"We're going to full court press, run, and shoot a lot of 3s"

[TheShow23]

[color="Black"]NCAA Tournament[/color]



[color="Blue"](6) Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (19 National Rank) vs. (14) American University Eagles



American University pulled one of the shocks of the tournament when they knocked off Ohio State on the strength of 15 made three pointers. Their hot shooting continued into this game as they were on fire from three point range. On the strength of seven made three’s American built their lead to 15 points, a late 6-0 run cut the deficit to 31-40 heading into the half. American continued to shoot from long range in the 2nd half, however the shots starting falling short due to tired legs. In addition to missing shots and tiring legs American kept turning the ball over and would finish with 23 turnovers. Using a 15-2 run we took a 9 point lead with 8 minutes left, we would not relinquish the lead as we made our way into the Sweet 16 with a 71-64 win. A season high of 17 points from Steve Lee led us, Stallings had 16 and Nelson had 6 and 8 assists.
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[TheShow23]

[color="Black"]NCAA Tournament[/color]



[color="Blue"](6) Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (19 National Rank) vs. (2) Florida State Seminoles (17 National Rank)



A look at the East Bracket shows if we win and Richmond could upset Syracuse we would play them in the Elite 8, a matchup against my alma mater with a trip to the Final Four would be quite a story but we have to take care of business. The game was like a heavyweight title fight, both teams took turns landing blows against each other. We went on an 8-0 run, FSU would respond with a 10-2 run and that was the ebb and flow of the first half. FSU went into the half with a 32-31 lead as both teams had it all to play for in the second half. FSU would take a 7 point lead with eight minutes left, Stallings responded with a three pointer in between two dunks from Lee to tie the game.


A tip-in from Gooden gave us a 69-68 lead with a minute left in the game, one minute separated us from the Elite 8. To the surprise of our defense FSU rushed the ball down the court and got a layup to take a 70-69 lead. Stallings came off a screen but missed badly on a mid-range jumper, we had to foul and FSU made both foul shots to go up 72-69 with 25 seconds left. I called timeout to draw up a play, I decided we were going to go for the tie but I wasn’t sure who would take the shot. Stallings is our best shooter, leading scorer but was having a horrible shooting game while Stuart is a good shooter and was shooting well. My gut said go with what brought us to the dance and that was Stallings. Nelson brought the ball up the court, Stallings came off a double screen as Lee and Gooden set perfect picks, Stallings got a good look but the shot was short and FSU grabbed the rebound. They would make four more free throws to finish with a 76-69 win. Stallings was our leading scorer but only shot 8-23, Archie had 10 points, and Nelson had 8 and 8 assists. Florida State had four players in double figures, we shot 38% from the field while they shot 40%. The big difference in the game was the foul line, we went 8-11 they went 24-35.
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[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Blue"]University of Delaware 2013-2014 Stats Leaders[/color][/SIZE]

[color="Black"]Points[/color] : Mike Stallings 17.9 Chris Nelson 9.7 Donnell Gooden 8.9 Steve Lee 8.5



[color="Black"]Rebounds[/color] : Donnell Gooden 6.9 Steve Lee 6.2



[color="Black"]Assists[/color] : Chris Nelson 4.8



[color="Black"]Steals[/color] : Mark Shell 1.3

[SIZE="5"][color="black"]Awards[/color][/SIZE]

Mike Stallings CAA Player of the Year


Mike Stallings CAA Freshman of the Year


Mike Stallings All CAA 1st Team


Dante Porter CAA Coach of the Year

[SIZE="5"][color="black"]NCAA Tournament[/color][/SIZE]

Final Four


Arizona (1) 71 vs. Wake Forest (2) 48


Syracuse (1) 69 vs. Florida (2) 75


Arizona 49 vs. Florida 69

[SIZE="5"][color="black"]UD Final Record[/color][/SIZE]

25-8 14-4 (19) (Undefeated at home)

[TheShow23]

[color="Black"][SIZE="5"]Osei Burns[/SIZE][/color]

“Do you remember Osei Burns” asked one of my assistant coaches, a definitive yes was my response. Burns was an elite recruit out of New Jersey a few years ago, seen him play at the camps and loved his game but I also knew at the time we could not get a player of his caliber to play at UD. Last I heard he went to Arizona, started for two seasons and left the school because of academics.



The coach brought his name up because he learned Osei wanted to transfer to an east coast school to be closer to his family and with our recent success we should make a play to get him into our school. Talent wise I would love to have Osei at UD, but the academics were an issue. For starters I pride myself on the fact ALL of my players go to class and ALL of them get college degrees. Two UD has very good academic standards so getting him admitted should he decide to come will be a process in itself. I decided I would look into it provided I did my homework.



My first call was to the staff at Arizona to find out everything I needed to know, in terms of personality they all said Osei was extremely coachable who didn’t give them any attitude issues. Osei was a smart kid, with his high school grades and SAT scores he could have got into any school in the country. Work ethic wise all of the coaches said he was a hard worker so with all of that I wondered why he had academic problems.



In the words of an Arizona assistant “Osei loves the social life” was the reason for his academic issues, the kid started missing some classes and forgetting to turn in assignments due to him enjoying the night life too much. The University of Arizona has a beautiful campus, it has warm weather all year, and traveling to San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles are all options being in Arizona. I was assured that there weren’t any drug or legal issues, the kid just love going out.



Weighing the pros and cons I decided to fully recruit Osei and try to get him to come to UD. Delaware isn’t exactly known for its social scene, and his family would be in close proximity so I felt we could control his social scene to an extent. The next step in the process would be meeting with Osei and his family to sell them on Osei coming to UD.



My key sell point to Osei Burns and his family was solely academic; the importance of education and the fact Osei would get his college degree if he came to UD. I produced the annual report of the graduation rates of the NCAA Tournament teams, at the top of the list, UD. Osei is a great basketball player and that will take care of itself so if he decided to come we would have plenty of time to discuss basketball. Osei and his family seemed to be impressed, I was told he would look at a few more schools and then make a decision.



A week after the Burns visit, my family and myself were at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia on a family vacation when my cell phone starting ringing. The area code was a New Jersey which meant it was either Mike Stallings or Osei Burns, seeing how it was a number I didn’t recognize that eliminated Stallings. Osei called to tell me he was going to accept our scholarship offer, once all the paper work was finished he was admitted into UD and immediately was placed in summer classes.

[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Blue"]Recruting[/color][/SIZE]

[color="Black"]Delaware incoming recruits for the 2015-2016 Season
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SF Jason Marshall Orono, ME 55 (B) JC So


Overview: Long arms, a player who does a lot of things well. Extremely versitale player who can play 2 or 3 positions.



PG Shea Ragin Felton, DE 356 (B) JC So


Overview: We seemingly have a million point guards, Ragin is a pass first point guard. Has good size meaning he could be a combo guard which is something we value. His mother graduated from UD.



C Lamoni Nelson Wilmington, DE 821 (C)


Overview: Three of our big men are graduating at the end of this season so this player fills a bit of a need, a big body but is very raw at this point. A project to say the least.

[TheShow23]

“Coach Dante Porter has seemingly reached a new low point, in a move which promotes basketball over academics his bringing Osei Burns into the program reeks of desperation. No one doubts Osei Burns on court talent but the fact is he flunked out of Arizona. Coach Porter rewards failure by giving him a full scholarship, what if Burns doesn’t get eligible and never plays for UD. The University of Delaware is a premier academic institution and for the university to allow Burns to enroll simply because he is a great basketball player completely bastardizes the term “student-athlete.” What is next coach, will you bring in players with legal issues because they can score a lot of points? No matter how talented an athlete is it is not worth it to jeopardize UD’s academic standing.”


Paul Marshall

After reading this I could not keep quiet so in an article with the Delaware News Journal I share my opinions on the matter.


"Other than a Twitter rant I’ve never said anything about Paul Marshall, he can talk all he wants about me but for him to call out one of my players is unacceptable. Did Osei mess up at Arizona, absolutely but since he has enrolled at summer classes his grades have been A’s and B’s. In fact if he was allowed to play his GPA would make him eligible to play, Osei is a great kid who has done everything I’ve asked. If Paul Marshall doesn’t like me that’s fine but keep my players names out of your mouth."

[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Blue"]2014-2015 Delaware Roster[/color][/SIZE]

[color="Yellow"]Starters[/color]


#2 Chris Nelson 2/4 Jr. 6-3 193
#20 Mike Stallings 2/4 So.Rs 6-3 216
#31 Mark Shell 2/3.5 Jr. Rs 6-6 227
#35 Steve Lee 4/4.5 Sr. 6-10 238
#44 Donnell Gooden 3.5/3.5 Jr. RS 6-10 232


Overview: We return five starters from a Sweet 16 team, Nelson and Stallings are the best backcourt in the league. The front court players rebound and defend well, and this is an expierenced team.



[color="yellow"]Bench[/color]


#3 Rod Gregory 3/4 Jr. 6-0 196
#13 Donald Stuart 2.5/3 Sr. 6-3 216
#5 Marcus Robinson 2.5/3.5 Jr. 6-3 212
#43 James Arden 2.5/4 So. 6-6 197
#45 Raymond Leonard 2/2 Sr. 6-8 217
#24 Luis McMillian 1.5/4 So. Rs 6-6 206
#41 Jason Demory 2/2 Sr. 6-10 272
#10 Erik Nathaniel 1.5/3.5 Sr. 6-4 191
#14 Donnie Watkins 1.5/2.5 Fr. Rs 6-0 170
#4 Osei Burns 4/4.5 Jr. 6-5 212 (Transfer Arizona)


Overview: With the three guards off the bench and the two starters I feel I have one of the best backcourts in the country, all five guys are starting level players. This is a deep team and options will be plenty.



[color="Black"]AD Expectations[/color]


Win CAA Tournament
Win 15 games

[TheShow23]

November 2014


Air Force 90-59
@Notre Dame (22) 52-62
@Savannah St 76-87
@Harvard 60-69
@Oregon 88-81


[color="Black"]Recap: I know four of the five games were on the road but the slow start is a disappointment, other than maybe Notre Dame I felt we should be 4-1.



UD Record: 2-3
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December 2014


@Maryland 48-76
@Cleveland St 77-79
@Del St 78-57
Belmont 80-66
William & Mary 75-58
@Towson 71-58



[color="black"]Recap: A team meeting was called after the Maryland game, in a nut shell I told the team to forget about last season and focus on the present. Four wins in the remaining five games hopefully turns the season around.



UD Record: 6-5 Overall 2-0 CAA
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[PointGuard]

Good start in conference play plus you're really building for the future with Osei Burns and Jason Marshall scheduled to come on line in a year.

Hey, ya want my cousin Vinny to pay Paul Marshall a visit?

[TheShow23]

Definitely looking forward to Burns and Marshall, in terms of the latter and Steve Lee I saw how you were able to recruit elite Ju-Co players for you SCSU and Coastal Carolina teams so I used that as a blueprint in recruiting.



As for Paul Marshall, might have to call Cousin Vinny on that