HAMPTON, VA (WTKR)- Anthony Henderson is no stranger to Hampton University, he's just a little more seasoned than the last time he called campus home.
Henderson, a former Pirate football player, was introduced as the school's new director of athletics during a news conference on Thursday morning at the Convocation Center.
"You don't get a chance to come home very often," he said. "You move around and you go to different institutions, so the opportunity to come to a place that produced you, that you call home, it's like why not?"
"He can look a student-athlete in the eye and tell them 'I know how it works. I've been in your shoes. I've played here at Hampton,'" added Hampton head football coach Robert Prunty. "He knows what it takes to get it done here at Hampton."
Henderson brings 20 years of experience in athletic administration with him back to the Peninsula. His most recent stop was at Yale, but he's also worked in athletic departments at Old Dominion, William & Mary and Akron. A stint at the MEAC office in Norfolk also graces his resume and all of that knowledge at various levels of sports gives him quite the tool box to use at his latest destination.
"There's not a lot I haven't seen," Henderson pointed out. "The question is, how do we take all of those things and adapt them to Hampton?"
The new Pirate leader has a plan for his first few months on the job. First and foremost, a listening tour, one he says he's already started, where he'll hear the concerns and hopes of student-athletes, coaches, staff and the community."
"Getting around, figuring out what works, what doesn't," he said of his tour. "Another big thing is NIL. We don't have anything in place right now with NIL."
"He's already met with the student-athletes, he met with the coaches and he's just already starting to bond," noted Prunty.
Henderson uses the word 'Elite' as an acronym for his personal pillars- Excellence, leadership, integrity, teamwork and energy. He told attendees at Thursday's ceremony that his goal is to make Hampton the Peninsula's Division I institution.
"If you want to go watch quality Division I athletics, why not come to Hampton games?," the new athletic director said of his goal. "We want to be the choice when you're looking for something to do with the family, looking for somewhere to spend your disposable income, we want to be that place."
Henderson received his degree in marketing from Hampton and was a defensive back for the football team, helping the Pirates to two MEAC championships and Division I-AA playoff appearances. He also received a masters degree from the VCU in Sports Leadership.
