ODU Men's Basketball Falls to Hampton, 82-79, in Exhibition at Chartway Arena

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – With two of its key players on the bench with injuries, the Old Dominion men’s basketball team was unable to stop Hampton from scoring when it had to and fell to the Pirates, 82-79, Sunday afternoon in an exhibition at Chartway Arena. 

ODU trimmed what had been a 13-point lead to two in the final seconds but could not overtake the Pirates.

Head Coach Mike Jones nonetheless said he saw a lot that he liked.

“Believe it or not, I am enthused,” he said. “With everything we have going on right now, with our preparation for our opener next Monday, I’ll take today.”

By next Monday, he referred to ODU’s opener on Nov. 3 at Miami of Ohio, a team picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference. ODU then opens at home on Thursday, Nov. 6, against Randolph College, the Division III school in Lynchburg.

With three starters returning, and a bountiful recruiting class ranked best in the Sun Belt Conference, much is expected of ODU this season. ODU was picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt preseason poll.

Alas for the Monarchs, Robert Davis Jr., the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, and Drew McKenna, a transfer from Georgetown, were both on the bench with injuries.

“I hope so,” Jones said, when asked if Davis will return for the opener. “You know, he’s just getting healthy and there was absolutely zero reason to kind of roll him out there today.

“I don’t want to say yes or no, but that’s the plan.”

In their absence, LJ Thomas, a transfer from Austin Peay, had 22 points, and KC Shaw, a senior transfer from Maryland-Eastern Shore, added 17.

Scottie Hubbard, the sophomore from Washington, D.C.; Caelum Swanton-Rodger, the 7-foot returnee from Alberta, Canada; and Zacch Wiggins, the freshman from Greensboro, North Carolina; each had 10 points.  

It was Shaw who keyed ODU’s comeback. And curiously, he is coming off a two-week break necessitated after he suffered a concussion in a scrimmage against another university.

“I’m just getting back in the groove of things, getting my cardio back,” he said.

ODU trailed by 12 when Shaw hit back-to-back three-point shots and then added a layup, all in a minute and 13 seconds. And just like that, ODU trailed, 65-61, with 4:42 left.

Thomas then picked off a Hampton pass and made a layup to cut the lead to three, 69-66, with 2:55 left.

ODU pressed the Pirates in the final minutes full court, leading to two breakaway shots for the Pirates.

Then, with 3.5 seconds left, Thomas drilled a three-point shot to cut the lead to two, 81-79.

ODU then fouled Hampton’s Xzavier Long, who made one of two free throws. ODU was unable to get off a shot before the final buzzer.  

Hampton is in its second season under Head Coach Ivan Thomas, a Norfolk native and Norview High graduate who led the Pirates to their first winning season in five years in 2024-25. The Pirates were picked to finish fifth in the 13-team Coastal Athletic Association.

“This was a great test for us,” Jones said. “Hampton has a very good team and they’re going to have a great season.”

Shaw said that Hampton outworked the Monarchs and said that can’t happen again. Hampton made 29 of 50 shots (58 percent) and outscored the Monarchs by six points in the paint.

“We were lacking on the defensive end,” Shaw said. “I feel like they had too many transition points. I feel like they were tougher than us tonight.

“But we’re going to get that right.”

Last season the Monarchs often found themselves down by double digits and were forced to rally in the final minutes. Although that was the script that played out against Hampton, Jones said, “That is not going to be our season. I’m very confident in saying that.”

“Today was good for us,” he added. “We saw things today that will help us as we get the season started.

“Miami will be a huge challenge for us. They return a lot from last season and have the MAC Preseason Player of the Year. It’s a tough place to play in Oxford. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”