Franklin County girls basketball coach leaving for Roanoke College
Two months ago, Tessa Hampton was hired as the girls basketball coach at Franklin County High School. It was going to be her first head-coaching job.
Instead, her first head-coaching job will be at Roanoke College.
The college announced Tuesday that it has hired Hampton as the successor to Carla Flaherty, who steered the Maroons for the past 12 seasons. Flaherty stepped down earlier this month.
Hampton, 29, spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach for one of Roanoke's ODAC rivals — Shenandoah.
Hampton and her husband, Raejon Hampton, moved from Winchester to Franklin County in April for family reasons. Raejon Hampton is a Franklin County native and Tessa Hampton is a North Carolina native. The couple have a 3-month-old son, Ryland, and wanted to be closer to family. So Raejon left his job as a Frederick County police officer to join the Roanoke County Police Department, and Tessa left Shenandoah to take the Franklin County High School coaching job. She also was going to be a health and physical education teacher at the high school.
But the Roanoke College job opened up earlier this month. Hampton applied for the Maroons' vacancy so she could stay at the college level.
"It's all working out how it's supposed to work out and I'm extremely excited," Tessa Hampton said Tuesday in a phone interview. "My dream has always been to be a Division III head coach. … With the (Roanoke) opening being right before I got started at the high school, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to throw my hat in there."
Tessa Hampton
She and her family now intend to move from Franklin County to the Roanoke area.
Flaherty was 164-140 at the helm of the Maroons.
Flaherty tweeted two weeks ago that she had decided to step down to "focus on what matters most: my family."
"Losing my father and sister this year made that clear," she said in her tweet. "This game has given me everything — lifelong friendships, moments and lessons I’ll carry 4ever. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of my journey."
Carla Flaherty
Brain Injury Solutions of Roanoke announced on Instagram last week that it has hired Flaherty as director of development and marketing. The nonprofit organization helps individuals and families affected by brain injuries.
Flaherty had six straight winning seasons at Roanoke College from the 2018-19 season through the 2023-24 campaign.
The Maroons went 12-14 overall and 6-10 in the ODAC this year. It was their first losing record since the 2017-18 season.
Carla Flaherty has stepped down as the Roanoke College women's basketball coach after 12 seasons at the helm of the Maroons.
"Carla and I have had a really great relationship," Hampton said. "I've been in contact with her throughout this process and hope that I can continue to build on what she built there.
Hampton said she feels ready to be a head coach.
"I've been so fortunate to have been mentored by some phenomenal head coaches. If it wasn't for them I don't think I would feel this prepared," she said.
Shenandoah had a winning record in all four of Hampton's years on the staff, including a 20-8 overall record this year. She helped the Hornets make the NCAA Division III tournament this year and in 2024. She helped the Hornets reach the ODAC tournament title game in 2023 and 2024.
"Player development is huge. We focused a lot on that (at Shenandoah)," Hampton said. "So then when players graduate, we have other players that are waiting and ready to go.
"Player development is going to be a huge focus (at Roanoke)."
She worked for head coach Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft at Shenandoah.
"She gave me so much autonomy," Hampton said.
Hampton praised the culture of Smeltzer-Kraft's program.
"She has amazing relationships with all her student-athletes and I hope to be able to build the same at Roanoke," Hampton said.
Hampton, an Emory & Henry graduate, was an assistant at her college alma mater in the 2021-22 season before joining the Shenandoah staff.
She was a graduate assistant at DeSales for two seasons, helping the Bulldogs make the NCAA Division III tournament in 2020.
Hampton was known as Tessa Johnston when she was a guard for Emory & Henry. She was a part of the Wasps team that made the NCAA Division III tournament in 2018, back when the Wasps belonged to the ODAC.
Roanoke College has not made the NCAA Division III tournament since 2010, when Susan Dunagan was the coach.
Mark Berman (540) 981-3125
