HAMPTON, Va. – Lois Elfman, a writer for the education website Diverse Issues in Higher Education, has written a lengthy feature story about Hampton University men's basketball coach Edward Joyner Jr. and the meaning of basketball and coaching to his family.

Joyner calls coaching basketball “the family business” in the article, which details a pact Joyner's father and uncle made when they were children. The article reads in part:

“It began about 50 years ago when Stephen, who goes by his family nickname Big Steve, and Edward, known as Buck, made a pact. Avid athletes, the brothers grew up with a love of sports fostered by their father, who would load them and their friends in his old van to take them to games at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) in their North Carolina hometown.

“They were sitting on the front porch one day when Steve asked his older brother Buck what he wanted to be when he grew up. Buck said he wanted to play in the NBA or be a coach, which was what Steve aspired to as well.

“Steve said, 'Let's make a pact,'” recalls Buck, 60. “'The first one who gets a head coaching job will call the other in to be the assistant.' I said OK.”

Read the entire article here.

For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.