HU's Joyner ready to give "100 percent to my team"

HAMPTON, Virginia -- Time heals, but it doesn’t erase. Hampton University men’s basketball coach Edward Joyner Jr. has come to accept that.

It’s been four weeks since he discovered his unresponsive father on a sofa in the coach’s office. Edward Joyner Sr. had stretched out for an afternoon nap but never woke up. He died of natural causes at the age of 69.

It was a horrible night for everyone. Because the Pirates were to play a home game that night, the players arrived as ambulances were pulling into the Convocation Center parking lot. They witnessed the frantic scene in Joyner’s office.

Joyner lost the most important man in his life — his namesake, his mentor, his best friend. He’ll never get over that, but he’s ready to move on.

“It’s a day-by-day process, but life goes on,” Joyner said Wednesday in his office. “I believe he was what and where he wanted to be. It was his time to go, and he went the way he wanted to.

“I feel like the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been able to give 100 percent to my team. Now, I’m at the point where I think I can.”

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