Hampton Pirates Football Video Streaming Available

Hampton, Virginia -- Starting with Saturday’s contest against Princeton, Hampton University home football games can be viewed online via live video streaming.

To access video streaming, simply visit http://www.hamptonpirates.com/showcase and complete the sign-up instructions. A fee will be charged, and fans can choose to purchase single-game ($5.95) or season passes ($20).

Saturday’s contest against Princeton will kick off at 1 p.m.

For more information on Hampton University football, visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

MEAC upholds replay reversal in Hampton vs. Bethune-Cookman

NORFOLK, VA -- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Commissioner Dennis Thomas has issued a statement regarding the final play of the Bethune-Cookman University vs. Hampton University football game played on Thursday, September 22, 2011 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The game was televised live on ESPNU.



"In addition to reviewing the video with the MEAC's Coordinator of Football Officials Rosie Amato, I felt the need to procure external analysis of the play in question and requested three seasoned and nationally respected officials including Rogers Redding, CFO National Coordinator of Football Officials and NCAA Football Rules Committee Secretary-Rules Editor, Doug Rhoads, Coordinator of Football Officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and Dr. Gerald Austin, Coordinator of Football Officials of Conference USA, to independently review the play in question. Upon their review it was concluded unanimously that the ruling to reverse the on field call to an incomplete catch was accurate therefore invalidating the final Hampton touchdown.

The analysis of the video evidence concluded that the airborne receiver did not maintain control of the ball after hitting the ground, and by rule did not fulfill all the elements of the process of completing the catch. The rule support for this reversal is Approved Ruling 7-3-6-XII and 7-3-6-XIII found on page FI-35 of the 2011-12 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations manual."

Courtesy MEAC Media Relations

B-CU wins after refs nullify last-second Hampton TD

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Hampton players swarmed the field and jumped on their hero. They didn't bother to listen to the referee announce that David Legree's touchdown pass with no time left would be reviewed.

But after several minutes the replay officials decided that receiver Isiah Thomas did not maintain possession as he fell to the ground on the apparent 12-yard TD pass, and Bethune-Cookman came away with a 35-31 victory in a bizarre Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game Thursday night at Municipal Stadium.

Backup quarterback Jackie Wilson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Poole with 2:50 left in the game for the final margin of victory.

Legree, who passed for 225 yards and a touchdown and ran for two touchdowns, appeared to lead the Pirates (2-2, 1-1 MEAC) to victory with no time left.

But it was B-CU (2-1, 1-1) that got the final chance to celebrate in the back-and-forth contest that started nearly an hour late because of lightning in the area.




YOU BE THE JUDGE!! TD or NOT?

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HU's new offensive coordinator opens up Pirates' offense

HAMPTON (2-1, 1-0 MEAC) at BETHUNE-COOKMAN (1-1, 0-1)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Municipal Stadium, Daytona Beach, Fla.

TELEVISION: ESPNU (7:30 P.M.)
INTERNET: ESPN3

HAMPTON, VA — Donovan Rose first met Willie Snead at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting in Michigan in September 2010. Rose, Hampton University's head football coach, was in the audience as Snead, fresh off a 2009 state semifinal appearance at Muskegon Heights (Mich.) High, delivered a speech.

Neither man knew it at the time, but that speech also was a job audition.

After Rose's Pirates went 6-5 in 2010, averaging just 17.5 points per game, Rose found himself in the market for an offensive coordinator. One of the names that surfaced was that of Snead, a native of Belle Glade, Fla., who had made an impression on Rose.

"He had a way with people," Rose said. "(He's) a guy that is not easily thrown off track. He's just a very kind of mellow, consistent guy about getting things done. His resume was very impressive."

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Bethune-Cookman faces Hampton in key MEAC game

Time: 7:30 p.m ET

TV: ESPNU

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — Brian Jenkins' inaugural season at Bethune-Cookman was a year-long run to a potential undefeated season and the Wildcats' claiming a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship for the first time since 2002.

The 2011 season could all come down to Thursday night — just three weeks into the campaign – when Bethune-Cookman meets Hampton in a nationally-televised (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.) MEAC game at Municipal Stadium.

It's perhaps already a must-win for B-CU (1-1,0-1) if it wants to stay in the conference race. Hampton (2-1,1-0) has already beaten 2010 co-champion Florida A&M and doesn't have to face the South Carolina State team that beat B-CU 26-18 on Sept. 10.

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HU: Defensive end's late heroics win it for ODU Monarchs

NORFOLK, VA - Looking at the 45 points Old Dominion put on the scoreboard, it would be easy for the casual observer to surmise that the offense won it for the Monarchs on Saturday night. Oh, how wrong that assessment would be.

That offense unit might as well have carried defensive end Eddie McClam off the field on its shoulders following the Monarchs' 45-42 victory over visiting Hampton at soggy Foreman Field.



The 6-foot-6, 290-pound McClam forced two fumbles in the game's last seven minutes to keep the feisty Pirates from mounding a comeback. DU was holding a precarious 38-34 lead with 6:33 remaining when McClam's heroics began.

Hampton quarterback David Legree found Isaiah Thomas on an underneath route and McClam chased him down from behind, stripping him of the ball as ODU teammate Paul Morant fell on it at midfield.



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Hampton University's Ian Davidson wants to make his own mark

HAMPTON, VA —— Ian Davidson arrived to Hampton University determined to make the most of his final season of college football. He's off to a pretty good start.

Davidson, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound defensive tackle who transferred to HU after four seasons, including a redshirt year, at Maryland, blocked a field goal on the final play of the Pirates' 21-20, season-opening win against Alabama A&M on Saturday.

"It was my first game as a Hampton Pirate, and coming from a D-I program, I knew I had a lot to prove to my team," said Davidson, who also had five tackles (two for loss). "Earlier in the week, our special teams coach (Michael Villagrana) and I talked, and I told him I was definitely going to try to block a field goal. He put me on all these special teams, and with the help of our D-line — they were tired and beat up, but they were able to get enough push, and I just got my hand up."

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2011 Battle of Bands -- Chicago Classic: AAMU vs. Hampton

Hampton University: Jenkines is 6th area player to commit D-I

Clarksville, TN - Blake Jenkines doesn't attend Clarksville High. She just happens to be one of the top girls basketball players in this city who dons a different uniform but plays with the same kind of intensity.

Jenkines has said in the past she feels "overlooked" among the attention that has followed the Lady Wildcats' program the past four years, but college coaching staffs have been keenly aware of Kenwood High School's senior standout.

After a spring and summer full of Clarksville High verbal commitments, Jenkines takes her place among the city's elite who are now Division-I college basketball bound. Jenkines has verbally committed to play ball at Hampton University in Hampton, Va.


Kenwood player #10 Blake Jenkins kept them in the game, she is the #1 leading scorer in district 10AAA.

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Chicago Football Classic: Second-half rally lifts Hampton Pirates

Chicago, IL - Hampton University beat Alabama A&M 21-20 in the 14th annual Chicago Football Classic before an announced crowd of 35,653 on Saturday at Soldier Field.

After both teams turned the ball over on their first possession, Alabama A&M reeled off 17 consecutive points. But the Bulldogs couldn’t make the lead stand as the Pirates scored the next two touchdowns.

David Legree threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Brown, and Legree scrambled eight yards for a score with 2:36 left in the third quarter. The touchdown was set up by a bobbled punt attempt that gave Hampton the ball on the Bulldogs’ 23-yard line.

Chance Wilson put Alabama A&M back in the driver’s seat with a 34-yard field goal with 5:33 left in the third quarter. The Pirates responded, going 60 yards in six plays and scoring on a ...

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Hampton's McCorory ready for the race of her life at IAAF World Championships

DAEGU, KOREA - Francena McCorory has been on some big stages, but this is the biggest.

Back in 2006, Bethel senior McCorory blazed to a national indoor high school 400-meter record of 51.93.

In 2010, Hampton University senior McCorory lowered the American indoor 400 record to 50.54. Great going, sure, but nothing quite up to her current achievements.

The 22-year-old Hampton resident is poised to run for the gold - or a medal of any hue - in the women's 400-meter final Monday night.

Looking powerful and confident, McCorory blazed to a career-best clocking of 50.24 taking her semifinal. USA teammates Allyson Felix, a three-time winner of the World 200 title, and 2009 Worlds 400 champion Sandra Richards-Ross, join McCorory in the eight-runner final. Felix ran 50.36, Richards-Ross 50.66.

"No problems, felt great," said McCorory. But a real problem to all three Americans may be veteran Amantle Montsho of Botswana, the fastest of all heat winners at 50.13.

Meet Francena on Facebook

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Hampton's Wells ready to represent USA

Richmond, VA - Kellie Wells (Hampton University) has yet to wear a uniform with the USA crest across the chest, but she knows the day is coming and she can't wait.

"I look at the uniform everyday. I'm just excited to finally represent my country. I'm stepping into the place that my idols (Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Gail Devers) have been."

That will happen on Sept. 2 when Wells will don the red, white and blue and toe the starting line in the preliminary round of the women's 100-meter hurdles at the International Association of Athletics Federation 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. The championships begin Saturday.


Women's Press Conference at 2011 IAAF World Championships with Kellie Wells, Hyleas Fountain and Jillian Camarena-Williams.

For the 2002 James River High graduate, the world stage has come.

Wells ran 12.5 seconds in the 100 hurdles to capture the USA Track and Field title in Eugene, Ore., in June. The victory was special for two reasons. First, it earned her a spot on her first national team. Second, it came at the same place her career was set back three years ago.

Hampton's McCorory breezes into semifinals of 400 meters at world track championships

DAEGU, Korea -— "I feel confident, really good," beamed Francena McCorory.

The ex-Bethel High and Hampton University flash had just breezed a lap around Daegu Stadium Saturday night in a slowish 52.18 seconds and was delighted with her effort, nowhere close to her all-time best of 50.29.

Why the happiness?

Because it advanced her into the Sunday night 400-meter semifinals at the 13th World Championships of Track and Field with a minimum of wasted energy. She placed second in her heat to Amantle Montsho of Botswana, who ran 50.95, and thus was one of four Americans cruising into the semis. This is the biggest meet of McCorory's track and field career and she's considered a definite medal prospect.



400m Women Heat 4 WC Athletics Daegu 2011
Amantle Montsho BOT 50.95 Q
Francena McCorory USA 52.18 Q
Lee McConnell GBR 52.75 Q
Maris Mägi EST 52.93 Q
Norma González COL 53.35
Aymeé Martínez CUB 53.67
Ambwene Simukonda MAW 54.81 (NR)

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From Home Depot to Hampton University, Queens native Christina Delille completes comeback

New York, NY - Christina Delille was that girl, the one your coach warns you might become if you don’t work hard, if you don’t take care of your studies. Christina Delille was a basketball horror story, a how-to on what not to do when you’re talented in a sport.

Two years ago, Delille was working in Home Depot. She never graduated high school, instead getting her GED. She gained almost 60 pounds on a steady diet of Big Macs with honey mustard sauce and a side of fries.




That once promising basketball career – coaches who knew her growing up compared her to Epiphanny Prince – was so far in the rear-view mirror that she could barely remember it herself.  “I was just chilling, partying, staying home, watching TV and doing nothing,” Delille said.

Delille had fallen so far, yet she didn’t really start off too high to begin with. The Cambria Heights, Queens native didn’t take basketball or class seriously at St. Michael Acad or August Martin, falling in and out of academic eligibility. She played just one high-school season at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., as a reclassified sophomore.

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HU Pirates gearing up for first scrimmage

Hampton, VA - The Hampton University football team, under the direction of third-year head coach Donovan Rose, will hold its first inter-squad scrimmage on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the practice field adjacent to Armstrong Stadium.

The scrimmage will be free and open to the public.

Saturday’s scrimmage will give fans a chance to see sophomore running back Antwon Chisholm (Belle Glade, Fla.), a Preseason First Team All-MEAC selection, as well as senior quarterback David Legree (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who was a Preseason Second Team All-MEAC honoree.

On the defensive side of the ball, fans will be able to see a unit led by defensive back Micah Pellerin (New Orleans, La.), who was also named Preseason First Team All-MEAC.

The Pirates (6-5, 5-3 MEAC in 2010) will open the 2011 season on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., when they take on Alabama A&M in the Chicago Football Classic. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.

For more information on Hampton University football, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

By Hampton University Sports Information

Hampton University hopes new locker room improves team chemistry

HAMPTON, VA -- Something happened this summer that Donovan Rose hadn't seen in more than 20 years at Hampton University. Football players attending a summer camp were shown the Pirates' locker room. That may not sound like a big deal, but it was a noteworthy happening for Rose, a 19-year HU assistant who is going into his third season as Hampton's head coach.

"Since I've been here, since 1991, we've never shown a recruit the locker room," Rose said. "Never."

If a recruit asked to see the formerly cramped quarters, with freshmen and walk-ons shepherded to a separate room, Rose said, "I would just change the subject: 'We don't have time,' or, 'Maybe we can come back a little later.' "

That's no longer the case. Rose presided over a tour of HU's newly refurbished locker room on Saturday, showing off rows of gleaming wood and lush blue-and-silver carpeting. Each player has a spacious cubicle, complete with a bar for hanging jerseys and hooks for helmets and a padded bench with a small locker underneath.

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Hampton University, ODU among eight teams in hoops series

RICHMOND, VA - Standing on the Richmond Coliseum court, Governor Bob McDonnell along with coaches, athletic directors and other officials from eight Virginia universities announced today the “Governor’s Holiday Hoops Classic”, a basketball doubleheader to benefit Virginia’s Food Banks. The “Classic” will take place in December 2012 and 2013 and feature in-state teams representing the ACC, CAA, MEAC and Atlantic 10.

ODU, HU among 8 teams in hoops series: wavy.com

The “Governor’s Holiday Hoops Classic” Matchups:

December 2012

George Mason vs. University of Richmond (early game)

The University of Virginia vs. Old Dominion University (late game)

December 2013

Hampton University vs. James Madison University (early game)

Virginia Tech vs. Virginia Commonwealth University (late game)

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Detroit land ex-Jaguars linebacker Justin Durant (Hampton U.)

Justin Durant, Detroit Lions 

Detroit, MI - Their front four is one of the best in the game. Now the Detroit Lions are on their way to upgrading their back seven.

The Lions made their first significant move of the free-agent signing period late Wednesday, agreeing to terms on a two-year contract with linebacker Justin Durant (Hampton University), according to a team source.

Reached by phone shortly before 11 p.m., Durant's agent, Adisa Bakari said, "Not yet. Deal's not done." But Bakari and the Lions were heavy in contract talks late into the night. Durant, who played four seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, appeared to confirm the signing, first reported by the Chicago Tribune, on Twitter.

Now everybody from the 313, put ya (...) hands up and follow me!!!" he wrote.

Durant, who turns 26 in September, has never played a full 16 games in a season and missed six games last year with a groin injury.

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Hampton's Brandon Peguese signed by Philadelphia Eagles

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Philadelphia Eagles have signed former Hampton University defensive standout Brandon Peguese, the team announced on Tuesday.

Peguese (Greensboro, N.C.) was a Sports Network FCS All-American and First Team All-MEAC selection last season, after finishing third on the team in tackles with 85 (38 solo, 47 assisted). He also finished third in the MEAC with 8.0 sacks in 2010, while also ranking second in the conference in tackles for loss with 23.5 for a total of 94 yards.

For his career at Hampton, Peguese tallied 179 tackles and 18 sacks. In 2009, Peguese was named Second Team All-MEAC after leading the conference with 7.5 sacks.

Peguese was one of nine rookie free agents signed by the team.

Peguese is the second Pirate to be picked up by an NFL team this season; defensive lineman Kenrick Ellis was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft back in April by the New York Jets.

By Hampton University Athletics

VISIT: HAMPTON UNIVERSITY
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Keshia Campbell Appointed Athletics Director at Hampton U.

HU Athletics Director Keshia Campbell
(Photo courtesy of: MEAC Media Relations)

Hampton, VA - Keshia Campbell has been named the new director of athletics at Hampton University. Campbell, who has extensive experience in athletics administration, will begin at Hampton on Aug. 15.

Campbell, the first female athletics director to lead the Pirates, replaces Lonza Hardy, who has been named director of athletics at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Hampton received several nominations and expressions of interest for the position of director of athletics. After careful review, two of the candidates were invited for interviews with members of the coaching staff and athletic administration. Dr. Rodney Smith, vice president for administrative services, who supervises athletics at Hampton then interviewed both finalists. Smith was also impressed with Campbell and recommended her for the position of athletics director at Hampton.

"Ms. Campbell comes with athletics management experience, knowledge of the institution's athletics program and direct experience from within the National Collegiate Athletics Association," Smith said. "We are very excited to welcome her as a member of the Hampton family and we are looking forward to continued excellence from our student-athletes under her direction."

Prior to her current position as director of business affairs at University of Texas at Dallas, Campbell held two administrative positions at the NCAA, assistant and associate director of championships, from 2006-2009. Campbell is also no stranger to Hampton; she served as assistant and associate director of athletics at Hampton from 2004-2006 and was head women's basketball coach at South Carolina State University for seven years.

A two-time graduate of South Carolina State, Campbell earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling.

"I am thrilled and honored to be appointed to the helm of the Pirate athletics program," said Campbell. "Hampton is recognized as one of the best Division I mid-major programs in the entire country and I look forward to carrying on the tradition of excellence."

Campbell is another in a long line of women being appointed to senior administration positions under William R. Harvey's tenure as Hampton president.

"Ms. Campbell has the administrative skills and experience to continue to guide our student-athletes to academic and athletic success," Harvey said. "We believe her passion and vision will further elevate the bright future of Hampton University athletics."

VISIT: HAMPTON UNIVERSITY

VISIT: HAMPTONPIRATES