The schedule report - Hampton

We chill out from women's basketball for a few days to lock in on the U.S. Open (Way to go, Sam! Holla, Novak! Ouch, Fed!) and bam! - 2011-12 schedules all over the place. So let's take a look at 'em one-by-one, starting with....

HAMPTON 

(click on the link for the school's release)

On the marquee

Hampton at Florida, Nov. 22
   - A year ago at Hampton, the Lady Pirates whipped Florida so fiercely we'll bet the Gators' backsides are still sore. Think the Gators will be a bit focused for the rematch?

Get your tickets early for....

East Carolina at Hampton, Jan. 2
   - Pirates vs. Lady Pirates and a homecoming of sorts for former Hampton head coach Fred Applin, now an ECU assistant. ECU's staff also features director of operations Kitara McMoore, a Virginia Beach native, and Ann Hancock, the former head coach at UNC Wilmington. And the roster includes Virginia transfers Britny and Whitny Edwards and James Madison transfer Kristine Mial.

Food for thought

- Of the Lady Pirates' 11 non-conference games, nine are on the road or at neutral sites in seven different states.

- The Lady Pirates don't debut at the HU Convocation Center until Dec. 3 against MEAC rival South Carolina State.

- Hampton opens its season on Nov. 12 at Pitt, a team whose 11 players are all freshmen or sophomores.

- The addition of Savannah State and a fully Division I accredited North Carolina Central gives the MEAC 13 teams for a 16-game conference schedule. As a result, the Lady Pirates will play home-and-home series with Howard, Morgan State, Coppin State, Norfolk State and Delaware State and one game against six other league schools but no games against perennial MEAC power North Carolina A&T.

- The Lady Pirates will play their one game against Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, where Hampton has lost in each of the past two seasons. Last year's 55-51 loss to the Lady Pirates was Hampton's only MEAC defeat.

- The MEAC Tournament is set for March 5-12 at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Tennessee guard verbally commits to Hampton

A few years ago, James Madison recruited an under-the-radar player from Clarksville, Tenn. Turned out OK - all Dawn Evans did was re-write the school's record book.

Now Hampton has mined that same territory. Blake Jenkines, a 5-10 guard from Clarksville's Kenwood High, has verbally committed to the Lady Pirates for 2012, according to the Leaf-Chronicle.

"(Hampton has) a great team and they're really serious about their basketball," Jenkines, who visited Hampton last weekend, told the newspaper. "That's what struck me about them. I'm really excited about the opportunity to go up there and learn and hopefully compete for playing time."

The Leaf-Chronicle reported that Jenkins had scholarship offers from UAB, Florida A&M and Austin Peay and had piqued the interest of several other schools. She averaged 18 points per game playing in the post for Kenwood last season, but is a natural perimeter player and projects as a big guard in college.

Jenkines is the second known 2012 player to commit to Hampton, joining Stonewall Jackson's Ryan Jordan.
Click here for a rundown of 2012 verbals from across the state.