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The Hampton Pirates are the 28th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the third and final independent. Hampton finished 6-5 overall in 2019, their most wins in a season in program history, but went 0-3 against Division I opponents. The Pirates named Rashad Devoe their new head coach this summer and plan to play a full Division I schedule in 2021.
Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:
Hampton’s 2020 Schedule
| Date | Road Team | Home Team | Special Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Road Team | Home Team | Special Notes |
| 2/1 | Hampton | NJIT | |
| 2/8 | Hampton | Furman | |
| 2/11 | Hampton | Bellarmine | First ever meeting |
| 2/22 | Hampton | Mercer | First ever meeting |
| 3/7 | Hampton | Jacksonville | First ever meeting |
| 3/11 | Hampton | Greensboro (D3) | |
| 3/14 | Cleveland State | Hampton | First meeting since 2018 |
| 3/21 | Hampton | Utah | First ever meeting |
| 3/29 | Hampton | VMI | |
| 4/4 | Hampton | Alderson Broaddus (D2) | |
| 4/11 | St. Thomas Aquinas (D2) | Hampton | |
| 4/18 | Wilmington (D2) | Hampton | First ever meeting |
Who’s In?
- Bellarmine Knights (2/11)
- Mercer Bears (2/22)
- Jacksonville Dolphins (3/7)
- Cleveland State Vikings (3/14)
- Utah Utes (3/21)
- Wilmington Wildcats (D2) (4/18)
Who’s Out?
- SUNY Maritime Privateers (D3) (17-11 L)
- SUNY Poly Wildcats (D3) (15-10 W)
- Westminster Titans (D3) (9-8 W)
- Chowan Hawks (D2) (18-16 W)
- Bethany Bison (D3) (26-2 W)
Hampton’s Opponent’s 2019 Average Win Percentage & RPI
| Avg. overall win pct. | Avg. Division I win pct. | Avg. non-Division I win pct. | Avg. Division I overall RPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. overall win pct. | Avg. Division I win pct. | Avg. non-Division I win pct. | Avg. Division I overall RPI |
| .318 | .288 | .379 | 58.25 |
Circle These Dates
- 2/1 at NJIT: Why not make a good impression in the first game? It’s a new regime and a new era in the program. Should we expect a monumental upset? Not yet. But hopefully we do see a much improved Hampton team than in previous years.
- 2/11 at Bellarmine: Three days after visiting Furman, the Pirates visit the Knights for the first time in program history. Like Hampton, Bellarmine has a new head coach in Andrew Whitley. Despite Riley Seay departing for Loyola, the Knights still have a good group of players that can be good to test Hampton.
- 2/22 at Mercer: This is the third of four straight SoCon opponents the Pirates will face. They’ll play five of the eight schools overall (missing Air Force, High Point, and Richmond). You get a sense that maybe they’d like to join the SoCon in the future? Whether it’s true or not, the Bears won a single game last year against VMI, one of Hampton’s opponents.
- 3/21 at Utah: As mentioned in Utah’s schedule preview, this is a crossroads matchup, a preview of what could be the future of lacrosse. The lone HBCU men’s lacrosse program in the country faces off against the western-most men’s Division I program. The outcome of this game might not matter when zeros show on the clock, but simply just having this game is a big step forward for the sport.
- 4/11 vs. St. Thomas Aquinas: Hampton only has four games against Division II or Division III opponents. Three are against D2 opponents, and St. Thomas Aquinas is the only team from that group that Hampton lost to a year ago. Making sure the players play the right style of lacrosse will matter the most for this season, but perhaps a big bonus would be defeating all of the Division II and III teams in order to prep for a full Division I slate in 2021.