City of Basketball Love

Teddy Bailey (@TheTeddyBailey)
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NEWARK, Del.-- On its 67th day without a coach, relief was abundant inside the Bob Carpenter Center.

The University of Delaware announced the official hiring of longtime Notre Dame assistant Martin Ingelsby as its head coach, ending the coupled absence of both an athletic director and basketball coach.

Ingelsby, 37, was introduced on Tuesday afternoon to the relief of the program’s remaining players -- many of whom were forced to explore transfer opportunities during the two-month wait.

“Relief was the first emotion,” rising senior forward Barnett Harris said. ”We were jumping around, cleaning up the locker room like, hope coach likes this.”

A Berwyn, Pa. native and Archbishop Carroll grad, Ingelsby played for his father at Carroll before taking his talents to Notre Dame, where he played for three different coaches. One of those coaches, Mike Brey, spent five seasons as the head coach of Delaware before taking over in South Bend.

“I understand what they’re going through,” Ingelsby said of having a new coach. “Nobody envies that, but it’s hard for these 18-22 year old kids to not have a coach for two months. I give them a lot of credit for being in that locker room yesterday and not leaving. It shows me that these guys really enjoy being at Delaware, they just need someone in place to lead them. I’m really excited to be that guy to do that.”

The first-time head coach will be left with a battered roster following some administrative gaffes in prior years. Leading scorer Kory Holden transferred to South Carolina before Monté Ross was fired, and fellow backcourt standout Chivarsky Corbett departed for UT-San Antonio. Eric Carter and Skye Johnson will return, while the futures of Maurice Jeffers and Cazmon Hayes are still unknown.

“It was a lot of confusion.” Harris said of being without a coach. “It was a lot of uncertainty, guys were getting nervous. As we were getting down to the end of the year, we didn’t know who was going to be our coach, when we were getting a coach. It was just stressful, people were asking us what was going on. This is our livelihood. It was a long 60-something days, I’ll tell you that.”

Assuming both Hayes and Jeffers remain in Newark, Delaware will also be led by seniors Devonne Pinkard and Curtis McCroy, as well as juniors Carter, Johnson and Anthony Mosley. The Hens also have George Washington transfer guard Darian Bryant, who sat out last season per NCAA rules.

Due to a pair of players transferring, Ingelsby may explore the possibility of adding uncommitted players before the season starts. Delaware did not sign a player in the 2015 class, and the 2016 class is currently barren as well. Multiple highly-touted recruits were lost due to unclear coaching situations.

“Absolutely,” Ingelsby said. “We have to get one, two, three guys to add to our program and get them engrained in our culture. We have to figure out what we’re working with, as I get to know our guys and see how many scholarships we have. I have to figure out who we are first before we decide who to add to the mix.”

In terms of recruiting, Ingelsby noted the importance of finding talent through the ‘I-95 corridor,’ as done at Notre Dame with players Steve Vasturia (St. Joseph’s Prep) and Matt Farrell (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.). The familiarity of the area will certainly be helpful for the Philadelphia native as the Blue Hens embrace a major transition.

“The level of competition and the intensity and what it means to be from Philadelphia is something that I’ll always remember,” he said. “It’s an area that we really need to hit hard from a recruiting standpoint.”

Newly appointed athletic director Chrissi Rawak, whose position was required to be filled prior to the coaching search, made it clear that Ingelsby was chosen based on his qualifications rather than his ties to Brey.

Ingelsby played for Brey his senior season before serving on his staff for 13 years - six as director of basketball operations and seven as an assistant coach.

“This place has always been a dream job for me,” Ingelsby said. It’s something that Coach Brey and I have always talked about. Learning under his tutelage has really prepared me for this opportunity. I’m not where I am without Mike Brey.”

In the coming week, Ingelsby will finalize his coaching staff as he begins his first offseason as a head coach. Phil Martelli Jr. remains as the only assistant on the roster, but that could very well change as Ingelsby compiles his staff.

The Blue Hens, fresh off a 7-23 (2-16 CAA) season, will go through drastic changes, the new coach said. Both Ingelsby and Rawak cited CAA championships and NCAA tournament appearances as the new barometer for this program.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” Ingelsby said. “I want those guys smiling. Things are going to be different. They have to embrace that, I think they need that and want it. Things are going to be harder, when you go 7-23, things have to change.”