The University of Delaware will celebrate a century of basketball this season, with a special 100th anniversary floor, street banners and special events featuring former Fightin’ Blue Hens players and coaches.

The first UD team took the floor in 1905-06, shortly after the invention of the game in 1891 by James Naismith at a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Mass.

UD’s initial team played under the direction of Head Coach Samuel Saunder, who led the squad to a record of 3-4-1. The team played without a coach for the next three seasons before William J. McAvoy took over in 1909-10 and remained on campus for 12 years.

Over the first century of competition, the UD men’s team, which is currently led by Head Coach David Henderson, has played 2,059 games and has a composite record of 1,002-1,055-2.

The all-time leading scorer for the Hens is Mike Pegues, who scored 2,030 points during his career from 1996-2000. Kenn Barnett, who played from 1966-68, has the highest career scoring average, at 19.6 points per game. The record for most points scored in a game was set in 1910, when UD’s Liston Houston scored 52 against Lebanon Valley College.

McAvoy and Irv Wisniewski share the longest tenures of any UD men’s basketball coaches, both leading the team for 12 seasons. Steve Steinwedel, who coached the Hens from 1985-95, has the most victories with 163, while Mike Brey, who left UD for the University of Notre Dame in 2000, has the highest winning percentage at .656. Brey went 99-52 from 1995-2000.

UD added women’s basketball in the 1971-72 season, and the Hens have had just three coaches in the history of that program—Mary Ann Hitchens, currently the senior associate director of athletics at UD, Joyce Perry and current Head Coach Tina Martin. Overall, the women’s team is 503-350.

The all-time leading scorer for the Hens is Cindy Johnson, who scored 1,675 points during her career from 1997-2001. Lori Howard, who played from 1978-81, has the highest career scoring average, at 17.7 points per game.

Both UD teams play in the 5,000-seat Bob Carpenter Sports/ Convocation Center and are members of the NCAA Division I Colonial Athletic Association. The women’s team is the defending CAA regular season champion.