After 15 years of service with the university, Hampton announced that they would not renew the contract of head basketball coach Buck Joyner, Jr. Joyner coached his last game in the second round of the CAA tournament where the Pirates fell victim to Delaware, 80-50.

“Coach Joyner is a good basketball coach and a tremendous person,” said Hampton's Athletic Director Anthony D. Henderson, Sr. “Over the past 15 years, he has poured his heart and soul into the Hampton basketball program. Ultimately, we have not maintained the consistent level of success on the court that we expect. After a full review, we have decided to make a change in the basketball program's leadership… Our student-athletes benefitted greatly from their time with Coach Joyner and his commitment to their personal development. We thank Buck for his service to the university and wish him and his family well.”

The past few years have not been particularly kind to the Hampton Pirates' men's basketball program. They haven't had a winning season since their 2018-2019 campaign where they went 18-17. The past three seasons have been especially rough as the Pirates were unable to win more than nine games each year.

This season, Hampton had one of their worst stretches in recent program history after losing 13 straight games in December and January. They started to turn their luck around towards the end of the year, winning three of five games heading into the CAA tournament. Despite their 8-23 record (worst in the conference), Hampton dazzled in the first round of the tournament, knocking off Elon, 56-55. Unfortunately, their magic ended the following night against Delaware.

Although the past few years for Joyner and his Pirates have been rough, he's still the most successful men's basketball coach in school history. Joyner is the university's all-time winningest head coach at the Division 1 level with a 223-257 record. Over his career, Hampton has had three NCAA Tournament appearances, two CBI invitations, one NIT appearance, and one CIT appearance. Joyner's teams have won two MEAC regular season titles and three MEAC Tournament championships. In 2015, the Pirates earned their second NCAA Tournament win after defeating Manhattan in the First Four round, 74-64.