In its final season in the CAA, Delaware came so, so close to capturing a conference tournament title. As the first No. 12 seed to even make it past the second round of the conference tournament, the Blue Hens went all the way to the championship game, losing by just four to UNC Wilmington.
The Blue Hens are now gearing up for their first year in Conference USA. It’ll be a tough transition for the Blue Hens, as CAA Rookie of the Year Izaiah Pasha transferred to Virginia Tech and leading scorer John Camden took his talents to Cal.
If the Blue Hens hope to compete in CUSA, they will have to lean on senior guard Cavan Reilly.
Reilly was the third-leading scorer for Delaware in 2024-25 with 12.4 points per game. As a freshman in 2022-23, he set the program record for 3-point percentage by a first-year player with a 45.3% clip. This 3-point specialty has followed him, with percentages of 37.8% and 35.6% in the last two years.
Also returning to the Blue Hens are brothers Macon and Houston Emory, who scored 3.7 and 1.3 points per game, respectively. Tyler Houser is back after scoring 4.8 points in 2023-24 but missed last year due to an injury.
To make up for the lack of returning production, head coach Martin Inglesby brought in one of the best freshman classes in the history of Blue Hen basketball.
This class is headlined by three-star power forward Jayden Taylor. Taylor averaged a double-double as a junior and won a state championship in Delaware as a senior. Guard Mason Ellison was a 1,000-point scorer in high school, and Alex Kazanecki was the leading scorer in Cincinnati’s GCL as a senior.
All of these players might not make as much of an impact in Year 1, but the transfer class should. The program brings in two three-star transfers, per 247Sports. The first impact transfer is Justyn Fernandez. As a four-star recruit out of high school, Fernandez attended George Mason, but he didn’t see much playing time there or at his next stop, Providence. After averaging 3.6 points at Providence, he transferred to Delaware.
Another transfer who figures to make an impact is former Temple Owl Jameel Brown. Formerly a four-star recruit, Brown played at Penn State before Temple, averaging 4.0 points per game for the Nittany Lions and 5.3 points per game in eight games for the Owls.
Nnanna Njoku (0.6 ppg at Villanova), Bouna Kebe (DNP at Memphis) and Christian Bliss (DNP at Virginia) also joined Delaware in the offseason. Njoku and Kebe will battle for the starting five spot, and Bliss will likely be starting at point guard.
