ryan Ross (baseball) and
Celia Ruiz (women's tennis) were honored as Mr. and Ms. Pirate. The Mr./Ms. Pirate awards are presented to the male and female student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and in athletics, while also contributing to the community. They are voted on by the ECU administration and coaching staffs.
The volleyball squad was named Team of the Year, while volleyball head coach
Julie Torbett was named Coach of the Year. The Pirates produced a 22-11 overall record in 2017, marking the first 20-win season for the program since 2005 as well as the second-most victories in a single season. ECU also turned in a 13-7 mark in American Athletic Conference play – finishing fourth in the league standings after being selected 11th of 12 teams in the conference's preseason coaches poll. Torbett became the squad's all-time winningest coach during the campaign while also earning her 400th career victory. The triumph over AAC opponent USF Nov. 3 that gave her 72 wins at the helm of the program was recognized as the Best Moment of the Year.
Natalie Montini (volleyball) was honored as the Female Athlete of the Year while
Stefano Migliorati (track and field/cross country) was tabbed the Male Athlete of the Year.
Montini developed into one of the top middle hitters in the American Athletic Conference in 2017, ranking third among league players in hitting percentage (.341). In conference matches, she was third in hitting percentage (.347) and 11th in kills per set (2.99). Montini racked up double-digit kills in 17 matches, including a career-high 19 in a 3-2 victory at Cincinnati – the Pirates' first-ever win in Cincinnati. She also posted a personal-best .542 hitting percentage at No. 21 Wichita State back on Oct. 22 as she recorded 15 kills on 24 attempts with only two errors. Montini ended her career with 330 total blocks, putting her seventh in program history. Her 118 blocks in 2017 are the 10th most in a single season by an ECU player. Additionally, Montini's .341 hitting percentage is the fifth best in a lone season.
Migliorati won the American Athletic Conference indoor 800-meter dash title at the AAC Indoor Championships and is the favorite to win the outdoor league crown as well. He currently ranks first in the American Conference and 16th in the NCAA East Region with a season-best time of 1:48.78. Additionally, Migliorati holds both the indoor and outdoor 800m school records.
The respective male and female Rookie of the Year awards went to
Shawn Williams (men's basketball) and
Shelby Martin (volleyball). Both student-athletes were named American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in their sports.
Williams averaged 12.4 points and 2.4 three-point field goals made per game. He also connected on 36.7 percent of his 3-point field goal attempts, knocking down 72-of-196 shots outside the arc. He led the AAC in free throw shooting (.878), ranked fourth in three-pointers per game, 11th in 3-point percentage and 20th in scoring. He was named The American Rookie-of-the-Week four times, tying the league record. His seven three-pointers against Memphis Feb. 3 stands as the most threes made in a game by an ECU freshman and his 30 points scored that day against the Tigers ranks as the second-most points scored in a game by a Pirate rookie. His 72 three-pointers made this season are also an ECU freshman record. He is the only rookie in the conference to score 30 points in a game this season. Williams led all conference freshmen in scoring, 3-point field goals per game and 3-point field goal percentage both overall and in conference play.
Martin ended her first season as a Pirate averaging 9.34 assists per set, ranking her sixth among AAC setters. Martin was also sixth in the league in assists per set (9.83) in conference matches only. She ran an ECU offense that averaged 12.94 kills per set and turned in a .231 hitting percentage and was vital in helping the Pirates finish alone in fourth place in the American Conference standings after ECU was picked 11th in the league's preseason poll. Martin produced eight double-doubles during the season – all of which occurred during conference play. She fell just three kills shy of the first recorded triple-double in program history Sept. 29 against SMU, notching seven kills, 49 assists and 11 digs in the narrow five-set loss to the eventual second-place Mustangs. Martin also tallied double-doubles against Tulsa, Tulane, then No. 21 Wichita State, UCF and Houston. She distributed a career-high 50 assists in the Pirates' 3-1 home victory over the Knights (Nov. 5). Martin enters her sophomore season with 1,084 assists, needing just 695 to break into the program career top 10 list.
Carley Cox (women's golf) was named Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. She owns the second-best stroke average (74.00) on the squad and has posted three top-10 finishes this season, including a third-place result at the Pirate Collegiate Classic where she was selected to the all-tournament team. Cox turned in an 11th-place showing at the American Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship, helping ECU finish tied for second.
Trevon Brown (football) garnered the Comeback Athlete of the Year accolade. After missing the 2016 season, he returned in 2017 and excelled for the Purple and Gold. Brown earned Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference honors, leading the Pirates in nine statistical categories, which included receptions (60), receiving yards (1,069), touchdowns (seven), yards per catch (17.8), receiving yards per game (89.1), kick return yards (452), all-purpose yards (1,539) and all-purpose yards per game (128.2). He set ECU and American single-game records with 270 receiving yards against Cincinnati on Nov. 18 and scored on a pair of 95-yard passes from
Gardner Minshew (West Virginia and Cincinnati), which marked the longest pass plays in school and conference history. Brown, who registered five 100-yard receiving games and amassed 100 or more all-purpose yards in a contest six times, stands eighth on ECU's single-season receiving charts and closed out the regular season ranked among the NCAA FBS leaders in receiving yards (14th), receiving yards per game (17th), all-purpose yards per game (29th) and yards per reception (34th).
In addition to student-athlete awards, the Pirate Club Donor of the Year was given posthumously to Walter Williams and Sheilah Cotten was awarded the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award.
Williams, who passed away earlier this year, was a champion of ECU programs across campus and gave more than $6 million to the university. Williams was a loyal Pirate Club member for over 50 years, served as the executive president from 1997 to 1998 and was director emeritus until his death. He also served on the university's Board of Trustees from 1995-1999. Notable donations from the Williams' family include providing the Pirate Club with its first-ever $1 million gift in 1993, which went toward renovating Minges Coliseum. As a result, the basketball arena was rededicated as Williams Arena in their honor. The Williams-Harvey Teams Building and the Smith-Williams Center (Hall of Fame) also bear their name. They most recently made a $1 million leadership commitment to support the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Southside Renovation Campaign.
Cotten, the first female athlete to be inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame, played basketball and volleyball for the Pirates from 1971-75. She set several single game records as well as career marks. Cotten established the record for most field goal attempts in a game with 33 and previously set single-game records of most points in a game (33) as well as highest rebound average for a season with 8.3 boards per contest. She grabbed 15 rebounds in a game six times, scored 30 or more points in five games and finished her career with 1,152 points. Cotten scored 442 points as a senior during the 1974-75 season. During the 1972-73 campaign, she led ECU to the AIAW national tournament and an overall record of 18-2 as the Lady Pirates won the school's only AIAW state title that season.
2017-18 Goldspys Award Winners
Male Athlete of the Year –
Stefano Migliorati (track and field/cross country)
Female Athlete of the Year –
Natalie Montini (volleyball)
Mr. Pirate –
Ryan Ross (baseball)
Ms. Pirate –
Celia Ruiz (women's tennis)
Male Rookie of the Year –
Shawn Williams (men's basketball)
Female Rookie of the Year –
Shelby Martin (volleyball)
Team of the Year – Volleyball
Coach of the Year –
Julie Torbett (volleyball)
Breakthrough Athlete of the Year –
Carley Cox (women's golf)
Comeback Athlete of the Year –
Trevon Brown (football)
Mighty Pirate Dancer of the Year – Taylor Whatley
Mighty Pirate Cheerleader of the Year – Haywood McKoy
Best Moment of the Year –
Julie Torbett becomes volleyball program's all-time winningest head coach.
Pirate Club Donor of the Year – Walter Williams
Lifetime Achievement Award – Sheilah Cotten
