Hampton Pirates bulk up with three basketball signee

Ed Joyner's 2011 recruiting class at Hampton University is proof it pays to be persistent — and that it helps to be a little lucky.

In addition to Phoebus product Dashawn Stitt, who verbally committed to Hampton in January, Joyner also has signed two players from Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, N.C., which went 26-4 and finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 25 in the country by MaxPreps.

The Pirates were originally focused on recruiting 6-foot-5 shooting guard Keron Brown, who averaged 14 points and six rebounds last season, Joyner said. Dwight Meikle, his 6-8 power forward/guard combo teammate who averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, verbally committed to St. John's in November.

But when Meikle was released from that commitment last Wednesday, Joyner was waiting.

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Videographer: wworldp; Hampton University Campus Tour

Videographer: wworldp; Emancipation Oak at Hampton University

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NBA Draft 2011: Why Hampton's Kwame Morgan Could Be a Great Pick for Any Team

Excerpt:

Let me introduce you to Kwame Morgan.

Morgan is a 6'3, 205-pound junior guard out of Hampton University who just entered his name into the 2011 NBA Draft last week. He was named to the 2011 Lou Henson Mid-Major All America team, as well as the All-MEAC (Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference) second team. Primarily known as a shooter, Morgan shot 36.6 percent from downtown last season, helping lead the Hampton Pirates to a 24-9 record.



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Duke too much for Hampton U; Pirates fall 87-45

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hampton University couldn't give up open looks for 3-pointers. Three of Duke's first six baskets were 3-pointers. The Pirates couldn't allow offensive rebounds. Eight of Duke's first 13 points came on second, or third, chances.

The die cast early, top-seeded Duke was too tall, focused and precise in an 87-45 wipeout Friday in an NCAA tournament West Region game at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

"We ran into a different animal," HU coach Ed Joyner Jr. said. "I mean, it was a lion. (We have) never been to the tournament before. This year was a first for us and we understood that. We made a lot of mistakes early. Those things happen when your nerves sometimes get the best of you."

Defending champ Duke wows Pirates with intensity, efficiency

New York ballers are hard to impress. They hone their games on asphalt jungles, hear tales of legends and hope to etch their names into the city's basketball lore. But Friday afternoon, reigning national champion Duke left Bronx native and Hampton University guard Mike Tuitt with indelible images.

"They looked just like Duke does on television," Tuitt said after the Blue Devils' 87-45 NCAA tournament victory over the Pirates. "They were under control and organized. They just had too much firepower."

Indeed, the game unfolded as most matching No. 1 and 16 regional seeds. Duke was too big, too fast, too deep.

Hampton perseveres in memory of fallen teammate Theo Smalling

Stories come to be told at the NCAA tournament. That’s just the way it works. Players you’ve never heard of from programs you’ve never watched play have a way of giving March its irresistible charm. Of course, there’s the appeal of the big name too. The All-American stars like Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker and the perennial powerhouses like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky.



PIRATES' STELLAR SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO DUKE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Hampton University men’s basketball team saw its stellar 2010-11 season come to an end on Saturday, as the Pirates fell to Duke 87-45 in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Pirates, who were seeded No. 16 in the West Region, had their five-game winning streak snapped by top-seeded Duke and ended the season 24-9. The Blue Devils advanced to 31-4 and will face Michigan in the third round on Sunday.

“Seeing (Duke) first-hand gives you a different light on the way they work and just how good they are,” Pirates head coach Edward Joyner Jr. said. “They are big and long.”

Duke handed the Pirates their most lopsided loss of the season, as Hampton tied its season low in points scored and set a season high in points allowed.



Falling On His Sword

Like all good leaders, Hampton University head coach Ed Joyner Jr. placed the onus on himself for the Pirates’ 87-45 loss to top-seeded Duke. Not that Joyner could have done anything about the disparity in talent or devised some tactical maneuver that might have kept it close.

“I’ve got 13, 14 players (and) four, five coaches, they’re all hurting in that locker room,” he said. “That’s the first step to us getting better and preparing for the moment later on. Second of all, experience is the best teacher. We’ve never been here before. I don’t put that loss on my players. They did all they can do. That’s my fault.

“I didn’t understand how to prepare them for this moment, but trust me, I understand now, and one thing I’ve never been called a dummy. So, does that mean we’re going to come to this tournament and win a game next year? I don’t know.



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Hampton coach wrote his script

Say this for Hampton men's basketball coach Ed Joyner Jr., he has a sense for the moment.

"What better script can you write?" Joyner asked Thursday, the day before his 16th-seed Pirates were to face top-seed Duke in a second-round NCAA tournament game at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Joyner, 38, a Winston-Salem native who attended Charlotte's Harding High before playing and coaching at Johnson C. Smith, had this script already etched in his mind two weeks ago, as Hampton prepared for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Association tournament in Winston-Salem.

Hampton U. coach looking for any advantage before playing Duke

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —— Ed Joyner Jr. was taking suggestions Thursday for tools he might use to demonstrate that the task at hand is difficult, but not impossible.

In advance of Friday's David vs. Goliath matchup against No. 1 seed Duke in the NCAA tournament, Hampton University's head coach planned to show his players video of the Pirates' upset of second-seeded Iowa State in the 2001 NCAA tournament.

Joyner said, only partly in jest, that he would show them the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's Miracle On Ice upset of the Soviets, the movie "Rudy" and anything else he could think of.

"I think they're already pumped up," he said. "Anything to show them it has and should be done."

Hampton's chore, 10 years later

From the NCAA tournament in Charlotte:

Meant to say earlier, I thought Hampton coach Ed Joyner was amusing Thursday during his media session, especially when a natural question was raised about a former Hampton U. tournament upset – 10 years ago in Boise, Idaho.

The 15th-seeded Pirates beat No. 2 Iowa State 58-57 that day – how about that; Iowa State (3-13 in the Big 12 this year) was a No. 2! And Joyner was asked why, as a Hampton player noted earlier, he’d not used that video as motivation for his team, seeded 16th, against No. 1 Duke on Friday.

“Everything, I believe, is timing,” he said. “It ain’t the right time yet. Trust me, they’re going to see it tonight along with “Miracle,” “Rudy”, anything else you can find.”

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