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Athletics Hall Of Fame Banquet

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2023 Hall Of Fame Inductees

        Five individuals and two teams were honored with induction into the Hampton University Athletics Hall of Fame on March 29, 2023. Douglas Palmer (Class of 1973), Coach Walter Lovett, Coach James Sweatt, Coach Phyllis LaVerne Sweatt, Coach Joseph Taylor along with the 1987-88 Hampton women's basketball team and the 2000-01 Pirate basketball team were feted in ceremonies at the Hampton Convocation Center. Director of Athletics Anthony D. Henderson ('00) welcomed the distinguished honorees and guests followed by the invocation by University Chaplain Rev. Dr. Debra L. Haggins ('17) and introductions by Rev. Dr. Jerome Barber ('81). University President Darrell Keith Williams ('83) greeted attendees and made closing remarks speaking on the bright future of Hampton athletics. Sportscaster Charlie Neal introduced the inductees. 

        Douglas Palmer helped lead the Pirates to the 1972 CIAA baseball championship. The second baseman led the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Palmer served a tri-captain his senior year. Named Freshman of the Year and All-CIAA, he was president of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc. He was also a member of the Pirate football team. After receiving his bachelor's degree in business management, he was elected mayor of Trenton, N.J., serving his community for two decades.

        Hampton native Dr. Walter Lovett graduated from nearby George P. Phenix High School and college at Virginia State University where he quarterbacked the football team. Lovett earned his master's and Ph. D. degrees from Indiana. He coached football at Carver High School in Newport News where his team won their only VIA Championship. After coaching Virginia State, Lovett returned home and served as head coach and director of athletics at Hampton. Inheriting a team that had won just three games in the previous five seasons, his 1973 team finished with a 3-7 mark. The Pirates posted records of 5-5, 7-4 and 7-4 the next three years.  He was inducted into the Virginia State Hall of Fame (1990), the CIAA Hall of Fame (2014), the John B. McLendon Jr. Hall of Fame (2014) and the VIA Heritage Association Hall of Fame (2017).

    Coach James Sweatt served as head coach of the Hampton women's basketball team for seven seasons (1981-88) while posting a 183-44 record while winning the 1985 and 1987 CIAA titles. His 1987-88 squad claimed the NCAA Division II national title with a win over West Texas State to highlight a 33-1 campaign. A three-time CIAA Coach of the Year honoree, he was named to the CIAA Hall of Fame (2009) and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame (2013) along with his wife, Coach LaVerne Sweat. Coach Phyllis LaVerne Sweat won more than a dozen CIAA track & field and cross country championships while coaching at Hampton and Norfolk State. She was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1981 and NCAA Division II Coach of the Decade. She was selected head coach of the World University Games in Bucharest, Romania, head coach of the United States team at the Junior Pan American Games in 1993 and assistant coach for the United States track & field team at the 2000 Olympics.
        Coach Joseph Taylor spent seven years at Virginia Union before coaching at Hampton from 1992-07. He finished his coaching career and Florida A&M and compiled an overall record of 232-94-6. In his 16 years at Hampton, the Pirates posted a record of 136-49-1. He coached his teams to five HBCU national championships (1994, 1997, 2004, 2005 and 2006) and eight conference titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.  Hampton's 1987-88 women's basketball team posted a 33-1 overall record, a perfect 19-0 mark in CIAA play and won the NCAA Division II national championship downing West Texas State, 65-49, in the title game. The team averaged 98.9 points per game including 18 games of 100 or more points. Coach James Sweat's team featured four 1,000-point scorers including Jackie Dolberry, Venise Frazier, Jacqueline Wyche and Jacqie McWilliams.

        The 2000-01 Pirate men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA tournament and defeated No. 2 seed Iowa State in the 2001 West Regional at the Boise State University Pavilion. Trailing 57-48 with 7:00 left in the contest, coach Steve Merfeld's Pirates scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to one, 57-56, with 21.6 seconds left. Travis Williams scored the game-winning basket with 6.9 seconds left to register one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.
 
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