City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

HAWK HILL — Kaseem and Kareem Watson were two of the first recruits Delaware State coach Stan Waterman had on campus when he took over in Dover in 2021.

The twin brothers from West Catholic had the Hornets in their top three before the allure of California and going to school far from home drew them to Cal State-Bakersfield.

After two seasons on the West Coast, the Watsons entered the transfer portal this offseason. When they arrived back on the East Coast, the Hornets were the first ones there to watch them workout.

The reunion has paid off for both parties as the Watsons are two members of a Delaware State rotation eying another push toward the NCAA Tournament.

“I was pretty blessed that he actually gave us an opportunity after we chose to go a different route coming out of high school,” Kaseem said. “I was definitely blessed for him in the whole coaching staff for giving us an opportunity.”

“They recruited us hard, the same way,” Kareem said. “We hopped off a plane, worked out and they were the first ones there. That kind of made it easy.”

The Watson twins are part of a Philadelphia pipeline Waterman has tapped into during his four seasons at Delaware State as he’s led a turnaround of the program.

Palumbo grad Myles Carter was the top scorer during Waterman’s first year on campus in 2021-22 (2-25, 0-14 MEAC). Ray Somerville (Shipley) and Aaron Lemon-Warren (Archbishop Ryan) were both on the roster in 2022-23 (6-24, 4-10 MEAC). Last year, Deywilk Tavarez (Academy New Church), now at College of Charleston, was a standout for the Hornets as as freshman, helping them to a 15-19 mark (6-9 MEAC) and a runner-up finish in the MEAC Tournament that left them one win away from an NCAA Tournament bid. 

The 15 wins were the most for the program since an 18-18 campaign in 2014-15. 

Somerville is in his third season and was joined by the Watsons and their former Philadelphia Catholic League rivals Muneer Newton (Archbishop Wood) and Robert Smith (Bishop McDevitt), who have carved out roles in the rotations. Freshman Teddy Pendergrass III (Lower Merion) makes it six area players on the Hornets’ roster. The team is off to a 7-8 (0-1 MEAC) start this season.

“We know there’s some really, really good basketball being played and there’s some great players here and if we can be relevant in this region, we have a chance to be pretty good,” Waterman said.

Delaware state assistant coach Horace “Pappy” Owens also had deep Philly hoops roots. He was a standout at Dobbins Tech, played for the 76ers, coached grassroots hoops in the city and then spent 14 years as an assistant coach at La Salle.

Waterman also said Delaware State’s geographic location in Dover — about an hour and 15 minutes from Philadelphia — makes it attractive to players from the region. The postgame after the Hornets’ 76-58 loss to St. Joe’s on Dec. 28 in Hagan Arena highlighted that as friends and family congregated outside the Hornets’ locker room after the game.

“Being on the West Coast, after the game, you’ve really got no one to talk to,” Kareem Watson said. “After the game today, you can see I’ve got about 20 people to say what’s up to, hug and kiss and talk to. It’s good having your family behind you, coming to watch you play.”

Kareem and Kaseem starred at West Catholic together but despite spending two seasons together at Bakersfield this season is the first time the Watson twins have shared the floor together at the college level. 

Kareem redshirted as a freshman, while Kaseem played in 24 games, starting once and averaging 3.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg in 10.9 minutes per game. Kaseem redshirted in 2023-24, while Kareem appeared in 22 games, averaging 1.5 ppg and 1.1 rpg in 7.8 minutes per game.

Both now in their sophomore seasons of eligibility, the 2024-25 season has been a breakout campaign for Kaseem who is averaging 14.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg and started in a ll 15 games. He had a career-high 23 points in the game against the Hawks on Dec. 28,

“It was definitely good for us,” Kaseem said of the time at Bakersfield. “We grew as people, as men. Most importantly, we just got better, mentally, physically. Credit to Bakersfield, those guys. We love those guys forever, and they just helped us develop so much.”

“I’m back playing with my brother, so that was something special,” he added. “Other than that, I’m just playing basketball. Loving it.”

Kareem hasn’t had the same impact yet, averaging 1.5 ppg and 1.2 rpg in 7.9 minutes per contest, but Waterman applauded his grittiness and defensive chops and the Hornets expect him to be a larger piece of what they’re doing in the near future.

“Just keep working stay in the gym, when my time comes, just stay ready for it,” Kareem said.

The rest of the local contingent have big roles as well. The 6-11 Somerville, in his third season at Delaware State after starting his career at Bakersfield, is averaging 3.1 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 14.1 minutes per contest. 

Smith played in 85 games at Division II West Chester, starting 51 games in his sophomore and junior seasons. He averaged 15.6 ppg over his career with the Golden Rams. He’s second on the team in scoring (15.9 ppg) and assists (3.1 apg).

Newton arrived at Delaware State after starting his career at NAIA William Penn and spending last season at Albany, where he 4.5 ppg and 4.2 rpg in 32 games, including four starts. He has started all 15 games with the Hornets, averaging 7.1ppg and 5.0 rpg.

“It’s definitely an advantage because we were all familiar with each other, but it was cool knowing that I was going to be able to play with these guys this year,” Kaseem said.

Smith committed to Delaware State on April 15. The Watsons announced their commitment a day later. Newton added to the list of PCL transfers in June.

The former rivals are teaming together this season looking to do something only Newton’s Wood team was able to do at the high school level — win a championship.

“I love playing with them and I can’t wait to try and get a ring with them. I didn’t like those guys at first, but now I gotta like ‘em. Those are my guys,” Kareem joked.

After the loss to St. Joe’s, Waterman said he felt like this year’s group was about where it was at the same time a season ago when the Hornets entered conference play with a 7-9 mark. Graduate guard Martaz Robinson is having a career year, averaging 16.9 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Other holdovers Alston Andrews and Corey Perkins have also been key contributors for a program that lost a lot of pieces to the transfer portal.

The Hornets were on a four-game winning streak before the loss to the Hawks. They took preseason MEAC favorite Howard to the brink in a 100-94 road loss on Saturday and have another tough one against preseason MEAC runner-up Norfolk St. at home on Monday to continue the start of conference play.

“We’re probably in a similar situation to where we were at this point last year, and if we can have similar results, maybe with a little different outcome in the championship game, then we’ll be satisfied,” Waterman said.

The Watsons are hoping Waterman’s faith in them can help the Hornets get the job done this year.

“It showed that coach knows what he’s doing,” Kareem said. “He knows how to win. We just came to try and get them over the hump.”