Basketball season is under way, with the UD women’s team rebuilding following its NCAA Division I championship tournament appearance and the men’s team looking to move up after finishing last in the 12-team Colonial Athletic Association.

The women’s team, led by Head Coach Tina Martin, went 26-6 last season but has lost key contributors in Tyresa Smith, who went on to play with the Detroit Shock of the WNBA, guard Alena Koshansky and forward Chrissy Fisher. This season, the Fightin’ Blue Hens have just two seniors, fiery point guard Kyle DeHaven and forward Courtney Irving. The rest of the roster is dominated by freshmen and sophomores.

In a preseason poll of CAA coaches, sports information directors and journalists, the Hens were picked to finish fifth in the conference. Perennial champion Old Dominion was picked to win once again, followed in the top five by James Madison, William and Mary, Virginia Commonwealth and Delaware.

DeHaven was selected second team All-CAA in the preseason poll and earned conference all-defensive team honors last year. This year, Martin expects a greater offensive contribution. “Her game has really emerged,” she says. “She’s gotten a much better mid-range game, and she can hit the three consistently. She is going to run our team at the point, but we’re expecting her to score more this year. Her role will expand, and I think she’s more than capable of handling it.”

Joining DeHaven at guard will be juniors Jamie Mundy, an ideal wing player, and Ethlynne Thomas, whose strength is defense, and sophomore Corinthia Benson.

Irving, who started 19 games, averaged 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the frontcourt. Martin says she is a player who “always thinks team first.” She will get help under the basket from 6-foot 4-inch sophomore Farah Ferguson and power forward Sha’Ron Harrison.

The team’s four true freshmen—point guard Gracie Palucis, guard Vanessa Kabongo, wing Tesia Harris and center Eva Riddick—make up one of Martin’s most athletic recruiting classes, and all have a chance to play immediately.

“I’m excited about having such a young team,” Martin says, adding, “We’ve got to rely on the two seniors and the two juniors to step up and bring everyone together.”

UD once again will host the women’s basketball championship, scheduled March 13-16, at the Bob Carpenter Center. A key conference game will be played Jan. 27 at The Bob, when Old Dominion visits.
The UD men’s team, led by second-year Head Coach Monté Ross, battled through a difficult season with a small roster last year, recording just five wins. However, reinforcements have arrived and should help the Hens, who were picked 10th in the CAA preseason poll.

A bright spot last season was the play of senior forward Herb Courtney, who has been named first-team All-CAA in the preseason poll. “Herb didn’t rest on his laurels after his big junior year,” Ross says. “He is one of the guys who really worked hard at improving his game. It is encouraging when your best player is setting the tone in off-season workouts.”

Joining Courtney in the frontcourt will be senior Henry Olawoye, junior Pau Geli, who missed much of last season with a lung ailment, and freshman Marco Cooper. Following the fall semester, the Hens will add junior transfers Marc Egerson and Jim Ledsome. Egerson comes to UD from Georgetown University and Ledsome from the University of Nebraska.

Sophomore point guard Brian Johnson, a CAA all-rookie selection, will direct the Hens and will be joined in the backcourt by senior Sam McMahon and freshmen Alphonso Dawson, Edwin Santiago and D.J. Boney. Ross says McMahon “has a gift of shooting the basketball that is really a dying art in today’s college basketball game.”

The full roster will enable the Hens to play the pressing game that he prefers, Ross says. “Pressing is an exciting brand of basketball, and that’s what we would like to do,” he says. “We just didn’t have the numbers to do it last year.”

A big game for the Hens is Dec. 28, when they travel to the University of Maryland. They will participate in the Bracket Busters Tournament Feb. 23, and the CAA tournament will be held March 7-10 in Richmond.