WILMINGTON — Along with newly-hired head coach Takayo Siddle, who served as an assistant at UNC Wilmington before leaving after the 2016-17 season, the Seahawk men’s basketball team is bringing back one of its several rivalries.

After a one-season hiatus, UNCW is once again set to face East Carolina prior to the start of conference play during the 2020-21 campaign. The Seahawks will square off with the Pirates in Greenville on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020.

Siddle will be the 11^th UNCW coach to face ECU.

Prior to last year, the two squads faced off six-consecutive seasons, with the last pause in the rivalry coming in 2012.

The series between both coastal schools stretches back as far as Dec. 1963. At one point, ECU sat alongside UNCW as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association before leaving for Conference-USA in 2001 and eventually joining the American Athletic Conference in 2014.

The Seahawks went 26-11 against the Pirates during their 17-year stint in the league.

UNCW leads the 66-game series 37-29 and is 4-2 against ECU in the last six meetings. However, both losses came at Minges Coliseum — a venue that has not proven favorable for the Seahawks in past seasons. The ‘Hawks are only 13-20 in 33 games played in Greenville and squeaked by a measly 5-5 in the last 10 meetings there.

Former Seahawk big man Devontae Cacok put up monstrous numbers the last time UNCW played in Greenville. The nationally recognized player went for 35 points and 12 rebounds in an overtime loss to the Pirates back in 2017.