Hampton Pirates
Date: Saturday November 7th, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: ESPN+
Ranks: 251st (KenPom), 198th (Bart Torvik), 296th (Haslametrics), 237th (EvanMiya), 271st (Sports Illustrated)
2025-26 Record: 13-19, 7-11 (10th in CAA)
2026-27 Projected Record: 15-17, 8-10 (T-9th in CAA)

Head-to-Head: 3-2. All five career matchups have been at the Smith Center. The two teams have taken turns winning in the series, and GW will look to put an end to that trend on Saturday. Thankfully, the most recent meeting was a win and I don't have to relive that dark loss back in 2020 - a real low point in the JC era.

Back in 2024, GW came away with by far their most dominant performance against the Pirates 82-54. Both teams started cold shooting from the floor - Hampton shot a dismal 23% from the floor in the first half, while the Revs were not much better at 33%. That, along with out-shooting HU from the FT line gave the home team an eight point lead at the break. GW was able to create a bit more separation after halftime, outscoring the Pirates by 20 while shooting 58% from the floor. The three ball was not much of a factor for either team but GW didn't need it with the way they were feasting inside, outscoring Hampton 46-24 in the paint. HU's inefficiency was largely driven by an inability to move the ball in the halfcourt. They finished with an ugly four assists to 15 turnovers and GW was able to capitalize going the other way.

Tricky led the Buff & Blue with 14 points, and was one of six Revs to finish in double figures - a real balanced effort. Gerald was next with 13 (I wish I was more surprised that he went 1/7 from three), Jacoi pitched in with 12, CJ had 11 while still coming off the bench at the time, and Slim/Jun finished with 10 points each (Buchanan had a double-double with 11 boards as well).

Offensive Efficiency: 303rd (KenPom), 196th (Bart Torvik), 332nd (Haslametrics), 283rd (EvanMiya)
Defensive Efficiency: 174th (KenPom), 214th (Bart Torvik), 228th (Haslametrics), 164th (EvanMiya)
Pace: 202nd (KenPom), 209th (Bart Torvik), 295th (Haslametrics), 210th (EvanMiya)
Offensive ShotQuality Rank: 309th
Defensive ShotQuality Rank: 204th
Rim & 3 Rate: 77% (298th)

Strengths (2025-26 Season):
Bench Points Per Game: 27.97 PPG (47th; 2nd in CAA)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: 12.47 ORPG (54th; 4th in CAA)
Three Point Percentage Defense: 31.6% (57th; 4th in CAA)
Scoring Defense: 70.8 PPG (88th; 5th in CAA)

Weaknesses (2025-26 Season):
Three Pointers Per Game: 6.4 3PM/G (306th; 11th in CAA)
Assists Per Game: 12.1 APG (307th; 11th in CAA)
Scoring Offense: 69.9 PPG (307th; 11th in CAA)
Fouls Per Game: 19.3 PF/G (321st; 13th in CAA)
Field Goal Percentage: 41.4% (333rd; 13th in CAA)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 47% (344th; 13th in CAA)
Three Point Percentage: 29.4% (352nd; 13th in CAA)

Projected Lineup:
#4 G Rav Randhawa (Sophomore; Fleetwood, Canada) - 7.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4 apg; 36% FG, 27% 3-PT, 74% FT per 21.9 mpg/27 GP at JUCO Ellsworth CC last season
#12 G Seth Hubbard (Graduate Student; Jonesboro, GA) - 16.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 spg; 45% FG, 36% 3-PT, 76% FT per 30.8 mpg/9 GP at Milwaukee last season (previously at Toledo/Western Michigan)
#3 G/F Jayme Mitchell Jr. (Graduate Student; Jackson, MS) - 14.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 spg; 39% FG, 33% 3-PT, 79% FT per 32.8 mpg/32 GP at Jackson State last season (previously at Alabama State)
#1 G Aaron Davis III (Senior; Bay Shore, NY) - 9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1 spg; 40% FG, 36% 3-PT, 67% FT per 23.2 mpg/30 GP at Bryant last season
#8 F Max Frazier (Senior; Pittsboro, NC) - 12 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg; 66% FG, 60% FT per 28.1 mpg/30 GP at Central Connecticut last season (previously at Siena)
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#0 G Nehemiah Lawrence (Freshman; Allen, TX)
#5 G Etienne Strothers (Junior; Newport News, VA) - 6.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.1 spg; 37% FG, 32% 3-PT, 76% FT per 18.7 mpg/32 GP at Hampton last season (previously at Appalachian State)
#23 F Cornelius Robinson III (Senior; Willingboro, NJ) - 8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.2 apg; 46% FG, 31% 3-PT, 64% FT per 24.8 mpg/33 GP at Monmouth last season
#2 G Tyler Jackson (Sophomore; Baltimore, MD) - 8.6 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.2 spg; 42% FG, 31% 3-PT, 77% FT per 16.8 mpg/19 GP at Eastern Kentucky last season
#13 G/F Aidan Haskins (Sophomore; Washington, DC) - 3 ppg, 1.3 rpg; 37% FG, 40% 3-PT, 50% FT per 10.9 mpg/30 GP at Hampton last season
#15 F Zion Ibekwe (Freshman; Dallas, TX)
#7 F Peter Da Cruz (Sophomore; Long Branch, NJ) - 11.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2 bpg; 53% FG, 68% FT per 7.6 mpg/25 GP at JUCO Connors State College last season
#9 F Will Preston (Freshman; Omaha, NE)

Key Losses:
Michael Eley (Graduated; Fort Wayne, IN) - 13 ppg, 3.4 rpg; 48% FG, 31% 3-PT, 88% FT per 19.2 mpg/23 GP
Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt (Transferred to Southern Miss; Wyandanch, NY) - 11.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 3 apg; 40% FG, 26% 3-PT, 77% FT per 26.3 mpg/29 GP
Daniel Johnson (Transferred to James Madison; Chicago, IL) - 10 ppg, 5 rpg, 1 spg; 40% FG, 32% 3-PT, 73% FT per 25.1 mpg/32 GP
Xzavier Long (Graduated; Washington, DC) - 9.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.1 spg; 42% FG, 25% 3-PT, 68% FT per 34.5 mpg/30 GP
Josh Ogundele (Graduated; London, United Kingdom) - 6.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg; 55% FG, 40% 3-PT, 61% FT per 17.6 mpg/27 GP
Christian Watson (Graduated; Lanham, MD) - 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg; 39% FG, 27% 3-PT, 79% FT per 17.7 mpg/25 GP

Preview:
With NIL, 5 in 5, and all the craziness with players going pro and trying to come back to college, it feels like discussion about conference realignment has taken a back seat. There's obvious benefits that come with upgrading to a better conference. Apart from better media deals, teams can bring in better talent and put a better product on the court. The chances of getting an at-large bid improves. However, better competition can hurt a team's wins-loss record and their visibility. For schools like UCLA or USC, not only is the travel way more in the Big Ten but it feels like they've been lost in the shuffle in a predominantly midwestern conference. These were schools consistently fighting towards the top of the old Pac-12. Now, it feels like their ceiling is being in tier two of the B10 which isn't the end of the world, but competing for a conference championship seems less likely. Gonzaga moving to the new Pac-12 feels similar. While they will likely be the favorite in the P12 most years, they are unlikely to repeat their dominance in league games compared to the years before. I guess the move to a 76 team tournament changes the equation somewhat and you make the move 100% of the time regardless, but there's something to be said being the top dog in a conference - like the WCC was for the Zags.

The same could be said on a smaller scale about Hampton in the 2020s. The Pirates were once a dominant force in the MEAC as recently as eight years ago - a conference they had been in since joining D1 in 1995. Since then, they've spent four years in the Big South and changed conferences a second time in moving to the Coastal. You take out High Point, and you can easily imagine Hampton competing with the other teams in the Big South. The move to the CAA has been a bit too much for them in such a short span though. Hampton and their peer North Carolina A&T are among the better funded HBCUs in the nation, but the Coastal adding both felt like more of a quantity add than a quality one. Since the two schools joined in 2023 (along with Monmouth and Stony Brook - JMU also left for the Sun Belt), there has been a clear divide in the CAA between the haves and have-nots. That's why the league has continued to hover in the 20s in the conference rankings (per KenPom) even though the perception of the league (minus the FloHoops factor) has generally been positive from a mid-major basketball lens. At the end of the day, most moves are made with football in mind, but it feels like the Coastal has ignored basketball in the process. We'll see what happens when Fairfield joins next year. They have potential, but the results haven't been there in the MAAC.

Year 2 of the Ivan Thomas era felt like a step back for Hampton. After a promising 2024-25 that saw the Pirates improve by 98 spots from their KenPom preseason rank, the team trended the other direction last season - falling nearly 50 spots to 272. They especially limped to the finish line, dropping six of their last seven games to end the year. Thomas has elected to slow the tempo since taking over for Ed Joyner, but it has only led to marginal improvements at best on both sides of the ball. The shooting has continued to be an eyesore. The Pirates shot under 29% from downtown against D1 competition - only eight teams were more incompetent at the top level of CBB. In the halfcourt, there's been a lot of isolation ball where their best chance of putting up points has either been second chance opportunities (90th in OR%) or at the line (73rd in FTR). The 309th offensive ShotQuality rank pretty much sums up Hampton's issues on this end - they settle for too many midrange shots and team ball is largely neglected.

The better side of the ball for Hampton has been defense, thanks to their ability to force turnovers and end possessions with a defensive rebound. The Pirates also run their opponents off the three point line (top 100 in defensive 3PA% the last two years under Thomas). While a sound approach, they have generally been killed in the paint and their inability to defend without fouling hasn't helped either as opponents have lived at the FT line (355th in defensive FTR last year). There needs to be some kind of resistance near the rim if opponents are going to be in the paint frequently, but that has been nonexistent for HU. There's no guarantee the rebounding will continue to be a strength either going into this year, especially with Xzavier Long out of the fold. Long led the CAA in rebounds per game and was especially dominant on the defensive glass, where he ranked 16th nationally while barely coming off the floor (94th in mpg).

The biggest move Hampton MBB made this offseason may have been adding Jared Grasso to the bench as an assistant coach. Grasso was the head man at Bryant for five years before he was put on leave and later charged with a hit-and-run in Rhode Island. He memorably asked a cop to shoot jumpers in the middle of the investigation. For those who haven't seen the clip, it's as wild as it sounds. Since then, Grasso has been coaching at The Knox School in NY but it was pretty obvious that he would be looking to get back to CBB sooner rather than later. For however long he remains at Hampton, I'd expect the Pirates to get a nice recruiting boost. While at Bryant, Grasso was known for "offering" hundreds of HS players even though the majority were non-committable which always felt a bit tacky. If nothing else, I'd expect him to bring in some NIL with his connections. He got Adam Njie Jr. to join the squad after sitting out at Dayton last year, but Njie was ruled ineligible in June due to his role in a point-shaving scheme. There's no doubt that Njie is talented - he was a high-level player at Iona, but pursuing a player like that is such a Grasso move. Granted, if you are a program like Hampton it's probably a risk you're willing to take.

While the Pirates lose their top five scorers from last year, part time starter Etienne Strothers returns for his junior year. The Virginia native is a good point-of-attack defender who led the team in steals last year. With Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt out of the fold, Strothers may be asked to take on more playmaking duties this year. He can hit the open shot on offense, but took a step back with his efficiency last year. A handful of Hampton newcomers could cut into his playing time. The only other returner from last year is rising sophomore Aidan Haskins, a stretch forward from DC who knocked down nearly 40% of his threes with over 70% of his shots coming from long range. That kind of shooting could be useful for a team that needs it, but Haskins will need to prove that he can impact the game in other areas as well.

Hampton's backcourt has certainly been upgraded with the additions of Seth Hubbard, Aaron Davis III, Jayme Mitchell Jr., and Tyler Jackson. All four played D1 ball elsewhere last year. Hubbard is the "old head" of the group, now in his fifth year of CBB with previous stops at Western Michigan, Toledo, and Milwaukee. He went down just nine games into last year with a shoulder injury, but shined in the games he played, shooting 36% from three. Hubbard has generally been a volume-dependent scorer (especially during his MAC days), but his scoring potential will place him towards the top of the scouting report for most teams.

Davis III was recruited by Grasso out of HS and he played the last three years at Bryant. He's listed as a guard on the roster, but is more of a wing. Davis shot a career best 36% from 3 on Jamion's squad last year, but it cannot be ignored that the Bulldogs were one of the worst teams in all of CBB last year. In the years they were good and coached by Phil Martelli Jr., Davis was a deeper option. Will a change of scenery help him to be productive and impact winning? Thomas is hoping that is the case.

Mitchell is not too far behind Hubbard in terms of games played in college. He was a SWAC lifer prior to this year, beginning his career at EJ Clark's school Alabama State back in 2021 before spending the last four at Jackson State. Mitchell was a worthy Robin to Daeshun Ruffin in the JSU offense and over his career he's shot 35% from downtown. He's also very adept at drawing contact and getting to the line, but his ability to rebound should particularly fit well with how Thomas wants to play. Mitchell is taking a sizable step up in competition, but his experience should help lessen the learning curve.

Jackson may possess the most talent of the quartet. He was a four-star player per 247Sports out of HS, but ended up at Eastern Kentucky last year. In a different era of CBB, I'm sure he would have started out at the high-major ranks. Jackson had a relatively successful first year while using nearly 26% of possessions at EKU, a team that was not very good last year. Since his HS days, he's been a guy who has needed the ball in his hands a lot to be productive though so the biggest challenge for Thomas is getting all these high-usage guards to coexist. I'm not particularly confident in that based on past Hampton offenses.

The key to a cohesive offense may come from the one transfer that did not come over from the D1 ranks. Rav Randhawa was a solid playmaker for a good Ellsworth CC team in the JUCO ranks last year, averaging four dimes a game. While Randhawa is not quite a finished product as a scorer, that won't be his role at Hampton. He just needs to set the other guards up and let them do their thing. Having said that, teams will play off him if he cannot develop at least a jumper that opponents have to respect.

Thomas also addressed the frontcourt in the portal by landing the services of Cornelius Robinson III, Max Frazier, and Peter Da Cruz. Robinson is an ideal connecting piece on offense and is already plenty familiar with the CAA after appearing in 99 games with Monmouth. He does not have much shooting range offensively, but should be an asset on the glass and comes from a good defensive system. At 6'7", Thomas can slot him into a number of different lineup combinations. Frazier, who began his career at Siena, broke out in his third year of CBB, starting all 30 games at Central Connecticut. He improved his interior efficiency on higher volume (ranked fifth nationally in FG percentage), rebounded at a good clip, and provided some rim protection. Frazier might be Hampton's most underrated pickup of the offseason, and will be pivotal for an improved Hampton interior defense. Da Cruz comes from the JUCO ranks where he nearly averaged a double-double while swatting two shots a game. He's still on the younger side (and stats from junior college don't always translate) but he should be effective as a backup this year if he can earn court time.

Hampton also welcomes in a five-man freshman class. Nehemiah Lawrence was a gamer at the HS level in Texas, pouring in 18 ppg his senior year while shooting 39% from deep. He's only listed at 5'5" though, which comes with obvious limitations when playing D1. Against Georgia Tech, Lawrence appeared to take some of Randhawa's minutes in the second half. Thomas could very well start him and let him play through mistakes as a rookie. William Preston is seventeen inches taller than Lawrence, but the Nebraska native will likely need a bit of time to develop. The same is likely true for Chad native and awesomely-named Sylvanus Tabe, who played last year with the Overtime Elite City Reapers. Chris Eldredge was previously offered by Grasso at Bryant and was coached by him in HS last season. He brings added size to the backcourt. Zion Ibekwe may be the most impactful of the freshmen. He was a McDonald's All-American nominee and averaged 20 ppg and 7 rpg in his senior year. Ibekwe projects to be an effective slasher, having made an astounding 238 FTs in his final season of HS ball.

While Hampton has upgraded their shooting a tad this year, the key to success for GW will be cutting off driving lanes and keeping the Pirates off the FT line and glass. The Revs should be in good shape if they can own both the FT and rebounding battles. The Pirates feature a few pesky guards with quick hands, so being sound with the ball will be essential, although Hampton doesn't tend to play heavily in transition. Omari didn't take a single shot from inside the arc against Navy, but this feels like the perfect game for him to drive downhill constantly and live in the paint and FT line. It also feels like another matchup where GW's frontcourt should dominate.

Projected Score: GW 80, Hampton 65. 90% chance to win (KenPom). Bart Torvik gives us a 91% chance at a W, while ESPN similarly projects a 91.7% chance to move to 2-0.