Basketball - January 6, 2025

Guests: Martin Ingelsby, John Camden, Sarah Jenkins, Ella Wanzer

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Oh, welcome in the Blue Hens Basketball Coaches Show, said
by First State Orthopedix. It's the first show of twenty
twenty five and the first.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Snow of twenty twenty five as well.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
That has kept us away from Klondike Keith, but we'll
be back soon to the heart of Ing Street. We
appreciate them as always being our partners and understanding that
we can't come in because the inclement weather today.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
But a happy new year to everybody.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome to ninety four to seven WDSDFM and iHeartRadio. I'm
Scott Katskin, and tonight we'll talk hoops with both the
men's and women's basketball teams, and the back half of
the show will feature Sarah Jenkins and Ella Wanzer. Plus
I'll be chatting in a bit with men's basketball's leading
scorer John Camden. But first we welcome in our men's
basketball head coach, Martin Engels be coach, so welcome in

(00:43):
and happy snow day to you.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, happy snow day.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Happy twenty twenty five, and unfortunately we couldn't be together,
but always great to see in talk hoops.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
So this is not not for you to be like
a back in my day kind of guy, But like
you were walking a class in this in Indiana, this
is nothing for you.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
This was a light day. We've gotten soft. Our kids
didn't have school today. I was like, geez, that was
every day in South Bend. We were used to four
to six inches of snow, a permanent cloud over our
campus and stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
But we were in class every day and nothing was canceled.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
We get a little dusting here, everybody freaks out and
I don't send the kids to school. They they've been
out of school enough. I was like, they gotta go back.
Whatever we need to do, we'll get them delay or whatnot.
But rather be safe than sorry, and our kids are
enjoying this.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yes, the kids have been out of school for two
weeks and what's one extra day? I suppose if you
hear if you hear kids yelling in the background, are bluey,
then don't don't.

Speaker 5 (01:36):
Don't be alarmed.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
You've got the right channel.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
It's just we're recording this one today, not at Kate's.
We do appreciate Clinate Kates and and if you're listening
to this, hey heading to Klonate Kates to do us
a favor and support our great sponsor klonate Kates still
six more days for sleigh bar there if you haven't
seen that, so great stuff.

Speaker 6 (01:53):
Coach.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Let's talk some hoops though. Conference play has started and
as we talk about through non conference play kind of
all ultimately getting you ready for the most important part
of the season, which is conference play.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
No matter what conference are.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
In conference play, that's the goal of everybody to win
a conference championship. So as you look at your team
and where you stand, now, what are some things that
you feel like our reasons that your team can compete
for a league championship?

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, I me.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
I think it starts with the offensive end, you know,
our ability to score the basketball and the weapons we
have in the versatility.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think we have five guys in double figure scores.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
We got a couple other guys that are, you know,
scoring it coming along playing alongside the side those guys.
So our ability to kind of find the net and
share the basketball, I think it gives us a chance
every night. On the flip side, I think our defense
has been good, it has got to get better, and
our ability to rebound the basketball and finished possessions is

(02:48):
something that we continue to preach and work on every day.
But I love this group. They're a great group to
come to work with every day. We've talked about going
one and oh eighteen times this year.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
We got to split this weekend.

Speaker 4 (02:59):
We head down South coming Thursday and Saturday, but just
keep it coming back in twenty twenty five, working on
things that we got to get better at, punching the
clock and just trying to find ways to enjoy this
journey and to find enjoy the what we do and
continue to get better.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
And you talk about on the offense, we've seen just
the explosiveness of the offense at times one hundred point
game against Yale. You've scored ninety three times this season,
so the ability to put the ball in the basket.
And I thought the defense played very well against mom
at the twenty point victory on Saturday, So they're coming
off of a good defensive performance, a great defensive performance.
I kind of reference it in the postgame show. I

(03:34):
wanted to get the stat exactly right though, for the
coaches show. Now, in the first half of basketball on Saturday,
Momoth made a shot at thirteen forty eight left to
go in the first half. They would go on to
make one more shot in the final almost fourteen minutes
of the first half.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
They did not make it.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
That came at the eight to fifteen mark, so they
made no shots in the final eight minutes and fifteen
seconds of the first half. You guys were locked in.
What did you like about what you saw from your
team defensively on Saturday?

Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah, I just think they were really engaged. We were
playing hard. We did a great job on their leading
scorer and making him uncomfortable on the offensive end after
he got off to a good start, and then we
limited them to two offensive rebounds in the first half.
One guy got one, and there's a team offensive rebounds.
So you're not playing longer on the defensive end, you're
not playing more.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Possessions on the defensive end.

Speaker 4 (04:24):
And you know, again, I tell our guys all the time,
they love to play on the offensive end, so if
we can get a rebound, we can go out and
do what we love to do on the offensive end.
But you know, I thought making Emory and his ability
to switch things on the defensive end, he rebounded the basketball, well,
I just thought that group that started was really locked
in and engaged defensively and brought toughness to the group

(04:45):
that we got to continue to build off of as
we move forward.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
And as we go into conference play, and we talk
about competing at the top of the league. Every team,
year in and year out, if they're going to compete
at the top of the league, needs to have an
All CAAA type of for and emerging as the guy
for Delaware this year is John Camden and we go
back to five assists on the first five makes of
the game on Saturday at thirty five or four point

(05:10):
performance against Saint John's, he is he's turned into that
guy for this team.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
And we talked to.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Him after the game about kind of just getting back
to playing basketball. You know, there's a lot of reasons
to go to different schools, and he's been to a
few and now finding a home at University of Delaware
now more than ever. There's there's multiple reasons, but ultimately,
like was that kind of your pitch, like you get
back to hooping, like play basketball, have fun and enjoy
playing basketball.

Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
I mean we were familiar with John obviously, he went
to Arschi, the Crarrel High school where Bill and I went.
We tried to recruit him before he went to Memphis,
try to recruit him when he left Memphis, and then
you know, we've had a track record of transfers.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
That have come in and made a ton of impact.

Speaker 4 (05:51):
And my biggest thing is, like, you're gonna have the opportunity,
you're gonna be able to get a ton of minutes,
You're gonna be able to play through mistakes, and I'm
going to help you find your joy in playing basketball again.
And I think that's what he needed, that's what he wanted.
You've seen his game flourish and quite frankly, like he's
been unbelievably productive.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
For us on the offensive end.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
And I didn't know. I knew he could score the basketball.
I knew he could make shots, but he's facilitating. He's
a point forward, He's a playmaker out there for us.
He's so unselfish and always wanting to make the right
play and make the extra pass that you know, it's
just been fun for us as a coaching staff and
for a team to see a guy that's just keeps
getting more and more confident on the offensive end.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
And you know, I talked about it after the game,
you know, and just the leadership.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Qualities that he brings every day, right he's he's there
he's ready to work. He sets it a great example
of just your approach to basketball and the sport and
just being a man and handling your business. So couldn't
be more happy with him. And you know, he wants
to win. He wants to lead this team to the
nca Tournament and be a big part of it.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
And we'll talk to John and just a little bit
being on the show for the first time, I thought
there was and you do have that track record, and
I'm glad you mentioned that because I mean, note, I
thought there was a little bit of similarity to maybe
a Dylan Paynter type of guy who obviously was good
enough to play for the team that won national championship
in Villanova. John Camden was part of the number one
recruiting class in the country in twenty twenty one going

(07:14):
to Memphis. Do you see any similarities in terms of
the way that Dylan came from a big time program
and had so much success in the championship here at Delaware, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Very much.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
I think these guys were like highly recruited high school
prospects that maybe didn't get the opportunity they wanted, but
they were working every day, they were playing against great competition.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
They played under the bright lights at the high school level,
AAU level, and then.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
You know saw it at the high major level that
they just needed to maybe come down to be able
to get the minutes and the opportunity that they felt
they deserved. And now you're seeing a guy that is
really flourishing in a role with a ton of minutes
and a ton of confidence on a team that really
needs him to be a big part of it. And
you know, it doesn't just happen overnight, right, And I
think I said this too, like chemistry does something happen overnight.

(07:58):
So our ability as a new group to kind of
mesh together and find that synergy on both ends of
the floor.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
And you know, I Thinkdon John has done a.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Fabulous job like leading this group and setting a great
example every day. But I do think you know, he
was ready to have a breakout year like this, you know,
fourth year in college, he worked really hard for an opportunity,
maybe didn't get it at the other places, came here
and knows we need him and he needs to be
a big and it was going to be a big
focal point of what.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
We do this year.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
And we'll talk to him just a little bit talking
with our head coach, Martin Engles be here on the
Blue Hens Basketball coach a show. John Candon had a
big game against Saint John's and something about that Saint
John's game that I wanted to bring up and ask
you because I was approached by a gentleman at the
basketball game on Saturday that asked me about this, and
it was the first time I learned about it or
noticed it. But if he was thinking that, maybe some

(08:48):
other fans are thinking of it as well, so I
wanted to clarify.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
I went and looked it up.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
On December nineteenth, Rick Patino announced that his team would
no longer be taking part in the handshake line and
would not line up and shake hands at the end
of the game after seeing some problems in other places,
and he reference the NBA doesn't have that either. So
I just wanted to clarify because, yes, say, hey, what
was going on at the end of the game that

(09:16):
no beef. It was something that Saint john just is
not participating in at the end of the game.

Speaker 6 (09:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I don't follow a ton of people on Twitter, but
I do.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
Follow coach Patino because I've always had great respect for
him as a coach story my time in Notre Dame
will we competed against him and follow his program very closely.
But they must add an incident in one of their
previous games. I believe it was Brian in the handshake line,
so he made a statement publicly that he was going
to shake hands with opposing coach but not his players,
just to avoid any confrontation.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
I think they're continuing to do that.

Speaker 4 (09:46):
But it didn't have anything to do with Delaware Saint
John's the Blue Hens, anything that happened in that game.
You know, minus the loss, it was a pleasant afternoon
and you know both team for playing really hard. So
nothing to do with us, but just of what he
wanted to do to protect his team and really not
have any incidents moving forward.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
I just wanted to bring that up.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
I was learning about it for the first Actually I
didn't notice at the end, but now I think that
story is getting a little bit attraction as he gets
into two conference play ended in the first segment before.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
We talk with with John Camden.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
I know a couple of your guys have been hit
with the flu or some illnesses over last a couple
of games. We haven't seen Kobe Jerome, Toron Allen or
Kevin Riley play in the first two conference games. How
are they working towards getting better?

Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah, I mean, we're going to practice here in a
little bit. I fully anticipate those three guys to be
available to do something at practice. What does that look like.
I'm not sure it's going to be based on their
return to play progressions.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
But Cavin is feeling much better.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
He was dealing with a dislocated finger from the Saint
John's game. They got knocked down.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
With the flu. Kobe had the flu tron as well.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
But I fully anticipate those guys to kind of gradually
build up to hopefully be ready to play on Thursday.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
All right, well, we look forward to that.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
We look forward to seeing John Camden play on a
Thursday and every day that he can suit up as
the Blue Hen. We're going to take our first time
out and when we come back, we'll talk with Delaware's
leading score John Camden will welcome into the program for
listen ninety four seven w DSD Welcome back into the
Blue Hens basketball coaches show up by First State Orthopedics,

(11:19):
a team of award winning top docs taking care of
Delaware from the beach to the bridge and beyond. Visit
First State Ortho dot com. Not at Clone Kates tonight,
but we are recording because of the snow, and I'm
so happy to welcome in virtually got to talk to
him in personality. He was our player of the game
on Saturday. But John Camden, thanks so much.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
For being here, Thanks for having me Scott.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
And congrats on a great win on Saturday. I'm sure
it felt good to get back home and defend the home.

Speaker 5 (11:45):
Floor, absolutely protecting home courters everything.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Well, you were on the road for a bit up
in Queen's against Saint John's, then started off conference play
against Northeastern. I want to go back to that game
against Saint John's December twenty seven, nine three point field
goals made at Saint John's. What's going through your mind
when when everything starts dropping like that?

Speaker 7 (12:07):
Yeah, not a whole lot, actually, I think that's kind
of the key, is keeping your mind clear, just kind
of entering that flow state. But it was fun to
kind of get the shot going. Obviously, you know, would
have rather been able to pull out a huge upset win,
but nonetheless definitely gave me some confidence heading into conference play,
so it was good to get the shot going for sure.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
I feel like you won the crowd over a little
bit at Carna.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Second.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
That's not something that always have Could you feel that
the crowd was almost cheering for you at one point?

Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah, they were a little bit.

Speaker 7 (12:36):
I was surprised that hasn't hasn't happened before at an
away game. I'm sure if the if it was a
one point game right would have been different for me.

Speaker 5 (12:44):
But nonetheless, that was definitely a cool moment.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Do you know as you're playing that you have tied
the school record or is that something that you learn
after the fact.

Speaker 7 (12:51):
No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I
wasn't I wasn't sure how many threes I had even made.
Like I said, there's not a whole lot going through
my mind. I feel like I always always play best
when I'm not really aware of what's going on. I'm
just kind of in the flow states, so I was
not aware of that.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, it was pretty impressive stuff. One of the hight
scoring totals ever against Saint John's. I think it was
up to Max Strews, who's in the NBA, has the
most points against Saint John's, but thirty five was one
of the highest totals ever against Saint John's as an opponent.
You're you're you know, we talk about the threes. You're
a tall guy, You're six foot eight. You're a front
court player obviously and in a guard lineup, but you
have the skills of a guard despite your height. How

(13:28):
would you describe but your game to our fans are
just now learning more about you.

Speaker 7 (13:33):
Yeah, I think I just stretched the floor pretty well.
I can be a mismatch for other teams with us
starting a small ball lineup, starting me at the five,
A lot of teams will put their five on me.
Recently that's changed. Sometimes they'll put their five on a
different guy. But really just balancing the floor, being able
to stretch, stretch the floor out space, knock down open threes,

(13:53):
and then if I have a mismatch, maybe taking somebody.

Speaker 5 (13:55):
To the rim.

Speaker 7 (13:56):
Really just willing to do it all, you know, case
by case, game game, such kind of situation.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Talking with John cam didn newcomer to Delaware this season,
So glad that you are here after coming from Memphis
and Virginia Tech. And for those that are less familiar
or getting to know your history. You were part of
the number one recruiting class in the country when you
went to Memphis, part of a class that has now
three NBA players on it. How did that experience at

(14:23):
Memphis and playing with those type of guys that I know.
Unfortunately you suffered an injury, but just kind of being there,
how did that prepare you for where you are today?

Speaker 5 (14:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (14:30):
I think just being around that kind of talent will
always push you to work harder no matter what your circumstances.
Obviously I went through an injury my freshman year, but
I learned so much as being around other super talented players,
you know, very high level coaches Larry Brown.

Speaker 5 (14:45):
Penny Hardaway, and Cody Topper.

Speaker 7 (14:47):
So I just learned a lot my freshman year, and
I think it was a really good experience for me.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
When I was growing up, now, Grant Hill was my guy,
but like Penny Hardaway was right up there in terms
of my favorite player. I had like three different Penny
Hardaway jerseys growing up. So what was it like playing
for a legend like that?

Speaker 5 (15:02):
It was definitly special.

Speaker 7 (15:03):
He obviously just has so much knowledge for the game,
you know, working out with him one on one workouts
things like that. Like I said, I just learned a lot.
So it was definitely a really good, really good experience.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
And Coach engles we talked about, you know, he's been
in touch with you'd been trying to get you here
for quite some time.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Around one, he missed out, round two, he missed out.
Finally got here around three.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
But he talked about, you know, sometimes and there's plenty
of reasons to go to different places, and now more
than ever, I think, on the recruiting trail, but was
one of his pitches and he kind of talked about
getting back to just hoop it, like just enjoying the
basketball game.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
Did do you do you find that that's where you're
at right now? And what's your relationship with with coach Inglesby?

Speaker 5 (15:38):
Yeah? Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (15:39):
This year has been very freeing for me, just playing
a lot of minutes, having a big role, but also
playing for coach Inglesby who just lets me go out
there and kind of do my thing. I think he
knows that I want to play the right way, so
we have a really good relationship. There's I think I
said this the other day, but it's the most fun
I've had playing basketball in a long time, So that
was definitely a recruiting pitch that came to fruition.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Well, it's it's fun to watch you play.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
I think everybody gets a chance to see you in person,
it's fantastic. But people have been able to watch you
on national television. Lighted up thirty points versus Yeah, that
game was on ESPN, thirty five points versus Saint John's.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
We mentioned it, that game was on Fox Sports one.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Do you get up a little bit more for the
national TV games? Like, is that something your averaging pretty
high mark when when the whole nations watch it.

Speaker 7 (16:24):
Yeah, I think it's definitely easy to lock in knowing
that the games are on national television without a doubt.
But my goal is just to be as consistent as possible.
And obviously that college basketball like it's it's not an
easy game at all. Different you know, different team, different
schools are throwing different defenses at you, guarding you different
ways and stuff like that. But yeah, you put us

(16:44):
on national television, I'll do my best to give you
a show.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
We got to We got to find a way to
get you.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
You know what, they didn't want to put CIA, the
CA didn't want to put Delaware on the national TV slot.
They can't stop us if we make the championship or
the NTA Tournament, so I know that's ultimately the goal.
We're talking with John Canden. He's the team's leading scorer,
first year with the Blue Hens, so excited to have
him here at Delaware. Just to give him some background
information to our listeners, you come from a very athletic family.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Your mom played at William Mary.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
You have sisters that played the cross at Ohio State
and at Drexel, and then there's one currently playing at Richmond.
So how competitive do things get in that Camden household?

Speaker 5 (17:23):
Incredibly competitive. It's hard to even explain. Everything's competition growing up.

Speaker 7 (17:31):
Every one of my you know, all my sisters are
divisional athletes, so it was I was just next up,
you know what I mean. So everything we do is competitive,
whether it's a board game or quote n hole, whatever
it is, we're going at it.

Speaker 5 (17:42):
So they definitely you know maybe who I am.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
And I'm gonna talk to coach at Inglesby about the
college Football Playoff because I know he's very invested. But
I'm looking at the four teams left and it seems
like you've got a connection everyone. You've got a head
coach that they went to Notre Dame. You got one
sister that went to Ohio State. You got another sister
that went to Penn State. Man, I believe another one
that that's down in Texas. So what's what's your level?

Speaker 7 (18:04):
There's there's a lot of a lot of fighting that
goes on in the group. That a lot of bickering,
especially between and then Megan, Penn State and Ohio State.

Speaker 5 (18:14):
So we're gonna see who gets the I kind of
I'm kind of out of it at this point. Everybody
else seems to have a stake in it. But it's
definitely funny to watch. For sure. Fel bad for coach.

Speaker 7 (18:24):
He hasn't been able to watch, you know either those
Notre Dame games won't people to watch it on Thursday either.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
But we'll get them a win, so that's right.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
The win versus A and two will be more important.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
And then he can probably fourth quarter, so once we
get on the bus and head to Hampton. Speaking of football,
you went to Virginia Tech. We played against Virginia Tech
once in football, so I got to witness it once.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
But uh, did you ever go to.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
A football game at Virginia Tech because enter saying, man
that that's one of the coolest experiences I would think
in all of college sports.

Speaker 5 (18:48):
Of course, I did I go to a football game.
I didn't many at all.

Speaker 7 (18:52):
Great experience Virginia Tech football, the stadium and Sandman, I
mean you said it.

Speaker 5 (18:56):
It lives up to the hype. So yeah, those were
those were a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
All right, we're talking John Camden. I'll let you go
get ready for practice.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
But we got a final fire. We should do just
some fun questions to end things up, rapid fire. Favorite
sports movie.

Speaker 5 (19:08):
Of all time?

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Go to the blind Side, The blind Side. This was
I had an opinion. It's for me. It's Blue Chips.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
So that's a shout out. That's a Penny Hardaway shout out.
You got to watch Blue Chips. Butcher McCrae, your former coach.
What do you listen to before a game to get
you pumped up?

Speaker 7 (19:22):
Oh, that's a good one, I would say, kind of basically,
but I listen to a lot of Drake pre game.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Drake's a good one. I thought maybe a little NL
Choppa Champion. That's a good song you know about him?

Speaker 8 (19:33):
Right?

Speaker 5 (19:33):
Yeah, yeah, I know. I know the top actually personally, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
He can shoot the basketball.

Speaker 5 (19:38):
Huh, yeah, you can shoot it a little bit.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
That one's for our younger listeners. If we were in person,
no would understand what we're talking about. But favorite place
to travel? What's your favorite place that you've been.

Speaker 7 (19:46):
Yeah, favorite place I've been was we had a foreign
tour last year Legano, Switzerland. Only been out of the
country a few times, but that was by far my
favorite place I've been. But then in the summer, I'm
a huge beat guy, so anytime I can get around
some water, that's mine.

Speaker 5 (19:58):
That's my thing.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
Has the best nickname on the team?

Speaker 7 (20:04):
I guess I guess we would say, Uh, I guess
I'll go to my roommate, Trent Trent Knowson.

Speaker 5 (20:07):
We call him, call him.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Tricky, Tricky Tricky Trent. Okay, Uh what about Uh? What
about Johnny Cash?

Speaker 5 (20:13):
Johnny Cash is good Johnny. Not a lot of people
know about that one. So you did your research.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
And uh, and then the last of it, not least
to John what's your favorite part so far about being
a blue Head?

Speaker 5 (20:23):
Just playing for coach ingless? Like I said, it's been
a lot of fun.

Speaker 7 (20:26):
Just kind of living out my dream, playing a lot
of minutes and you know, winning some games, you know,
the goals that win to chamionship.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
But it's been a lot of fun so far.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
All right, John, Well, thank you so much for joining us,
uh virtually. We'll get you back in person soon. Keep
doing what you're doing. We've enjoyed watching you play and
it's been a pleasure. Keep up the great work with
the heads.

Speaker 5 (20:43):
Thanks Scott. Great talking to you.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
All right, that's John Cann. We'll take a time out.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
We come back more with our head coach Martin Inglesby
as the Blue Hens Basketball Coaches Show for Rolls High.
Welcome back into the Blue Hens Basketball Coaches Show presented
by Klondike Kate's Restaurant and Saloon. Still six more days
to check out Slagh Bar if you missed over the holidays,
get out to Main Street and see it. All the
decorations do an amazing job with that. Clande Kates dot

(21:06):
com if you want to order online. We appreciate their support.
Wish we could be there today, but we're recording things
here with head coach Martin Englesby. Will bring in Coach
Inglesby once again and the coach. As we get into
conference play a game on Thursday, a game on Saturday,
that's going to be the way that it is. We
kind of talked about how the CIA unfortunately kept us
out of the TV schedule, but because of that, it

(21:27):
is a Thursday Saturday schedule the rest of the season.
Because of that, How important is it to keep some
type of routine for this team and then kind of
go through your week. Is Monday Tuesday more team oriented
and then once you get Wednesday and Friday, that's more
opponents specific or how will you go about your week?
Obviously there's some travel involved as well.

Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, I think that's a great question. I mean, we
do take it week by week.

Speaker 4 (21:50):
I mean, we've been in this league long enough to
kind of know two games and three days can really
wear on the body. So a lot of our preparation
is mental and being able to give guys information and
scouting and then kind of ramp up to a good
couple days of practice. You know, we did have the flu,
like we talked about prior, and then Niles was cramping
up at the end of the game on Saturday. So

(22:12):
we take Sundays an off day, no school, no basketball,
let the guys recover, and then we kind of get
the Monday and see where we're at.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
So we're gonna get back to practice today.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
Well, a good workout for about an hour and fifteen minutes,
a lot of cardio, a lot of shooting.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
I'm not sure if we're going to go live today.

Speaker 4 (22:27):
Tuesday is really our biggest day where we get up
and down and compete.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
And then Wednesday we have a light workout.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
In the morning that we're flying down in Greensboro Wednesday afternoons,
so we get in there, get settled, do scouting, have
a shoot around on Thursday, and then you know, depending
on the outcome of Thursday night's game, we travel. We
have a lighter practice on Friday, and we play again
on Saturday. So that's kind of usually the blueprint framework
of what the week looks like for us, but obviously
always on our toes, willing to adapt and pivot how

(22:52):
we need to.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, first double road trip, back to back road trip
for Dell or coming up Thursday Saturday.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
On the road.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
You know, CIA is very tough. It's hard to win
on the road. Sometimes we'll look at the schedule or
we'll talk about you know, hey, Obviously you want to
win every game, and I think every coach who wants
to win every single game, But sometimes there's trips where
you say, you know, if we get a split, that
would that would be great. Do you kind of have
to be greedy on this trip and say like, uh,
let's go get We got to go get both early

(23:20):
on and so so we're working ahead in the schedule
because you look at the back half of the CIA
schedule that he gave that they gave Delaware, it's a gauntlet,
So do you kind of have to be greedy heading
into this week?

Speaker 4 (23:29):
We kind of surprise Joey didn't give us all of
them any teams and we start out three or four
on the road and stuff.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
But honestly, like the only thing.

Speaker 4 (23:38):
I focus on is Thursday is the next game on
our schedule. That is what we got to prepare for
the next couple of days. And on my assistance and
people that followed the program, oh if you can go
to and all on this trip. I tell my kids that,
I tell my wife that like the only thing I'm
thinking about is what we need.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
To do to win a game on Thursday.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
Night against ours cal on A and T obviously, if
you can get a road sweep, that is huge in
conference play. And I think the biggest thing for us
too is you know, to handle your business at home,
which we had to do on Saturday after losing a
tough one on Thursday night in Northeast and now we
felt could have stole but winning home games in conference
play to be able to put enough w's on your

(24:15):
record to be in position down the stretch. But I'll
come back to like eighteen one of no nights, So
we got to get one, get to one and O
on Thursday, and then as we head to Hampton, Virginia
Thursday night, hopefully watching my Irish play a football game
after a w and then we can focus on getting
the one and O on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
Well, I wanted to ask you about that and a
great segue coach, appreciate you even do this long enough,
you're you're good with the segwayes Thursday night. What's your
strategy because we're going we're going head to head with
kickoff of the semi final college football playoff, Like will
you look at your phone after the game?

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Will you look at text messs?

Speaker 1 (24:50):
Do you not want to know until you can get
in front of a television, like, what's the strategy'll probably
like third quarter or fourth quarter action of once the
game gets done against A and T.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, that's good, it's a good question.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
I mean, I think I'm sure I'll get to my
phone on the bus and hopefully flip on the TV.
I was hoping that they were going to There was
some talk about them flipping the games on Thursday and
Friday so I could watch it. And I don't know
if you know, Tyler Howise was a huge Penn State
football fan, so I could give him a hard time
and we'll have a gentleman's bet on who's going to
win the game on Thursday night. But most important thing

(25:20):
is for us to get a w and hopefully I
can enjoy a great college football game heading to Virginia
late Thursday night and see if our Irish can get
it done.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
And then for our listeners a treat a Notre Dame
connection as well. On Saturday at Hampton, I am going
to be joined by Sean Carney, a former Delaware assistant,
a former Notre Dame assistant.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
I'm excited to be able to work with him for
the first time.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
He's in the area, now, but a great treat for
our Delaware fan base to get to hear from him.
Tell us a little bit about your time with Coach Carney.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah, I mean Coach Carney is the best. I mean,
he's my mentor.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
You know, played for him my senior year at Notre
Dame and it was on the staff. He really kind
of showed me the ropes in this coaching profession. And
you know, a great coach, a great person. Guy I
keep in touch with and you know, he was recently
the A ten commissioner for men's basketball and got out
of there is now and doing some TV work.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
So very honored to have him part of the broadcast
with you, and I know he'll do a heck of
a job.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
But guy, guy that we're excited to kind of welcome
back to Delaware and be a part of this.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Well, we're looking forward to that.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
On a Saturday for now, though I know you got practice,
you're going to go sledding after.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
This or what's your what's your schedule?

Speaker 4 (26:29):
Like, yeah, my kids, if we get enough show later,
they wanted to go to Rockford Park and go sledding.
I haven't done that in a long time, and I
hopefully hopefully I don't get hurt, but I told him
I would maybe take him out there and get them
to get him some runs.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
There's no, there's no. They're skiers.

Speaker 4 (26:43):
I'm not a skier, but they go out to Colleen's
from Denver, so they go out there and ski quite
a bit during the year.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
But they like to snow a little better than I do.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
Well, we'll be safe, no sledding accidents out but thank
you for coming on and doing it this way. We'll
get back to the cost the pasta in a couple weeks,
then ultimately we'll have our first show at Kate's.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
But thanks so much, coach, and we'll talk to you
this week.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Oh Scotts, all right, that'll do.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
It for Martin engels b. We'll take an all the
time out we come back. Matt Janis is on with
Sarah Jenkins as the Coaches Show rolls on. You're listening
to the blu Hen's Basketball coach a Show at ninety
four to seven w d s D.

Speaker 8 (27:23):
Hey, welcome back to Blue Hen's Basketball Coaches Show. So
sorry not to be at Clonde Kates tonight, but mother
nature had a different plan. We're now joined by someone
that has a good feel for changing plans on the
fly this season. The head coach of the women's basketball program,
Sarah Jenkins with us NOW coach, I know you miss
seeing everybody's faces at Clondike. Kate's safety is what it's

(27:47):
all about. Obviously, we didn't want to put anybody in
harm's way with the winter storm out there, but it's
just not the same not being there in person, right.

Speaker 9 (27:54):
Yeah, I love everybody and love to see everybody, So
I guess we'll see him with it next week.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (27:59):
Well, I'll be back in a couple weeks for sure,
and certainly that'll be you know, we were do a
big snowstorm, only it's been a while since we've had
snow outside.

Speaker 10 (28:07):
Yeah, I don't even have a shovel.

Speaker 9 (28:08):
I don't have a shovel or scraper for my car
because we haven't had snow.

Speaker 6 (28:13):
You don't have a scraper for your car.

Speaker 9 (28:15):
No, cause I had one, but it broke and I
didn't get a new one yet.

Speaker 6 (28:19):
How many years ago did it break? Tell me the truth?

Speaker 10 (28:22):
No comment.

Speaker 6 (28:25):
I know you well enough to know that you have already.

Speaker 8 (28:27):
Secured yourself a couple of neighbors that will shovel the
driveway for you. So I'm I was pretty confident you
didn't have a shovel that that I had. So let's
talk a little bit about the basketball team. Frustrating weekend
for your team. You go on the road against Drexel,
and you play tight game, fall behind a little bit early, scrapping,

(28:48):
claw your way back, get within one point in the
fourth court on a couple different occasions, and can't quite
get over the hump. And then a little bit different
game on Sunday, but a similar outcome where you actually
started well, I had an eight point lead at the half,
tough third quarter put you behind the eight ball a
little bit, put yourself in position with a couple of
leads in the fourth, but again just couldn't quite get
over the hump.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
When you look back at both of those.

Speaker 8 (29:10):
Games, what was the growth that you saw and what
are some of the areas that still separated you from
getting across the finish line.

Speaker 3 (29:17):
Yeah, you know, I do.

Speaker 9 (29:20):
I am very impressed or proud of our kids just
for their effort. I mean we've we've been off for
a while and not playing the game in some time,
and practices have had to be modified just because of
our injuries, so really proud of, you know, just how
hard they played. But you know, we have to figure
out a way to turn the corner because we're in
every game, and then there are a series of errors

(29:43):
that happen at some point in the game to take
us out, you know, like in that third quarter coming in,
we could have put the game away, and we gave
up just for silly eras six points in like a minute,
you know, And so those are those are things that
we've got to clean up and do a better job
job at handling.

Speaker 8 (30:04):
You know, it was a weird game in that the
start of the third quarter, you played so well at
the end of the first half, and then you mentioned
Hostre gets a bucket on Sunday, and that's not the
end of the world.

Speaker 6 (30:14):
That's gonna happen in to the nature of the game
of basketball.

Speaker 8 (30:16):
But then the inbound pass just kind of maybe not
expecting full court.

Speaker 6 (30:19):
Pressure throwing it away.

Speaker 8 (30:20):
Was that a lack of communication or just a lack
of concentration, but we.

Speaker 6 (30:24):
Kind of went down on that play lack.

Speaker 9 (30:26):
Of focus because that shit have never happened. You should
never just throw the ball without looking, and that's kind
of what we did, we were like just throwing the
ball in and it's just its immaturity. And like that's
the part of where we have to grow up and
winning is maturity. And we've got to mature and stay
focused even when you know we're up, you know. And
so I think sometimes when we get up, we get
a little bit comfortable and think, you know, we got

(30:47):
this game in the bag, and you know, we're not
as focused or attentive to detail as we were to
get the league.

Speaker 10 (30:55):
And the same thing, like I look at.

Speaker 9 (30:56):
Drug, so like we just had such a horrible start,
you know, and it was the start.

Speaker 10 (31:00):
It took us out of.

Speaker 9 (31:00):
The game and you know, every you know, the reality
is we're a solid team, but we don't have a star, right,
And so when you don't have a star, your ability
and your grace to make mistakes is smaller. Right.

Speaker 10 (31:15):
A lot of good teams and teams that win, they
have a star.

Speaker 9 (31:18):
They have a go to player that they can give
the ball to that are gonna consistently make plays, and
you know, we don't have that, and so like we
have to minimize our mistakes, and we have to be
disciplined and pay attention to detail, and we struggle. We
struggled with that this weekend, and we've struggled with that,
you know, all year, and so that's that's just where

(31:39):
we got to get better. I think that you know,
now we're getting bodies back and we're getting used to
playing together. I think that will help us long term
with just chemistry and and and playing together. And so
I think the more we continue to keep people healthy
and play together, well.

Speaker 8 (32:02):
Walk us through where you guys are right now, because
obviously you have the eight scholarship players available, you're at
a ninth. We'll talk about that a little bit later
on in this Blue Hen's Basketball Coaches Show, but that's
still you know, it feels like you've got a full
team compared to what you were dealing with in December,
But when you look on the relative scale to what
you've got in terms of other teams compared around the country,

(32:22):
you're still woefully shy on numbers. You're still a really
injury plague team. And how has that impacted building that
chemistry that you talked about, because you still have to
be I would imagine kind of really protective of what
you guys are doing practice wise.

Speaker 6 (32:37):
How are you building that schedule?

Speaker 8 (32:38):
To manage the balancing act between building chemistry but making
sure you're as fresh as possible.

Speaker 9 (32:45):
Yeah, you know, I think it's for us a lot
of it is you know, mental preparation, and you know,
we still get after it when we can, like you know,
a couple of days before game time we go, we
have hard days. You know, we get after it, but
leading into the game we kind of dial back significantly,
so they have the legs to play back to back.
But you know, it's a challenge and it's you know,

(33:06):
I'll never think as a hit a first time head coach,
I have.

Speaker 10 (33:09):
To do all of this stuff right at the beginning,
you know.

Speaker 9 (33:11):
But it's such a learning experience, and you know it's
a learning experience for them too, because I mean, this
scenario doesn't happen to people very often, and so just
trying to navigate like people in positions.

Speaker 10 (33:23):
I keep talking about that, but that's just.

Speaker 9 (33:25):
So critical because we did We've played all of our
games without the point guard, you know, and Sidney Boone's
our only real point guard and she's at fifty percent.

Speaker 8 (33:33):
How big has it been though, to at least get
Sydney back able to play some more minutes I mean
when she first came out, she was basically able to
play a minute or two in stretchers. There's really just
a testament to her work ethic and physical and metal
topnicsics she could even get out there to help the team.
Now it seems like, well, she's still so far away
from what we saw of Sydney boone season ago. He's

(33:54):
able to do more things and do them for longer stretchers.

Speaker 6 (33:57):
How does that impact your often totally?

Speaker 9 (34:00):
I mean I significantly, because she's been in the system
for a year and she knows it right. She just
has to get her time in her and her familiarity
back with just playing the game.

Speaker 10 (34:10):
She hasn't really played.

Speaker 9 (34:11):
In nine months and so but just her knowledge, her IQ,
her just being a point guard and playing in the system.

Speaker 10 (34:18):
And I just think a lot of it for her
right now is just going to be her confidence.

Speaker 9 (34:21):
You know, she's not as confident playing right now because
she's just she hasn't seen herself get over the hump
of being injured, and you know, so I'm hoping that
she continues to play and get more minutes that she'll
she'll start.

Speaker 10 (34:32):
To have some of that.

Speaker 8 (34:33):
The development of Ela wands are bringing her into the
full getting her comfortable within the system. You know, in
the new era of college basketball, used to have two
three years to get a kid ready, get them comfortable
with their role, and and kind of let them understand
the system. Now everything's in fast forward, Moode. Obviously she's
getting comfortable. As the season progresses, they're gonna see some

(34:54):
ups and downs. You have to be pleased with what
you've seen from her in a short amount of time.

Speaker 9 (34:59):
Yeah, she's He's a really art worker. Like I couldn't
ask for a better kid. I tell her every day,
she's the best thing that ever happened to me, because
she comes in, she works hard every day. She's a leader,
she's a good representation of our community, and she just
a is a competitor and just all around good kid.
Comes from a great family of just good people. And
she's brought so much to our program, and she's brought

(35:21):
so much to our culture and to our community. And
I'm so grateful that she chose to come here, and
I'm excited to see what she does in the next
year and two years that she's here.

Speaker 8 (35:32):
When she comes in, you think maybe stereotypical shooters spot
up and.

Speaker 6 (35:36):
That's pretty much what she does.

Speaker 8 (35:38):
But she's got a little bit more of an all
around game than maybe some shooters. What have we seen
her have an impact defensively? Really in that game against Hotta,
she played some good on ball defense and stretchers for
your team.

Speaker 6 (35:47):
She's more than just a shooter, right she is.

Speaker 9 (35:49):
And she's learning, you know, like she's come from a
program where they just wanted her to catch you, and
we're challenging her to continue to just expand her game
and to do more cl.

Speaker 6 (36:00):
Is in the gym range?

Speaker 8 (36:02):
Realistically, what's the deepest shot you've ever seen her knockdown
from three?

Speaker 6 (36:06):
In practice?

Speaker 10 (36:07):
It's pretty far.

Speaker 9 (36:07):
I think a little bit behind the volleyball line is
going to be my assumption.

Speaker 8 (36:11):
Wow, so a little bit deeper range than you had
back in your playing dicks.

Speaker 9 (36:15):
No, I could shoot way actually, way farther than that.

Speaker 6 (36:19):
But they didn't have the three point line yet when
you played right, they.

Speaker 10 (36:22):
Had the three point line.

Speaker 8 (36:24):
How was the best plot they hadn't brought into the
game yet when you were playing?

Speaker 6 (36:28):
Is that what it was?

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (36:29):
It was a chakla.

Speaker 8 (36:31):
Sarah jackinbs head, coach of the Blue Hens. We will
take a break. When we returned, we will.

Speaker 6 (36:35):
Hear from Alawanza.

Speaker 8 (36:36):
We'll ask her about if she's seen any of the
black and white footage from back of.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
The day when her coach played.

Speaker 8 (36:41):
Will also ask her about her team's performance so far
and how she's adjusting the Delaware When we return, it's
a Blue Men's Basketball Coaches Show. Welcome back Blue Men's
Basketball Coaches Show. I'm Att Janis joined now by the
sharpshooter for the Hens.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
Hello, Wandzar.

Speaker 8 (37:01):
Thank you so much forarticular the time to join it.

Speaker 11 (37:03):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 8 (37:04):
I want to start with the transition coming over here
to Delaware from Binghamton. What was the process like going
into the portal and then picking Delaware.

Speaker 12 (37:13):
Honestly, for me, I transferred for for like multiple reasons,
but one of the big things.

Speaker 11 (37:20):
Was like for my education.

Speaker 12 (37:22):
The previous school I was that didn't have a grad
program that worked for me. I've wanted to do fashion
since I was really like a really young kid, but
I didn't get any offers out of high school that
had both fashion and like could offer a Division one scholarship,
So I kind of abandoned that dream and then when
I hit the portal, like the kind of opened up

(37:43):
a lot of opportunities. I feel like I had a
lot more kind of options in the portal than I
thought I was going to have, which was exciting and
overwhelming but very blessed for that. But ultimately I was
on the phone like NonStop for a few days, and
I was just like, I don't know, like no one's cause,
like you know, when you it's different being a transfer
because you kind of have this idea of like, you

(38:03):
know what, how college coaches are in that sense, like
you're just a little bit more like you're less naive,
I guess, and when you're in high school, so it's
easier to kind of pick up on like when coaches
are being genuine and things like that. So I think
it was like, I, you know, I was kind of
like I don't know, I don't know. And then I
kind of told my AU coach, I was like, I
don't know, none of the schools are really like speaking.

Speaker 11 (38:23):
To me, like I'm not sure.

Speaker 12 (38:25):
And then he goes, well, do you want me to
say no to the other school's Like who, like what
other schools?

Speaker 10 (38:29):
And he was like delawarre. I was like oh my god. No.

Speaker 11 (38:31):
It was like no, have them call me please. He
was like what do you like?

Speaker 12 (38:34):
Cause I knew they had fashion and my sister's a
PhD student here, So instantly I was like, okay, yes,
I want to talk to them. And then from the
minute that I talked to coach Brie first loved her.

Speaker 11 (38:45):
She was amazing.

Speaker 12 (38:46):
I just like instantly was like yes, like this is
so genuine. And then I called coach Sarah was like,
all right, you sold me.

Speaker 11 (38:51):
I was like that was it. I didn't even come visit.

Speaker 12 (38:53):
I canceled all the rest of like my visits everything
that I was like, I just cold turkey like text
all the coaches like I'm sorry, I'm going different direction.
As soon as I talked to coach Jenkins and then
I committed on the spot on the phone, without very
even seeing campus.

Speaker 11 (39:07):
I felt very excited about it.

Speaker 12 (39:08):
From like the instant that my coach said like dellaar,
I was like, yep, that's it. It was honestly, and
I'm so happy, like I think that like my intuition
was very right, and like obviously, like Coach Jenkins is
so genuine, and like she really has like changed my
life so I'm really happy to be here and.

Speaker 8 (39:23):
That that's everything that the Bordo should be. That it
is so cool. I did not know that we, you know,
get the opportunity to do these interviews and talk to
student athletes over the years. I went to Delaware, I
didn't know we offered a fashion major. Can you walk
us through what what that entails.

Speaker 12 (39:39):
Yeah, So I'm doing a Master's of Science and it's
in Fashion Apparel Studies, so it's a research based program.
So I'm going to be starting my master's thesis and
stuff soon and doing the background research to that, hopefully
this summer.

Speaker 11 (39:51):
So you know, that'll be exciting.

Speaker 12 (39:53):
But since that, so I had like my own like
small fashion brand in like high school, Like I just
make stuff and like it was just fun and I've
always been interested in it. I've loved like Project Roway
since I was a kid, and I just never kind
of understood, like I always felt like I was gonna
have to choose, like either you do sports or you
do art, and that's it. And then when I got
to college, I actually did my undergrad graphic design and

(40:16):
just loved it. So my undergrad degree is a Bachelors
of Arts. So it's specific's specified in graphic design, but
I did painting, drawing. I've always just been like pretty
creative minded. And then when I realized, oh, like I
don't have to choose, I can do it all, it
was great, and I knew I wanted to work in
sports eventually. So for me, like the transition is like

(40:37):
I wanted originally, I wanted to do graphic design in
sports for a team. That's what a lot of my
internships are. I've had a few in my undergrad doing
something similar, and then fashion kind of was like something
that I'd kind of written off. And when I realized
that I could do that as well, I think now
my mindset has shifted towards into you know, kind of
maybe having my own.

Speaker 11 (40:56):
Ath leisure brand. The end goal is to work in sports.

Speaker 12 (40:59):
So my thesis is actually going to be creating a
swimwear design for breast cancer patients and survivors post surgeries.

Speaker 11 (41:08):
And yeah, so I'm going.

Speaker 12 (41:09):
To like do a bunch of research on that and
then kind of make like a new model and use
the concept of like body image and self esteem to
kind of make the research and prove that it could
help people.

Speaker 8 (41:23):
So yeah, well, You've probably heard the old cliche that
the future is limitless, but the way you just describe it,
I think it quite literally is limitless.

Speaker 6 (41:30):
For you.

Speaker 8 (41:30):
You've given yourself about a thousand different opportunities and they
all sound so cool. You mentioned the combination of art
and sports. Do those two things really mesh in your brain?
How have you been able to combine them and help
that in both areas?

Speaker 11 (41:46):
Yeah, honestly, it's like everything to me.

Speaker 12 (41:48):
I think that like my whole I think since going
to college, because I was someone that like, both my
parents are teachers, my sister studying to be a teacher
a professor, and like, I just never.

Speaker 11 (41:57):
Really loved school.

Speaker 12 (41:58):
I was always naturally, like pretty good at it, but
I just never really loved it. And so my parents
were always like, You're like, oh my god, I'm gonna
be a teacher like this.

Speaker 11 (42:06):
And that, and I was like, I don't know.

Speaker 12 (42:07):
And I really honestly like, I didn't even know if
I wanted to go to college, but I was like,
I want to play basketball, so I was like, let's go.
And then obviously I went to Binghamton, which is one
of the top public universities in the state.

Speaker 11 (42:18):
So it ends up now.

Speaker 12 (42:19):
Then I was at like this really prestigious school academically
and I got a really great education, and I saw
like how art could really help me in my life
of basketball.

Speaker 8 (42:29):
You mentioned that you were a kid that didn't necessarily
love school growing up. You think ten year old Alelandra
would believe that you would still be going to extra
school now at this stage of your life and loving
it the way that you are.

Speaker 11 (42:42):
Ten year old Ella would be like, I thought we
wanted to be a rock star. Where's music?

Speaker 6 (42:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (42:48):
No, she would definitely be shocked.

Speaker 12 (42:49):
And I actually texted my parents something similar to that,
like recently, because the fact that I'm here getting a
master's degree is like I never really wanted to do that.

Speaker 11 (42:58):
I never thought I would do that.

Speaker 12 (43:00):
Like getting a college degree from such a prestigious kind
of undergraduate place, that was something that I never really
thought I was going to do. And then now like
to get a master's degree and have all these internships,
like I've had like three to four internships that I've
got to experience that I still get to experience and
stuff I can't I'm so happy now that I've decided
to do this because I really have become exposed to

(43:21):
so many more people and just like education in general,
like research and stuff. I mean, I this first semester
of like grad school, I was like, God, like I
thought I was gonna be doing research. I thought I
was gonna be design and close. I was like, what
is this? Like everybody lied to me. I'm reading research
papers and writing like literature reviews.

Speaker 11 (43:39):
I'm like, this is horrible funny because like now like I'm.

Speaker 12 (43:43):
Realizing that like that was all really important and like
learning all that background. Now I'm able to work on
my thesis and design something that means so much to me.

Speaker 8 (43:51):
No, it sounds like you're you're already got as many
options to use this master's degree as most people have
plans when they're fifty years old. It is quite impressive
all the opportunities you've given yourself. A rock star on
the basketball court, that's for sure. Ellen, thank you so
much for taking the time to Jordan.

Speaker 11 (44:06):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 8 (44:07):
Ella want Delaware basketball program when we were return Well
here again from Sarah Jenkins wu Winn's basketball coaches show
back in a moment. Ella Wansa is such a fun
person to catch up with, it and get to know,
so good to have her on campus here at the
University of Delaware. Welcome back to the Bluen's Basketball Coaches Show.
You heard from the Delaware Sharpshooter a moment ago. I'm

(44:30):
Matt Jannis, joined by the head coach of the Hens,
Sarah Jenkins, and you know, coach, we talked about the
new realities of college basketball and in the portal era,
how you don't get as much time to work with
a player and develop them within a system. You guys
have a couple of new pieces this season out of
the portal, Jaya Perry and Ellawansa, and for them, you know,

(44:53):
it's going to take time. That's obviously part of the reality,
but it's gotta be tougher even for the returning player.
There is the lack of practice time and the lack
of synergy that you guys have been able to form
with all the moving parts, because as they're trying to
get comfortable in the system, they're also trying to learn
their teammates.

Speaker 9 (45:09):
Right, Yeah, and yeah, and they are and again, you know,
the one thing we were excited about this year was
having a majority of our players back in the same
system and the injuries are definitely threw a bit of
a wrinkle into that. But I do the kids that

(45:29):
we have, like the transfers that we bought in, have
just really been so committed to just Delaware and our
style of play and the vision of our program and
our university.

Speaker 10 (45:40):
And so I.

Speaker 9 (45:42):
Although it's going to take us some time to get
the chemistry together, you know, I'm not battling with people
who don't want to do it and who don't want
to be a part and don't want to be here.
They want to be here, and they want to win,
and they want to learn our style, and they want
to be good teammates, and they want to have a
great culture, and so like, I am just so grateful
that we got transfers that are like that, because I

(46:03):
know that's not everybody's story, you know, And so the
big piece for us is just how do we continue
to grow together, how do we learn how to play
it better together, and how do we learn how to
finish some of these games, because I, you know, I
am proud of our kids because we're in every game.
You know, I don't know how many people will go
through this situation and compete with the non conference schedule
that we had and playing in a tough CIA schedule

(46:26):
that are able to compete in every game without having,
you know, with all the missing pieces that we've had,
and us learning how to play together.

Speaker 10 (46:34):
And so I'm really proud of them for that.

Speaker 9 (46:36):
We just got to keep working and keep our head
down to figure out how to get over the hump.

Speaker 8 (46:40):
Culture and chemistry are two different things, right, I mean, people,
I think a lot of times kind of get them
confused or intertwine them. But you can have great culture,
you still have to build chemistry. And those are our
very different processes. It would seem you can't have maybe
one without the other, but they're not necessarily simultaneously constructed, not.

Speaker 9 (47:00):
And that's the thing, like you know, but having good
culture helps you build your chemistry a little bit faster.

Speaker 10 (47:05):
And so that's what I'm hoping is going to.

Speaker 9 (47:06):
Happen for us as we continue to get people back
and healthy on the floor, that our chemistry continues to
evolve and maybe evolves a little bit more a little rapid.

Speaker 6 (47:16):
We've talked about this before, but it's worth bringing up again.

Speaker 8 (47:20):
Coaching. There's a lot of different skills to go into coaching.
It'd be part CEO. You got to understand the game.

Speaker 6 (47:25):
Obviously.

Speaker 8 (47:26):
You got to be able to be a little bit
of a salesman to make sure you're bringing kids on
campus and getting the talent that you're looking for. You
also got to be a little bit of a psychologist
psychiatrist and be able to have the feel for what
your kids are thinking and what they're going through and
how you get them through it. This is you know,
there's a lot of different pages and the coaching textbook
of how you push the right buttons? Have you found

(47:47):
the page though that addresses all the stuff.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
You've been through this year?

Speaker 8 (47:50):
And how deep into that textbook have you gone to
find the right message to deliver to these kids?

Speaker 10 (47:56):
Been found in the right page.

Speaker 9 (47:57):
But I've been talking to a lot of mentors and
a lot of people, and they're actually not that many
people that I've been counted thus far that have kind
of gone through this to this extreme.

Speaker 10 (48:08):
But getting a lot of good advice.

Speaker 9 (48:09):
And you know, the biggest thing that I'm sharing with
our kids is that, like, this is just adversity, and
you're gonna have adversity in life no matter what.

Speaker 10 (48:18):
At some point you're gonna have to face.

Speaker 9 (48:20):
Some adversity, and the difference between successful people and people
who aren't is how they deal with adversity. And so,
you know, our approach and our mindset every day as
we come in, you know, but our mindset also asked
to be that we have to get better and that's
the thing, like we have to learn and get better
and improve and that's been really our focus. And we
can't keep making the same mistakes again, and so that

(48:42):
that's been really the message to the team.

Speaker 6 (48:45):
Well, it is twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (48:47):
Now, we had the proverbial flip of the calendar, and
I would not be able to keep my media member
card if I didn't ask the lame question that we
have to go through every single year New Year's resolution?

Speaker 6 (48:58):
You got any for you personally or for your team?

Speaker 9 (49:02):
New Year's resolution is to win some games.

Speaker 10 (49:05):
That's all, win some games.

Speaker 8 (49:08):
So when are you a resolution person? Because you are
a goal centered persons, I would feel like resolution would
be right up, you're out.

Speaker 9 (49:15):
I actually am not, which is really weird. I don't
do New Year's resolutions every year, you know, unfortunately, like
it's during the season. So everything about my resolutions or whatever,
it's just like gear to war basketball and how do
we win more? That'll always turn out to be my resolution,
win some more basketball games.

Speaker 8 (49:35):
You got an extended holiday break, much more extended obviously
than you or your your team would have wanted.

Speaker 6 (49:40):
Now you guess we're working through it.

Speaker 8 (49:41):
Obviously you were still practicing even with all the injuries,
but no games for a long stretch. I have not
had a chance to talk to you since the holidays.
Did you have a good holiday break? And what was
that like going through all that?

Speaker 6 (49:52):
As a team?

Speaker 10 (49:53):
Had a good holiday break?

Speaker 9 (49:55):
We still practiced over the time that we were supposed
to be playing the games with the kids and the
co just everybody got a couple of days to go
and spend with their family, which was good and good,
very refreshing, and so enjoyed the time with the family.
And then we got back and hear them ready to
get back to work.

Speaker 8 (50:11):
You know every year when it comes upon your birthday,
and boy have we celebrated a lot of them, because
the numbers starting to ratchet up for you in that
age column, coach, but you make a big deal and
roast me about either the timing of the delivery of
your present or the quality of said present.

Speaker 6 (50:28):
I just like to know.

Speaker 8 (50:29):
I just set you up to at least wish me
a happy birthday, and I heard nothing whatsoever. Because I
celebrated over the break when happened, I still have not
received any sort of present whatsoever.

Speaker 10 (50:40):
It's coming in the nowl Oh yeah.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
Do you know my address? Is that something that you
let's not talk about it on.

Speaker 8 (50:45):
The exactly it's my fault, okay, I believe you.

Speaker 10 (50:52):
In no way how come we want invited to your
birthday party?

Speaker 8 (50:55):
My birthday is on Christmas, so I've never once had
a birthday party in my life.

Speaker 10 (51:00):
That's unfortunate.

Speaker 8 (51:02):
It is, you know, it was especially unfortunate on my
twenty first, But we don't need to talk about that
at the current moment. In time, I will ask you
this though, Did you order this snow so you didn't
have to bring a present to the Coaches Show?

Speaker 6 (51:14):
Because I believe we.

Speaker 8 (51:15):
Promised we were going to exchange presence in public this
year on our respective birthdays.

Speaker 9 (51:20):
We did, and you know, I just I didn't get
out to the store yet, so.

Speaker 6 (51:24):
I thought it was in the mail.

Speaker 9 (51:26):
Oh yeah, no, it's in the mail online Amazon.

Speaker 8 (51:30):
I've at least been listening to my lawyer wife and
learned how to cross examine much better than I used
to be able to know how to do. Last question
saved the best for last in the most unorthodox of years.
You had to go the unorthodox route on top of
even that adding a player midyear. But how about what
lead Samuels has been able to bring to the table

(51:51):
in terms of her presence, her personality. You know, a
kid that started as a D three player, was playing
club basketball and now has been given the gift every
read basketball player dreams up.

Speaker 9 (52:01):
Yeah, she's a great kid, and she's camming, and she's
working hard and really eager to learn our system and
what we're doing. And I couldn't ask for a better
walk on her addition to our team, and so excited
to continue this journey with her and to see her
continue to evolve. But my team loves her, Our coaches
love her. She's been a great addition.

Speaker 8 (52:20):
By the way, during this interview, already ordered your birthday President,
expect a windows scraper for your car in the very
near future, because I just don't know how you're gonna
get home on some of these overnight bus rides that
we have coming up in the very near future.

Speaker 10 (52:34):
I need that. I need it all.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
Right, Sarah Jenkins, thank you so much. Appreciate it as always.

Speaker 8 (52:39):
Sorry we weren't out of kates, but we'll be back
out with the people in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 10 (52:44):
Thanks Matt.

Speaker 8 (52:45):
That's a Bluen's Basketball Coaches Show. We're back in two weeks.
Women back at action on Friday. Men return to play
on Thursday for Scott Fafkin, Martin Ingles be Sarah Jenkins, Alowanser,
I'm matchetus. Thanks so much for being with us and
we will talk to you very soon.