By Andy Walter

DOVER — Clearly, Delaware State Unversity’s football results last fall weren’t good.

At the same time, Lee Hull was only hired as the Hornets’ head coach in mid-December 2022

Now, with a whole year to recruit, Hull is hoping he can make some progress.

So far, he and his staff have brought in 18 new players. That includes the 13 who DSU added last week on National Signing Day.

The group is split evenly between college transfers and high school seniors.

“This is really our first full recruiting class so I’m looking forward to that,” said Hull. “The guys have been working hard so far this winter. I’m just looking forward to getting started.”

Hull said he definitely felt like the Hornets needed to add some size after last year’s 1-10 campaign.

“Our biggest thing was to get bigger and get longer and I think we did in this class,” said Hull. “I just felt we were a small team and we needed to get bigger at all positions.

“Looking at the league and especially looking how big the ‘O’ line and ‘D’ lines are, I just thought we needed to get bigger to be able to hold up in the trenches.”

The Hornets also added a 6-foot-6 receiver in Jordan Jakes, a UNLV transfer, and 6-3 Skyler Jordan, a wideout from Alcorn State.

One of the more interesting DSU recruits is 23-year-old quarterback D’Wan Mathis, who signed with the Hornets in December.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pounder from Oak Park, Michigan spent two seasons at Georgia and three at Temple.

In 2020, Mathis started Georgia’s season opener against Arkansas. He eventually moved to wide receiver at Temple.

“He’s played at the highest level,” said Hull. “So he brings some big-time game experience that can help us. He’s a dual-threat guy — the kind of stuff we do offensively. And he’s a big kid, too.

“He’s going to compete against the other quarterbacks that we have on our roster. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Hull also signed a high school QB in Mikal Davis from Philadelphia’s Imhotep High.

The Hornets, who have been working out all winter, will begin spring practice March 18.

With DelState having created a committee assigned with upgrading the school’s athletic facilities, Hull believes there’s a lot to sell recruits on.

“I think they like to hear that they can be a part of something that is building,” said Hull. “The upgrades are coming. They can be a part of something fresh and build something from the ground floor.

“That’s the biggest selling point. And now they can see something tangible that things are progressing. I think they want to be part of something where they can be the foundation of this program moving forward.”

Dover High grad Jordan Magee, a linebacker at Temple, is going to forego his final season of eligibility to declare for the NFL Draft. Temple …

Magee in NFL Combine

Jordan Magee has taken his first step toward the NFL.

The former Dover High football standout was one of 321 college players invited to the NFL Combine on Tuesday.

This year’s combine will take place on Feb. 26-March 4 in Indianapolis.

Magee, a linebacker, finished his college career at Temple last fall after opting not to use his final year of eligibility.

A quarterback and safety at Dover, Magee developed into a 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker at Temple. In five seasons, he played in 43 games for the Owls, making 233 tackles with 31 tackles for lost, eight sacks, 10 passes defended and an interception.

Magee was a second-team All-AAC pick last fall and was also considered one of Temple’s team leaders.

Hens keeping eye on standings

Right after his game is over, Delaware men’s basketball Martin Ingelsby says the first thing he wants to know is how everybody else in the CAA did.

“My first question when we walk off the court is, ‘Who won the game?’” Ingelsby said with a smile.

The CAA standings are especially big this year in a league where 14 teams make the conference tournament.

The top four seeds don’t have to play until the quarterfinals of the tourney, which now has five rounds.

Going into a road game at Elon on Thursday, the Hens were one of four teams tied for second place at 8-4 in conference games. The top two teams are only 9-3.

Obviously, two of the teams from that top group of six are going to have to play an extra game in the tournament.

While Ingelsby said he hasn’t talked specifically about the league tourney bracket yet, he knows his veterans have discussed it with the squad.

“A lot of those guys in front of us have to play each other,” said Ingelsby. “Going into the season, we talked about winning a regular-season championship and being able to compete at the highest level in our league.

“We had some blips on the radar in the early part of the year. But I do think we’re playing our best basketball right now.”

Notes

•Smyrna native Zoe Middleton, a sophomore at Ball State, recently earned her second straight Mid-American Conference Gymnast of the Week award. Middleton had won the all-around with a score of 39.325 in a 196.600-193.200 victory over Bowling Green.

It was her second consecutive all-around victory of the season and included scores of 9.875 on both vault and floor, a 9.825 on bars and a 9.750 on beam.

•The Delaware State men’s basketball squad will finally get a chance to snap its four-game losing streak when it plays at Coppin State on Saturday at 4 p.m. It will be the Hornets’ first game since Feb. 5.

DSU has lost its last four games by a combined margin of just 10 points.

•Delaware forward Jyáre Davis was named CAA Player of the Week in men’s basketball for the second time this season. Davis averaged 18 points, 12.5 rebounds, two assists, and 1.5 blocks in a 2-0 week for the Blue Hens.

•The Delaware men’s lacrosse team remained at No. 16 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll, while moving up to No. 15 in the USILA poll after opening the season with a 14-6 win over Lafayette.

•Pitcher Mason Fluharty (Cape Henlopen/Liberty) was one of 19 nonroster players invited to spring training with the Tornto Blue Jays.

*  Cape Henlopen High grad Joe Coveleski has five goals in his first two men’s lacrosse games at Florida Tech.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at awalter@iniusa.org. Follow on X at @DSNsports.