HAMPTON, Va. (Nov. 2, 2025) ... The Hampton Pirates men's basketball team heads to the Midwest to open its season with Milwaukee Monday night. The meeting between Hampton (17-16 in 2024-25) and Milwaukee (21-11) will be a match-up of two teams in the midst of rebuilding.
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.
Hampton returns five players from last year's team including sophomore guard
Daniel Johnson (7.6 ppg), senior forward
Xzavier Long (6.6 ppg), redshirt sophomore guard
Etienne Strothers (4.1 ppg), sophomore forward
Eunique Rink (2.1 ppg) and redshirt freshman Hazma Asadallah (0.0 ppg). The Pirates return 25.3 percent of the team's scoring from 2024-25.
A week ago, the Pirates defeated Old Dominion 82-79 in an exhibition game. Hampton led for all but one minute of the contest and led by as many as 12. Coach Thomas employed different line-ups and experimented with various sets while recording the win.
Last season, Hampton surprised the experts by posting a 17-16 record under first-year coach
Ivan Thomas. It was Hampton's first winning season since an 18-17 mark in 2018-19. In the five previous seasons, the Pirates recorded a 52-92 (.311) record.
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.
The Panthers boasted five double-figure scorers a year ago. But none of the five are back this season. The top returner for Coach Bart Lundy is graduate forward Jason Fields, who averaged 6.7 points per contest in 2024-25. In all, 25.3 percent team's offense returns from last season's 21-11 team.
Next Up for the Pirates
The Pirates return to the Hampton Convocation Center to host Mid-Atlantic Christian in the home-opener on Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. Hampton won the last meeting by a 110-53 count on Nov. 4, 2024 at the Convocation Center.
Daniel Johnson led all scorer with 19 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
Pirates in Season Openers
Since 1952, Hampton has posted a 44-29 (.603) record in season-openers dating back to 1952-53. Hampton began in 2024-25 season at home against Mid-Atlantic Christian in the season-opener. Six Hampton players scored in double figures in the victory. Hampton led from wire-to-wire in the game.
