By Chris Stevens
April Fools’ jokes became passé a while ago, so when Delaware State University alumni received an e-mail Thursday from university president Dr. Tony Allen that the Hornets were firing men’s basketball coach Eric Skeeters and women’s basketball coach David Caputo, there was no reason to believe that this was anything the real deal. And for that reason, I’m disappointed.
Skeeters, a highly regarded assistant coach on UMBC’s 16-seed darling that upset Virginia in the 2018 NCAA tournament and Caputo, a successful women’s coach at all levels of college basketball, were given just three seasons to turn around programs who haven’t been any good since the days of Greg Jackson and Ed Davis, when a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament final or semifinal appearance was a given for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
While Dr. Allen is shaping the university into something to be proud of (the acquisition of struggling but valuable Wesley College is HUGE for DSU’s portfolio), the athletic department still has a major problem. One that has befallen just about every coach in all of Delaware State’s programs – resources. It is extremely hard to put together a quality NCAA Division 1 program when the money just isn’t there. Yet since 1980, the MEAC and Southwestern Athletic Conference have tried to do just that.
According to USA Today’s 2018-19 NCAA D1 Budget spreadsheet, DSU ranked 189th of 227 Division 1 schools in terms of budget, bringing in and spending $14,098,765, while the $11,912,608 allocated is good for a percentage of 84.49, 14th among all D1 schools.
By comparison, the University of Delaware’s ’18-’19 allocation percentage is greater (87.32), but that’s because they have more money to spend – UD spent $47,947,933 while bringing in $47,945,793. $41,863,972 of that was allocated money for the record.
NCAA D1 athletics is a numbers game and a money game. Always has been, always will be. This is why it’s frustrating and disappointing to see such a turnover when Delaware State is asking their coaches to feed 5,000 people when there’s only two fish and five loaves of bread their disposal.
The basketball team plays in Memorial Hall in a gym that was converted from a barn in 1982 and has seen minimal upgrades since. You will be hard-pressed to find a less than desirable gym from an aesthetics standpoint than Memorial Hall.
I say that with love however because as a student reporter from 2002-2006, I remember the joint used to rock so loud during those MEAC contender years, you’d forget about the wait outside the door down the hall to use the bathroom some nights.
It’s hard to attract Division 1 caliber basketball players and athletes in general if your facilities aren’t much better than some of the local high schools. Kids and their parents want to see tangible things – an arena with multi-level seating and flashy scoreboards, huge weight rooms and the like. Right now, Delaware State University doesn’t have that and it’s unfair to ask coaches to do what they can with so little to work with in such a short amount of time.
The budget battle is one all Historical Black Colleges and Universities like Delaware State face and finally those inequities are coming to light, but at the same time, DSU alumni shares some of the blame in this because the effort to give back could be better. Sure, other colleges have wealthy donors and boosters ready to sign a check at the drop of a pin, but that’s not the reality in Del State’s case.
Still, a concerted community effort to raise money for the athletics programs would go a long way to making teams successful and giving local parents a reason to strongly consider DSU for their student athlete, a complaint that has long made the rounds of Delaware basketball circles.
As for what’s next for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, one can only guess. One thing is for certain, until the money situation changes at Delaware State University, very little else will.
Chris Stevens is the founding editor, reporter and videographer of First State Hoops Report and a 2007 Delaware State University graduate. He can be reached on Twitter @CJWritesNThangs or via e-mail at [email protected].
