Finding Treasure in Hampton Roads
February 27, 2019 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Atlanta Blaze News Release
From 2003 to 2007, I had the honor of serving in the United States Navy and being stationed in Norfolk, VA. During my time in the Hampton Roads area, I was fortunate to be able to attend many collegiate athletic events at the surrounding universities. Anytime I get the opportunity to travel to the Hampton Roads area, I enjoy it. Twelve years have passed, yet Hamptons Roads will always be the place I call my second home. When presented the opportunity to travel to Hampton University to learn more about the lacrosse program, I jumped all over it. Not only because of my ties to the navy life that is so vibrant in the area, but to learn about a lacrosse program at Hampton that I knew nothing about.
On February 18th, I was able to sit down with Hampton University's Athletic Director, Eugene Marshall, Jr., and Public Relations and Multimedia Specialist, James Parker. Mr. Marshall, a New Jersey native, has dedicated the last 34 years of his life being a part of intercollegiate athletics, including 27 years as an athletic director and 19 years as a head coach for a number of institutes. A graduate of Northeastern, Marshall also played collegiate basketball under Hall of Fame coach, Jim Calhoun. In 2014, Hampton University hired Marshall to assume the responsibility for the day-to-day management and operations of its 17 sports programs, including men's lacrosse.
Speaking about the lacrosse program and doing a bit of research, I learned about a student named Michael Crawford who proposed Hampton University to open the program. Can you tell me about the founding of the lacrosse program?
EM: That was before I got in. That was Dr. Barbara Inman, who is the Vice President for Administrative Services and also oversees Student Affairs, and Dr. Harvey, the President of the University. Michael Crawford was a student here and an avid lacrosse player from New York. They wanted to have a club sport, and Michael had started the process before he had passed, so Dr. Harvey and Dr. Inman were able to start a club sports program. Mr. Clyde Etter, who is the Director of the Club Sports Program, developed that sport. They also had Lloyd Carter, who is from Baltimore, coach the club program. When the idea of a lacrosse program was presented, lacrosse was one of the fastest growing sports, and I had experience with lacrosse being the sports supervisor at West Point. And being able to diversify the program was a great idea, and Dr. Harvey's genius was to start it. So, we went from club right to Division I. We didn't stop at Division II or Division III. We became the 70th Division I program, and we also asked Lloyd Carter to take over when moving from the club to the varsity level.
How were you able to go from a club lacrosse program to Division I directly, as opposed to being a Division II or Division III program?
EM: Well we're an independent, so we weren't in a conference. And being independent you're allowed to kind of build your program step-by-step. We do play some Division II and Division III schools, as well as some Division I schools. It's a way of getting us developed in the process.
On February 13th, 2016, the lacrosse program made its debut against Roberts Wesleyan College. What did that moment feel like to bring lacrosse to Hampton University and have ESPN here doing the GameDay broadcast?
JP: It felt great. It was a great opportunity for us to showcase the university. A lot of preparation goes into a major sports network coming down and putting on a production like that. We were all proud. The team was proud. It was just a great day. A great cold day, but it was just a great day for the university. We were just so excited to have them here.
Speaking of great days for the university, on March 4th, 2017, the Pirates defeated Greensboro College 7-5. How important was that first win for the Hampton lacrosse program?
EM: I think it was more important for the student-athletes. Yes, I was sitting in my box seat and happy that we won, but happy for the student-athletes and coach who put in the time every day, even in a non-traditional season, to come up with a win. It's hard starting a sport and starting a sport without training wheels. It's the equivalent to riding a bike without training wheels. That's difficult.
Obviously, there are woes at the beginning of any sports program, and this program has improved year-by-year. Last year you had 5 wins as opposed to a single win the year before that. This year you have 12 games on the schedule. Looking at the constant improvement of the team's record, what are your keys to success in developing a lacrosse program here at Hampton University?
EM: Well the vision starts with our president. General Samuel Armstrong, the university's first president, said in August of 1868 that he wanted everything at the university to excel. The 12th President, Dr. William R. Harvey says the same thing all the time. So, it just trickles down. I want everything in this department to excel. We know that life is not perfect, and we're not going to excel all the time. But if we strive for that, success will come. Because we knew there was going to be a no-win season, and then a one-win season. Then we tried to get to two in a season, and you know what? We ended up with five. Now this year, the pressure is to have a winning season. And that's the goal. And the goal, once we get to that, is to get to a conference. Lacrosse conferences are hard to get into, but eventually, we will.
Do you feel there are any challenges or advantages to being the only HBCU in NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse?
EM: I think the advantage is being the first. Hampton University prides itself on being the first. So that's just a long line of things we've done. Do I think there is any pressure on us? No. Because we just go about doing our business. We are one of the few historically black colleges/universities that are in a major majority conference. We just left the MEAC, and now we're in the Big South. In September, we will start triathlon. We will be the first HBCU to start women's triathlon. So, we know who we are, we're Hampton University. We have a standard of excellence. So, we pride ourselves on being the standard of excellence, thus that means being the first sometimes. And if you're the first, sometimes things are going to go well, and you're going to have challenges. We prepare for the challenges, and we move forward.
Lloyd Carter is lacrosse team's head coach and member of the legendary Morgan State Ten Bears. What does it mean to have Coach Carter as the leader of Hampton's Lacrosse program?
EM: It means a lot, but to be honest, I didn't know about that till afterward. I looked at Lloyd Carter for who he was, what he did, and his commitment to that program. And we knew we needed that same commitment to moving this program forward. And as I did more research, I found out who he was. The ironic thing is that a college classmate of mine grew up with him. So, I was able to glean some information about him as a man. He's done a good job for us and he continues to do so. He bleeds it. He loves the kids, and they love him back. And we're systematically moving this program along.
Where do you see the lacrosse program in the next decade?
EM: I see the program continuing to matriculate and get better. We'd join a conference. Our goal is that you will see a diverse lacrosse team that will have the best players from all over the country. The phrase 'HBCU Lacrosse Team' will be stricken because it will be just like Hampton University. This is our lacrosse program. We want to be one of the best mid-size lacrosse programs in the country, which is the goal of our athletic department. We want to be one of the best mid-size athletic departments in the country. So, it will fit right in.
In talking about HBCUs, do you think, or know if, more HBCUs will adopt a lacrosse program?
EM: I think they will. I know Howard and Morgan State have had some discussions. And I think more will do it once they get to see how we do, and how the success rate is. I think people look at Hampton as the light of change because if you want to see how change is made, you come to Hampton. If you want to be a leader of change, you go see Dr. William R. Harvey.
Earlier you spoke about joining a conference, and Hampton is in its first year as a member of the Big South conference. Do you know if the Big South is thinking about men's lacrosse?
EM: As of right now, no. So, we have some other conferences, but I don't want to name them right now. We are in pursuit of joining a conference, but we're tempering that because there is a strategical aspect of this. We want to get better. We want to continue to grow the program, and then it will become marketable, so that other conferences will want it, just like our athletic program as a whole. The athletic program is originally from the CIAA and we were there until 1995. Then we went to the MEAC and stayed there for 22 years. Then we decided to make a move. So, it's the philosophy that we want to get this program right. We want to continue to improve the schedule, improve the victories, improve the roster, and competitiveness.
The Pirates home opener is scheduled for 2:00 pm on March 2nd, against Greensboro College. They will look to improve their record this year, as they have done each year prior. On a personal note, I'd like to thank Eugene Marshall, Jr. and James Parker for taking the time to discuss the lacrosse program.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Lacrosse message board...
Major League Lacrosse Stories from February 27, 2019
- Finding Treasure in Hampton Roads - Atlanta Blaze
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
