HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Multiple athletes at Hampton University are now ineligible to compete in their respective sports following an assessment from new athletic director Anthony Henderson Sr.
The university did not indicate how many athletes, or what sports, are affected.
“My assessment has revealed that multiple student-athletes do not meet eligibility requirements based on NCAA bylaws,” Henderson said in a statement Friday. “Until all requirements are met, affected student-athletes must be withheld from competing in their respective sports.”
He said the university and its athletics department “continues to work tirelessly with all parties involved to overcome these challenges and to return our student-athletes to competition.”
The university has, as a result, added university compliance and athletics academic support staff and has retained experienced consultants to aid in “appropriate processes and procedures.” It said it is also working closely with the NCAA national office to ensure the university is complying to rules and regulations in the future.
Henderson, who was appointed athletics director in February, said in July that the athletics department had been reorganized to better address areas of need and “to better support our student-athletes,” while modernizing operations.
He said the school had upgraded its internal technology to support its athletes, renewing its agreement with the Teamworks platform to allow athletes to access information about scheduling, compliance, team operations and more through a centralized portal on their smartphones.
It had also added Retain Academics, a web platform it said streamlines the student experience and helps the academic support staff to increase their efficiency. The platform also lets athletes view their study hall schedules, tutor and mentor appointments and class information. Another partnership with another tool, Arms, helps sports organizations “streamline the recruiting process, create operational efficiency and mitigate the risk of costly compliance violations.”
Henderson said at the time that many of the changes were intended to help make it more efficient while aiding in the student-athlete experience and “help address our financial challenges.”
The university said in late May that more than half of Hampton’s 350 student-athletes had earned Dean’s List recognition in the spring 2023 semester.
