Hampton U’s assistant athletic director for compliance no longer employed amid ongoing eligibility issues
Eligibility issues apparently continue to plague Hampton University, and the latest fallout was the departure of an assistant athletic director for compliance.
An athletics department spokesperson confirmed to The Pilot on Monday that Alexis Avery, Hampton’s assistant athletic director for compliance, is no longer employed by the university.
The spokesperson had no details regarding why Avery’s employment had come to an end, but multiple sources told The Pilot she was let go late last week. Multiple attempts by The Pilot to reach both Avery and Hampton athletic director Anthony Henderson on Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Avery is no longer listed on the Hampton Athletics staff directory, and her absence leaves director of compliance Kevarian Henry as the lone person working in compliance, according to the staff directory.
Hampton has been dealing with ongoing eligibility problems publicly since September, although Henderson has said the issues were discovered in the “late summer.”
Henderson told The Pilot in an email in late September that eligibility issues were affecting members of the cross country, women’s soccer, volleyball and football teams.
The Pirates volleyball team recently had matches scheduled for Oct. 14-15 against Northeastern canceled due to “health concerns” within the program. That came after Hampton already had canceled three matches this season. A match against Norfolk State scheduled for Sept. 5 was postponed due to eligibility issues, but that match has been rescheduled for Nov. 12, according to a Norfolk State press release last week.
Hampton’s football team also had “double-digit” players ineligible for its game against Norfolk State earlier this season.
Henderson told The Pilot late last month that eligibility issues do not stem from academic performance or grades. He added athletes who transferred to Hampton have been impacted the most.
“We have unbelievable student-athletes at Hampton University, including 182 student-athletes representing every team on the Dean’s List for the 2022-23 academic year, a cumulative student-athlete GPA of 3.24, including 24 student-athletes who earned a perfect 4.0,” Henderson wrote in an email. “Most of the current eligibility issues we are facing relate to meeting progress toward degree requirements.”
In September, Henderson told The Pilot that Hampton is not sharing the amount of athletes who are ineligible, but that the “majority” of athletes who play on fall sports teams have been reinstated and had already returned to competition.
Any other fallout, including the possibility of an NCAA investigation, as a result of the eligibility issues is still unclear, Henderson told The Pilot last month.
“That is to be determined, and we have been in constant contact with the NCAA, but cannot comment beyond that,” Henderson said in an email.
Staff writer Marty O’Brien contributed to this story.
Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com, (757) 803-5774
