Herrion Out As East Carolina Coach

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- East Carolina men&#39;s basketball coach Bill Herrion won&#39;t return next season, ending a six-year tenure with the Pirates that never produced a winning season.<br> <br> Athletic director Terry Holland and senior associate athletic director Nick Floyd met with Herrion on Tuesday morning and asked him to step down after this season. The school said Herrion will be offered another position within the athletic department.<br> <br> &#34;As you can imagine, it was a very emotional meeting for all concerned,&#34; Holland said. &#34;The timing of the meeting was intended to eliminate the game-to-game pressure that we felt was a negative for everyone involved.&#34;<br> <br> The Pirates are 69-96 under Herrion - including 8-17 this season - and host Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night. A message left for Herrion in the basketball office wasn&#39;t immediately returned. <br> <br> Before coming to East Carolina, Herrion spent eight seasons at Drexel, winning at least 20 games six times and making the NCAA tournament three times. He wasn&#39;t able to duplicate that success with the Pirates, and the best he could do was 14-14 in 2000-01.