Caracciolo gives ECU a verbal commitment

Stonewall Jackson's Joy Caracciolo

By: David Fawcett | Inside NoVA
Published: October 27, 2009

In the parking lot outside the football stadium at East Carolina University, Joy Caracciolo took a moment to break away from the homecoming festivities surrounding the Pirates’ game Oct. 17th against Rice and approach Sharon Baldwin-Tener to talk some basketball.
Baldwin-Tener, ECU’s head women’s basketball coach, had offered the Stonewall Jackson High School junior a scholarship to play for the Pirates over the summer while the Raiders attended a team camp there.
But until Caracciolo’s unofficial visit to the campus two weekends ago, Baldwin-Tener did not know what Caracciolo’s plans were regarding college.
That was about to change real quick. Caracciolo liked the school, the coaches and the fact ECU offered her major, broadcast journalism.
Although she cannot sign her national letter of intent until November of 2010, Caracciolo saw no reason to wait any longer.
As she and other recruits hung out with the Pirates coaching staff in the parking lot prior to the start of the football game, Caracciolo checked with her parents first and then pulled Baldwin-Tener aside to tell her she was committing to the Pirates.
“The thought process was they offered and they have plenty of players they could take and I wanted to secure a spot there,” Caracciolo said.
The 6-foot-1 junior received offers from 11 Division I schools, including George Mason, James Madison, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion, according to Stonewall Jackson head girls basketball coach Nsonji White.
White said ECU was a good fit for Caracciolo because it will allow her to play her primary position of power forward.
Last season, Caracciolo earned all-Cedar Run District and second-team all-Northwest Region honors in helping the Raiders go 24-5 and reach the Group AAA state quarterfinals.
She averaged 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.4 steals a game.
In her eighth season at East Carolina, Baldwin-Tener has turned the Pirates program around. Last season, she led the team to an 18-13 record and in 2007, she led them to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1982.

Caracciolo gives ECU a verbal commitment

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