Hampton – The head coaches of the Wade Hampton High School Red Devils from last season
will remain the same for the upcoming school year. However, the school won’t be the same.
They will be coaching the Hampton County High School Hurricanes following the closure of
Estill and Wade Hampton and the merging of its student bodies.
“Things are going good,” said Rob Hanna, who is the athletic director, football head coach and
boys track and field head coach. “A lot of our teams are doing summer work and working hard in the
weightroom and on the fields to prepare for the upcoming year.”
The first two years of Hampton County’s existence will be in the old Wade Hampton school while
a new school is being completed. Hanna said the student-athletes from the two schools were brought
together at the end of the just completed school year.
“We were fortunate enough to have a merged class in January where we had some Estill kids and
Hampton kids take a weight class together to start the transition,” Hanna said. “That has really helped us
with moving into our summer phase.”
Hampton County will be a AA school like Wade Hampton. Also like Wade Hampton, it will be
part of Region 6 along with Barnwell, Edisto, Ridgeland-Hardeeville and Woodland.
Wade Hampton and Estill were both successful over the last few years in sports they both offered,
which could bode well for what might await in the future.
For instance, in football Wade Hampton went 16-7 the past two seasons, including 7-5 last year,
while Estill posted an 11-2 record and reached the third round of the Class A state playoffs in its final
season.
Romon Gray will be the boys basketball head coach. The Red Devils went 23-5 last year,
reaching the second round of the AA state playoffs. Gray had a 125-37 record in seven years at Wade
Hampton, playing for one state championship and reaching the lower state championship game on another
occasion. Meanwhile at Estill, the Fighting Gators went 19-9 last season and played for the lower state
championship.
Anthony Elam will be the girls basketball coach. He led Wade Hampton to a 19-5 record last
season that included winning a region title and reaching the second round of the state playoffs.
Estill went 18-8 last year while winning its region and reaching the second round of the playoffs.
Estill had been a steady force in Class A lower state, winning 120 games over the last seven years and
playing for the lower state title once.
Both schools had strong track programs as well. In boys track, the Red Devils finished third in the
AA state meet. Estill finished in a tie for ninth in the Class A meet.
Hanna’s wife, Myrriah Hanna, will be the girls track coach as well as the boys and girls cross
country coach. She led Wade Hampton to an 11thplace finish in the state meet last year. The Estill girls
finished eighth in Class A.
Elam will also be the volleyball head coach. He led Wade Hampton to a second-place region
finish last year and a berth in the state playoffs. Estill finished with a 13-10 record and also advanced to
the state playoffs,.
Cody McCollum will be the baseball head coach, Mary Beth Hiers the softball head coach, Brent
Terry the girls soccer head coach, Jesse Rooker the boys soccer head coach, Steve Crosby the girls tennis
head coach and Stephanie Gittings the cheer coach.
Rob Hanna’s assistants on the football staff will include defensive coordinator Marshall Paul,
co-offensive coordinators Chris Myers and Chris Knight, Mark Tyler, Kenny Harney, Nathan Davis
and Wendell Johnson.
Rob Hanna is looking forward to the start of fall sports.
“We are excited about the start of the season on July 28 (fall practice) and to see what our teams
can do when competing in the fall,” he said.
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