HAMPTON, Va. (Oct. 25, 2025) … The Hampton Pirates men's basketball team will head across the Hampton Roads Tunnel on Sunday for an exhibition game against Old Dominion at 2 p.m. inside Chartway Arena.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season was a question mark. Hampton had hired a new head coach in
Ivan Thomas and an entirely new staff. Only two players returned from the previous year's team.
The Pirates off to a tough start, losing three of their first four games. But the players believed in Thomas's message that hard work pays off. The team finished the season on the upswing with a 17-16 mark --- the first winning record after five consecutive losing seasons --- and a win in the opening round of the CAA Tournament.
The message was simple: "Go to Work." To emphasize the blue collar mentality, Thomas carried a tool box with "Go to Work" scratched on the side to every game. After tasting success last season, the 2025-26 Pirates are back for more.
It all begins for real when the Pirates take on Milwaukee on Nov. 3 in Wisconsin.
The Game Sunday
The game between Hampton and Old Dominion is more than an exhibition game between two Hampton Roads teams.
Although the two teams have not met in a regular-season contest since Dec. 4, 2002, there is a rivalry none-the-less.
Hampton head coach
Ivan Thomas is a Norfolk native and graduated from Norview High. Hampton's senior guard
Elijah Kennedy is a native of Virginia Beach.
Old Dominion assistant coach Jamal Robinson is a former Pirate assistant coach. Matt Hamilton, ODU's Director of Basketball Operations/Player Personnel, served in a number of assistant coaching roles for nine seasons before moving to Old Dominion.
Hampton returns five players including sophomore guard
Daniel Johnson (7.6 ppg), senior forward
Xzavier Long (6.6 ppg), redshirt sophomore guard
Etienne Strothers, sophomore forward
Eunique Rink (2.1 ppg) and redshirt freshman Hazma Assadallah (0.0 ppg). The Pirates return 25.3 percent of the team's scoring from 2024-25.
Last season, Hampton surprised the experts by posting a 17-16 record in Thomas's first year at the helm. It was Hampton's first winning season since an 18-17 mark in 2018-19.
The Pirates finished the season strong by winning six of their final nine games including a win over Northeastern in the first round of the CAA Tournament in Washington, D.C.
Next Up for the Pirates
The Pirates open the regular season on Monday, Nov. 3 when the Pirates play at Milwaukee. It will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The game marks Hampton 's first trip to the Midwest since a two-game swing at Bowling Green (Dec. 19) and at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 21) in 2023.
