By Andy Walter

DOVER — Over half of Stan Waterman’s current players have never suited up in a basketball game for Delaware State.

So, while skill work and conditioning are big, simply having the Hornets get to know each other might be even bigger.

“Probably the team bonding and the gelling is more important than the X’s and O’s even,” said Waterman, who is entering his second season as DSU’s coach. “It’s an opportunity for us to learn our guys and their strengths and weaknesses and for them to become comfortable with us.”

The Hornets are in their second week of eight weeks of summer camp. The NCAA allows programs to spend eight hours a week with their players right now — four on the court and four in strength and conditioning.

Waterman said this year’s session is especially critical for DSU because he wasn’t able to do much with the players last summer.

But it’s also big because there’s only four players back from last winter’s 2-25 squad. Instead, the Hornets have six new scholarship players plus a walk-on to give them 11 total players working out right now.

DSU officially announced the signing of four of those players on Thursday: Kareem Ewell (6-foot-7, 190 pounds), who began his scareer at Dickinson High, California State-Bakersfield Ray Somerville, Jr. (6-10, 240), junior-college transfer Arion Lewis (6-2, 175) and Aaron Lemon-Warren (6-5, 200) from Maryand’s Mount Zion Prep.

“Together, they will help provide a new foundation for our program,” said Waterman.

Because of the timing of his hiring last June, Waterman mostly had to work with the players already on the roster in his first season.

“Last year, we knew what it was coming in,” he said. “We made the decision to play with the hand that was dealt.

“This time was an opportunity to put our own imprint on it and bring in some guys that we picked. They’re our guys. We looked at them and we liked them and we evaluated them. We’re happy with that.”

Of course, with the NCAA transfer portal leading to significant roster turnover for most programs, almost every team in the country is dealing with the same kind of issues.

Some of the squads that get the most accomplished this summer might be the same teams that end up winning next winter. Waterman thinks there’s a lot the Hornets can learn in these weeks together.

“I was talking to our guys this morning,” he said. “You can do all the drills you want but cones don’t move, cones don’t hit back and cones don’t talk trash.

“But just getting personalities together on the floor and learning where your guy likes to get the ball or how he likes to get the ball. ... and I think the time they spend (together) off the court is really invaluable.”

Delaware State is preparing for a schedule that includes non-conference games against Villanova, Virginia Tech, Connecticut, Liberty and Penn State.

At this time of year, most coaches are excited about their teams’ potential.

“Right now, on paper, it looks really good,” Waterman said with a laugh. “It’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together. Everything is sort of a question mark.

“You can evaluate, see what kind of year a player might have had in the school they’re coming from. But, trying to put it all together, you still don’t know until they hit the floor together and all the factors come together.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.