One of the most famous pirates, Blackbeard, resided in the North Carolina coastal communities of Bath, Beaufort and Ocracoke.

The name was less than popular with ECU students, and in 1985 Chancellor Howell decided on his own to drop "Pee Dee" and be known only as "The Pirates".

[7] At the beginning of football games, the fight song with a fanfare, "Here's to the Pirates", the national anthem, and Alma Mater is played.

ECU Men's Basketball is coached by Michael Schwartz and play in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

In 2013, still under Head Coach Jeff Lebo, the Pirates enjoyed a twenty win regular season and were invited to participate in the CBS Sports sponsored College Insider Tournament.

On Tuesday, April 2, 2013, East Carolina won the College Insider Postseason Tournament against Weber State with a three-point buzzer shot 77–74.

During the 1982 season the Pirates compiled a 17–9 record and were placed as the 6th seed in the Midwest Regional, but lost in the first round of the tournament to South Carolina 79–54.

In 2007 the Lady Pirates claimed their first Conference USA tournament title with an upset victory over the Rice Owls.

They will be led by Jada Payne, of Hickory, North Carolina, who is a redshirt senior transfer from LeSalle.

Jada is coming off of a record-breaking year where she became the 22nd player in ECU women's basketball history to have 1,000 career points in the 2014–2015 campaign and broke her previous record for three-pointers made in a season, with 80.

The team also won back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association tournament titles in 1984, beating Richmond 54–39, and in 1985 by beating James Madison 65–59 after also winning the Colonial Athletic Association regular season championship with an 11–1 conference record.

In 1986 the Lady Pirates made their third straight Colonial Athletic Association title game appearance but fell to James Madison 66–62.

Running back Chris Johnson was the game's most valuable player, setting an NCAA record by gathering 407 all-purpose yards.

The Pirates rode the wave all the way to their first C-USA championship by beating Tulsa, only to lose a heart breaker to Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl.

ECU won the 2009 C-USA Conference Championship game in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium on December 5, 2009, at 12 noon, upsetting the 18th-ranked University of Houston, 38–32.

The Pirates lost to Arkansas 20–17 in overtime after ECU missed a game-winning field goal to end regulation play.

The most recent championship came in 2020, as the men's team won another American Athletic Conference title, the program's fourth in six years.

The ECU baseball team, nicknamed the Diamond Bucs, is a Division I NCAA program that competes in the American Athletic Conference.

The ECU Lady Pirates won the 2010 C-USA Softball regular season and conference tournament titles.

The Pirates are coached by former West Virginia Wesleyan alumnus and North Carolina Wesleyan College coach Rob Donnenwirth, and play their home games in Stewart Johnson Stadium, a 1,000-seat stadium located in Greenville, North Carolina.

[15][16] Additional varsity men's teams include cross country, tennis and track and field (indoor and outdoor) Other varsity women's teams include cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball.