So now what?

[finpxz1]

serious question

how is Indiana doing in basketball this year?

I honestly don’t know, but after seeing the Hoosier State unbelievably shift their focus to football because that’s where the money is, I would bet that hoops in the Hoosier state have kind of fallen by the wayside.

Google is your friend…

Google is no friend my friend

How about Siri???

[finpxz1]

It’s all about resources. How much does UD want to invest in their program to be a competitive mid-major program. I know we will never be a VCU, but these guys invest in their program year after year. Martelli Jr. is a solid coach but wouldn’t have been able to get his team into the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for his administration’s commitment to their basketball program and their strong fanbase. When their former coach Mike Rhodes left for Penn State he started losing immediately with his new team. The guy didn’t all of a sudden turn into a bad coach. He went to a place that gave him a huge pay increase but doesn’t invest in their program and prioritizes their resources into football. Just wondering if that’s where UD is headed now that we are in FBS.

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

[Caribbean Hen]

It’s all about resources. How much does UD want to invest in their program to be a competitive mid-major program. I know we will never be a VCU, but these guys invest in their program year after year. Martelli Jr. is a solid coach but wouldn’t have been able to get his team into the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for his administration’s commitment to their basketball program and their strong fanbase. When their former coach Mike Rhodes left for Penn State he started losing immediately with his new team. The guy didn’t all of a sudden turn into a bad coach. He went to a place that gave him a huge pay increase but doesn’t invest in their program and prioritizes their resources into football. Just wondering if that’s where UD is headed now that we are in FBS.

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

How is the UConn football team doing?

[finpxz1]

It’s all about resources. How much does UD want to invest in their program to be a competitive mid-major program. I know we will never be a VCU, but these guys invest in their program year after year. Martelli Jr. is a solid coach but wouldn’t have been able to get his team into the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for his administration’s commitment to their basketball program and their strong fanbase. When their former coach Mike Rhodes left for Penn State he started losing immediately with his new team. The guy didn’t all of a sudden turn into a bad coach. He went to a place that gave him a huge pay increase but doesn’t invest in their program and prioritizes their resources into football. Just wondering if that’s where UD is headed now that we are in FBS.

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

How is the UConn football team doing?

Huh??? Actually, pretty well…back-to-back 9 win seasons. And if you ask their alumni/fan base, I’m quite sure they aren’t satisfied with only being considered a “basketball school”. Their supporters have the audacity to want to see the Huskies succeed at both hoops and football. I’m sure the same can be said at JMU, South Florida, Liberty, Miami OH, Troy, and a host of other G6 schools. These aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. With the right vision and commitment, there is no reason why UD can’t become a mid-major power in men’s basketball. Are we ever gonna see that happen…my guess is no unless the little ol’ Delaware mindset changes across the board. Let’s stop looking for all the reasons why it can’t happen, and start working methodically towards a plan to make it happen.

[Caribbean Hen]

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

How is the UConn football team doing?

Huh??? Actually, pretty well…back-to-back 9 win seasons. And if you ask their alumni/fan base, I’m quite sure they aren’t satisfied with only being considered a “basketball school”. Their supporters have the audacity to want to see the Huskies succeed at both hoops and football. I’m sure the same can be said at JMU, South Florida, Liberty, Miami OH, Troy, and a host of other G6 schools. These aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. With the right vision and commitment, there is no reason why UD can’t become a mid-major power in men’s basketball. Are we ever gonna see that happen…my guess is no unless the little ol’ Delaware mindset changes across the board. Let’s stop looking for all the reasons why it can’t happen, and start working methodically towards a plan to make it happen.

Thanks! much better than Google

[UDJoe]

Dear Fin,

You say " there is no reason why UD can’t become a mid-major power in men’s basketball". Would a lack of big donors qualify as a reason? Seems to be a factor in seeing good players enter the transfer portal after show-casing their skills here, so recruiting promising freshmen and capable transfers does not appear to be an issue. UD's inability to keep its best players here is a huge problem, IMHO, and it always seems to come down to one factor: NIL money and the lack thereof. Just saying.

[Hens79]

Does anyone have ANY info on what UD pays out in NIL money as well as OUR competitors in CUSA and other mid majors? Does anyone really expect UD to compete with P4 NIL money?

[Fightinghens2025]

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

How is the UConn football team doing?

Huh??? Actually, pretty well…back-to-back 9 win seasons. And if you ask their alumni/fan base, I’m quite sure they aren’t satisfied with only being considered a “basketball school”. Their supporters have the audacity to want to see the Huskies succeed at both hoops and football. I’m sure the same can be said at JMU, South Florida, Liberty, Miami OH, Troy, and a host of other G6 schools. These aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. With the right vision and commitment, there is no reason why UD can’t become a mid-major power in men’s basketball. Are we ever gonna see that happen…my guess is no unless the little ol’ Delaware mindset changes across the board. Let’s stop looking for all the reasons why it can’t happen, and start working methodically towards a plan to make it happen.

+1 on we need a vision! I do not really think there was one other than we need to make a move seems a number of our programs have suffered because of the lack of vision and plan.

[BlueHenBill]

It’s all about resources. How much does UD want to invest in their program to be a competitive mid-major program. I know we will never be a VCU, but these guys invest in their program year after year. Martelli Jr. is a solid coach but wouldn’t have been able to get his team into the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for his administration’s commitment to their basketball program and their strong fanbase. When their former coach Mike Rhodes left for Penn State he started losing immediately with his new team. The guy didn’t all of a sudden turn into a bad coach. He went to a place that gave him a huge pay increase but doesn’t invest in their program and prioritizes their resources into football. Just wondering if that’s where UD is headed now that we are in FBS.

No reason why a school with our resources, alumni base, location, and campus/facilities can’t be a VCU in hoops. It just takes vision and commitment. Mike Brey would say all the time that UConn and Delaware were essentially mirror images of each other. The one glaring difference is one school made a commitment to basketball 40+ years ago, while the other not so much. We need to break through this “little ol’ Delaware” mentality and think bigger and demand better. Who would have thought Indiana would win an FBS championship in football??? It can happen!

For decades UConn has received major dollars from the state of Conn. for athletics that makes any comparison to UD ridiculous.

[finpxz1]

Not trying to make a direct comparison to UConn, Bill, but rather analogous to our peer group. No one is expecting Delaware to have NIL comparable to the power conference schools, but we should absolutely aspire to be the cream of the crop in the Group of 6 schools. We just need bold leadership with a vision and plan to get us there. The status of our basketball program the past 25 years is a complete embarrassment and should not in any way be acceptable. I’m quite sure there are many alumni with deep pockets out there. Build relationships, share the vision in a transparent way, and follow through on commitments. I personally think alumni sometimes hesitate to donate due to the lack of credibility by the athletic department. How many Mickey Mouse sketches have we been shown over the years, how many concepts floated that die on the vine??? In the words of Shoeless Joe…Build it and they will come!!! UD needs a complete shift in our collective mindset to expect and demand more.

[DaveB]

As someone shared with me, Phillips has removed Delaware from his X bio. MI alluded to staff changes

[finpxz1]

That seems like a pretty strong signal to MI that things need to change and quick. Phillips has been connected at the hip to Ingelsby for his entire time at UD. If this does mean what we suspect it means and he’s gone, you’d have to think our inability to address the post in any meaningful way is a big part of the reason for the change. MI is simply running out of excuses. He needs to produce next season.

[football]

This ship has been taking on water for some time. This is a problem that starts and ends in the AD office.

[Fightinghens2025]

Oh, we sorely need to change, but we can’t afford it. Kennesaw they made the tournament now do I think they are the best team in the conference? No they got a little lucky maybe but they did it all with recruits no portal so what does that say?

[DaveB]

Here is what is returning for 26-27 season for now

Houser (may be out all year)
Kebe
Taylor
Valencia
Piper
Kazanecki
Brown
Ellison

If they all return, we have 7 ships to work with (15 is max)

Needless to say, the next 2-3 months will be extremely important.