By Ryan Honey
After the UD Men’s Basketball program was eliminated from the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in early March, the team had some time off. Before you know it, spring break came around and the offseason had commenced.
But now that the offseason is fully underway, the team is back in the gym. They’ve started team lifts and pickup games, and have begun workouts in preparation for the 2019-2020 season. Going into his fourth season as the UD Men’s Basketball head coach, Martin Ingelsby is excited to get back to work with his program after having some time off.
Ingelsby even encouraged his team to get away from the game for a small amount of time before returning to the gym.
“I think it was good to get away for a little bit and give our guys some time to go home for break to get away from basketball,” Ingelsby said. “I really encourage them to kind of put the ball aside for a little while and get some rest. We actually got back to lifting this week and next week we’re going to get back to some basketball stuff. I’m excited to get back on the court with our guys and continue to work on some areas we need to improve on and just be out there with them and continue to develop the relationship with this group.”
One of the exciting aspects for the Blue Hens is the fact that they will be receiving additions to their program. Along with having some young guys on the roster ready to work, such as freshman guard Ithiel Horton and sophomore guard Kevin Anderson, the Blue Hens have a few transfers coming in to help their program out even more.
“We’re adding some really important pieces with [Villanova University transfer] Dylan Painter, [University of Alabama-Birmingham transfer] Nate Darling and [High Point University transfer] Justyn Mutts to this group. We got about nine bodies that are healthy right now so we’ll get after it a little and continue to work to improve.”
Something that could be a concern with going away from the game for a while is team chemistry. Some teams, in all sports, could lose that unique connection with one another once the season ends and the time to rest begins. However, that doesn’t seem to be a problem with this squad at all.
“I think [the chemistry] is really strong and it’s going to be led by our older guys. When you can add a Nate Darling and Justyn Mutts who are two very good basketball players but also vocal leaders, that’s something that I think is strong,” Ingelsby noted. “We’ll continue to develop and nurture throughout this spring and summer. We finished the season with great momentum and I think our guys are excited to get back on the court and really excited for this nucleus of guys to play together.”
With obviously no games being played by the team until the fall, Ingelsby and the rest of the coaches now have time to go on the road and continue the recruiting process. However, the process may be a bit different this time around.
“This is actually a new summer for us because the NCAA changed our recruiting calendar,” Ingelsby mentioned. “We actually have a weekend in April where we can go out and look at Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) events and then they’ve given us some time in May and also two weekends in June.”
Ingelsby also mentioned that they are going to search through the 2019 high school class but they’ll also be “exploring the transfer market, whether it’s a kid that’s going to sit out or a graduate transfer that can come and play right away.”
Despite the recruiting time frame being altered this year, the excitement to scout some new talent is still very much existent and growing for the Blue Hens.
“This will be a big summer for us in July as far as going out and evaluating the recruiting class for 2020,” Ingelsby said. “We have a lot of scholarships to play with in that class. We need to have another really good recruiting class like we’ve had the previous two.”