Interview With Hampton University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Edward “Buck” Joyner Jr.


Coach Joyner’s Records By Opponent (through 2019-20)
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
-Three MEAC Tournament championships (2011, 2015, 2016).
-Three NCAA Tournament appearances (2011, 2015, 2016).
-Three-time MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Coach (2011, 2015, 2016).
-Two MEAC regular-season championships (2015-16, 2017-18).
-2016, 2018: Finalist for the Ben Jobe Award.
-2015: HBCU Digest Male Coach of the Year.
-Guided the Pirates to their second-ever NCAA Div. I Tournament win, a 74-64 victory over Manhattan in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
-Seven postseason appearances (2011 NCAA, 2014 CBI, 2015 NCAA, 2016 NCAA, 2017 CBI, 2018 NIT, 2019 CIT).
-Lead team to deepest post-season run in Hampton history advancing to 2019 CIT Semifinals
-Guided team to first NIT Tournament appearance in school history in 2018 facing Notre Dame in opening round.
-Winningest coach in program Hampton University Div. I history.
-One MEAC Defensive Player of the Year (Du’Vaughn Maxwell, 2013-14).
-Led the Pirates to 24 wins in 2010-11.
-Led the Pirates to 21 wins in 2015-16.
-BoxToRow HBCU Coach of the Year (2010-11).
-Ben Jobe Minority Coach Award finalist (2010-11).
-2007: named to Top 100 Mid-Major Assistants by both Basketball Times and Hoops Scoop.
-2008: named to Top 20 Mid-Major Assistants by both Basketball Times and Hoops Scoop.
-2006: helped Hampton recruit a national top-60 recruiting class.
-Helped Johnson C. Smith reach the men’s NCAA Div. II Tournament seven times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2001.
-Spent five seasons as an assistant with the Johnson C. Smith women, reaching three CIAA title games and making one NCAA Div. II Tournament
-His teams have consistently been over 960 in APR rankings throughout his tenure.

In his first 11 seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Hampton University, Edward “Buck” Joyner Jr. has guided the Pirates to national prominence on more than one occasion – and that’s not even counting the magical run Hampton made in March 2015 en route to an improbable MEAC championship, an NCAA Tournament win, and national notoriety.

Fighting the injury bug throughout the 2019-20 season, the Pirates once again get on a run in the post-season advancing to their first Big South Conference championship game as they finished 15-19. Hampton entered the tournament as the fifth-seed and knocked off fourth-seeded Longwood and top-seeded Radford to advance to the title game. Senior Jermaine Marrow and sophomore Ben Stanley earned first-team All-Big South and All-Big South Tournament honors.

The Pirate’s first season of Big South Conference action in 2018-19 saw them catch fire down the stretch winning eight of their last 10 games and make the deepest run a Hampton University NCAA Division I team has made in a post-season tournament going to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Hampton finished with an 18-17 record and was lead by junior Jermaine Marrow who finished among the top ten nationally in scoring averaging over 24 points per game. Marrow was a first-team All-Big South selection and finished 13 points from 2,000 in his career.

The 2017-18 season saw the team battle through early adversity as Joyner’s father, Edward “Big Buck” Joyner Sr., passed away prior to a home game on December 6. The Pirates rebounded in MEAC play finishing with a 19-16 record overall and a 12-4 mark in the conference. Hampton ended in a three-way tie for the regular-season crown and earned its first bid to the National Invitation Tournament facing Notre Dame in the opening round. Sophomore Jermaine Marrow was named First Team All-MEAC and break the 1,000-career point mark.

The Pirates advanced to the finals of the MEAC Tournament where Charles Wilson-Fisher and Malique Trent-Street were named to the All-Tournament squad.