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Along with the rest of the CAA, Hampton University's men's and women's basketball coaches joined the live-streamed media day festivities. Fans could tune into the Field of 68's YouTube channel to listen to their favorite team's head coach preview the arrival of the new season. The men's head coach, Edward Joyner Jr., gave his interview early in the day, while David Six of the women's team appeared in the afternoon.
Joyner, who is entering his 15th season as Hampton's head coach, stressed the importance of depth for the coming season. Last year was the team's first time in the CAA, having been a member of the Big South and MEAC not too long ago. As a result of the constant switching, Hampton finished 12th out of the 13 teams in the conference. The Pirates went 8-24 overall and 5-13 in conference play.
Joyner summed up the first year in the CAA as a “rude awakening.”
“We kind of anticipated that, but because of how late we decided to join the league, I don't think we got a recruiting class that we wanted to bring into the league,” Joyner said.
He elaborated on the differences between the MEAC, Big South, and the CAA, and how the coaching staff came away from the last season.
“The first thing we had to do was evaluate the season, evaluate myself, evaluate the team, evaluate everything we though needed to change. We thought the biggest thing was depth and toughness. Jumping into [the CAA] from the Big South, then before that the MEAC, it was totally a different style of play. It was a much tougher league… We didn't feel like we were deep enough to be able to compete night in and night out for forty minutes.”
Despite the poor showing in their first year, Joyner seemed confident in Hampton's ability to compete with the rest of the league. Much of that confidence stems from Jordan Nesbitt, the junior guard from St. Louis. Previously at St. Louis University, Nesbitt is entering his second year at Hampton. Last season, he averaged 14.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Joyner was exceptionally high on Nesbitt's ceiling.
“Jordan is one of those guys where the sky is the limit. I think that's the biggest thing he had to adjust to last year. He went from being a 1C, 1D type guy, to now, you're a 1A. I don't think people realize how hard that is… he's learned what it takes to put the team on his back and how to handle those situations.”
Joyner talked about toughness and basketball IQ being an issue for the team in their inaugural CAA season. To combat this, they went to the transfer portal to strengthen the roster's depth.
Among the transfers, Joyner highlighted Tristen Maxwell, Tedrick Wilcox Jr., and Joshua Lusane. The transfer came from Georgia Tech, St. Francis College in New York, and Campbell, respectively. They each brought qualities that Joyner believed could help the team finish with a more positive record.
“[Tristen Maxwell] has come in and, almost from a point guard's perspective, taken over leadership of the team and brought the IQ of this team up tremendously… We had Marquise Godwin last year that we though did a great job, but we thought we needed more shooting. Not only can Tristen add to our IQ, but he can shoot the basketball. Tedrick, we feel like is an elite-level shooter.”
Joyner continued, “Josh Lusane, just his experience and IQ alone has been something different for us. To be able to get a guy coming from Campbell and played a lot at the university, from averaging eight and five there, we feel like his role here can be expanded a little bit more. He's one of those guys who, when we were in the Big South, played well against us.”
Even with the transfer portal moves, the men's team will have to prove themselves to the rest of the conference. The first coaches' poll placed them at 13th, just ahead of the incoming North Carolina A&T Aggies. The Pirate's first game tips off Monday, Nov. 6 at Howard.
Whereas coach Joyner was particularly long-winded in his responses, women's head coach David Six could not have been more different.
The Lady Pirates are also entering their second year in the CAA. Last season, they ended with a slightly better record than the men's team, going 12-18 overall and 9-10 in the conference.
The women's team has three returning starters, including Camryn Hill. Hill averaged 10.5 points and 3.2 rebounds last season. Those numbers should increase as Nylah Young, the team's leading scorer, transferred to William & Mary for the 2023-24 season.
Unfortunately for the Lady Pirates, Six revealed that Hill is currently battling with a back injury, and did not give a clear date of return.
Although Hampton ranked 13th in the coaches poll, Six was seemed undaunted by the lack of belief. Curt in his responses, his message was loud and clear.
“If everything gels together… we're going to surprise a lot of people. We ready to go. We just want to play hard. I think if we play hard, good things are going to happen to us.”
The Lady Pirates open their season of play in Rhode Island against Providence on Nov. 7.
