Pirates

Hampton Pirates

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Colonial Athletic Association (2022-present)
City: Hampton, Va.
Stadium: Hampton Convocation Center

Championships:

NCAA Tournaments: 6 (2001, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2016)
National Championships: None
Conference Tournament Titles: 6 (2001, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2016)
Conference Regular Season Titles: 4 (2001, 2002, 2016, 2018)

Past Conferences:

MEAC
Big South

Team History

The Hampton Pirates are a Division I team based in Virginia. Hampton joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2022, following a four-year stint in the Big South Conference.

Hampton was a consistent contender in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference prior to that, having made six consecutive trips to the postseason between 2014-2019. That included back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 16 seed.

The Pirates are 2-6 all-time in the tournament. In 2001, they pulled off one of the most historic upsets in the event’s history, when they knocked off Iowa State 58-57 in a No. 2-15 game.

Only nine other No. 15 seeds have ever advanced to the second round of the tournament. St. Peter’s was the last school to overcome those odds and achieve that feat, beating No. 2 Kentucky in the 2022 opening round.

Hampton also won a First Four game in 2015 as a No. 16 seed before being eliminated in the round of 64 by Kentucky. The program’s other tournament trips came in 2002, 2006, 2011, and 2016. Hampton has also made two appearances in the CBI and one in both the NIT and CIT, where it reached the semifinals in 2019 and lost to Marshall.

Edward Joyner was elevated from an assistant in 2009 and is the program’s longest-tenured head coach. The Pirates won at least 18 games five times over Joyner’s first 14 NCAAB seasons at the helm. Notably, some of that success came after Hampton left the comforts of the MEAC, whose full members are fellow HBCUs, for the Big South.

Hampton was one of four schools added by the CAA ahead of the 2022-23 season, joining Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Stony Brook. The Pirates —coming off a 9-19 finish in 2021-22— were picked to finish last in the 13-team CAA preseason poll.