Had Nate Darling and Justyn Mutts not left over the summer, Delaware would have hands-down been the CAA favorite. Without their best two players from last season, the Blue Hens can still make a splash this year.
2019–20 Record: 22-11, 11-7 CAA (5th place)
2019-20 KenPom Ranking: 180th (5th in CAA)
Given the exodus of talent from the Colonial Athletic Association this year — Nathan Knight from our College (signed a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks) and Grant Riller from Charleston (drafted by the Charlotte Hornets) and others who have left — this season could be Delaware’s time to shine under head coach Martin Inglesby.
While the Blue Hens did lose a talented forward and walking double-double in Justyn Mutts (transferred to Virginia Tech), and the third best player in the CAA last year and their lead shooter in Nate Darling (Brendan’s “favorite” NBA draft prospect and “best beard” in the CAA, who recently signed with Charlotte), they’ve retained a good amount of talent in Ryan Allen and Kevin Anderson, both of whom were tapped as Preseason All-CAA Second Team players.
Plus, they have an interesting redshirt senior forward to watch for in Dylan Painter, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game last season and shot an incredible 61.7 percent (second best on the team) from the field. While Painter was able to play only the final 22 games of last season as a transfer from Villanova and only started 16 games, he’ll be eligible to play this whole season and start for the Blue Hens.
And in this year’s CAA, where there are so many unknowns because of freshmen coming into the league and because of players possibly coming in and out because of coronavirus testing, a solid senior trio like Allen, Anderson and Painter might just be the difference and help win Delaware the conference.
The CAA preseason poll has Delaware finishing second in the league, behind No. 1 Hofstra and ahead of No. 3 Drexel.
I think that’s a fair estimation given Delaware’s returning talent as compared to Hofstra’s, and I’m predicting a second-place finish for Delaware as well.
While Delaware has Allen and Anderson — two skilled four-year senior guards who can drain threes and average double-figures per game — and Painter, Hofstra has some extremely talented and interesting players to watch for in Isaac Kante (Preseason All-CAA First Team), Tareq Coburn (CAA Honorable Mention) and Jalen Ray (CAA Honorable Mention).
However, despite Hofstra’s imposing roster and the Pride being the preseason favorite to win the CAA (again), it’s definitely a real possibility Delaware wins the conference.
I’m not saying it’s likely — I’m saying it’s possible, and I’m going to keep my eye closely on how both teams perform.
That said, I’m also aware that things could swing badly in the other direction for Delaware if Drexel plays well and the Blue Hens end up struggling. The Dragons also have a great veteran duo in James Butler and Camren Wynter, both of whom were immediately tapped as part of the Preseason All-CAA First Team. The only question mark I have with Drexel is whether Dragons head coach Zach Spiker can truly elevate and improve this talented squad of players, something he’s been unable to do these past four seasons — as Brendan noted in his 2020-21 Season Preview — when the Dragons have only shown modest improvements year after year.
But besides Hofstra and Drexel, another team that Delaware has to watch out for is Elon, ranked in the middle of the pack at No. 5. As I documented in my 2020–21 Season Preview, Elon showed some true flashes of brilliance down the stretch and during the CAA Quarterfinals last season, and the Phoenix will be an up-and-coming threat this season as Hunter McIntosh (Preseason All-CAA Second Team) and Hunter Woods (CAA Honorable Mention) continue to shoot the lights out from three.
If I were Inglesby or one of the Blue Hens, I wouldn’t sleep on Elon by any means.
Still, if I were a Delaware fan, I wouldn’t be too worried about how this season is going to go or about the negative impact of losing both Darling and Mutts.
Losing star players to bigger and brighter spotlights is something Inglesby has dealt with before in losing Ryan Daly (transferred to St. Joseph’s in 2018-19) and Ithiel Horton (transferred to Pittsburgh in 2019-20), so I’m confident Inglesby can take this shrunk Delaware team — not entirely depleted and still composed of a very talented core in Allen, Anderson and Painter — and make something work.
Hopefully, for Delaware and Ingleby’s sake, Painter will be more consistent in terms of his production this year and will live up to the exceedingly high expectations that were set for him when he transferred in from Villanova last season.
He disappeared against Hofstra in the final regular-season matchup against the Pride (Feb. 22), scoring zero points on 0-of-4 shooting in 10 minutes off the bench. And he disappeared again during the CAA Semifinals (March 9), in which he scored only four points on 2-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes as a starter. He also missed both of his free throw attempts that game as the Pride eliminated the Blue Hens 75-61.
But assuming Painter can take that next step (becoming Second or Third Team All-CAA) and perform consistently at a high level — which I believe he will, playing all year as a starter presumably — Delaware should be in great shape to make a run at a CAA Championship with Allen and Anderson leading the team, shooting the ball and scoring from the perimeter.
The Blue Hens will at least finish second this year, or so I predict, and may even finish first past Hofstra and go on to win a CAA Championship. Who knows — stranger things have happened, especially this year, and I’m liking Delaware’s odds going into the season.
Plus, all it takes is three wins in a row in March, as hard-fought and difficult and tall of a task as that may be, especially without Darling and Mutts.