The Delaware State athletics program is experiencing renewed interest following a successful football season. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that there is still something to be desired in the rest of the school’s sports offerings, especially on the women’s side.
When HBCU hoops insider Liv Antilla reported that the Hornets parted ways with women’s basketball coach Jazmone Turner, I could only shake my head, thinking of the dumpster fire she inherited and tried to fix.
For one, the previous head coach, E.C. Hill, disappeared from the sidelines between the end of the 2022-23 and the beginning of the 2023-24 season, leaving Turner to serve as interim head coach.
The interim tag was lifted following that year. Still, the transfer portal began to take a toll, and even with a highly touted recruiting class (freshmen Amya Scott and Liliana Harrison were MEAC All-Rookie Team selections this season), it wasn’t enough to save Turner’s job.
Basketball has long been one of DSU’s strongest suits, including the Lady Hornets’ run under HBCU coaching legend Ed Davis.
As a student reporter, I watched Davis coach a team that once held the modern NCAA women’s record for fewest points per game in a season, earning a share of an MEAC championship, then winning the conference tournament in 2007, making their first and only NCAA tournament appearance.
Delaware State women’s sports can thrive with investment
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to talk about since the DSU women’s last winning season was under Davis way back in the 2007-08 season.
Turner was charged with winning in an impossible situation, and the next coach, whoever that is, will likely face the same problems: a lack of attention, care, and resources.
To be fair, DSU women’s sports have had some success in recent years. The volleyball team won MEAC championships in 2022 and 2024, and this year, the newly formed women’s wrestling team sent two competitors, Louise Juitt and Icart Galumette, to the national championship tournament.
But neither of those accomplishments has gotten the publicity they deserve for one reason or another.
The women’s lacrosse and women’s soccer teams were gifted a home field following DelState’s purchase of the former Wesley College, but still have not been able to make headway in the tough Northeast Conference.
DSU stakeholders need to do more
This is where the rubber meets the road with university president Tony Allen’s ambition to make DSU a competitive sports school to go along with marked academic progress; you can’t have one program doing great and the others…not so much.
And yes, alumni need to give to and support sports outside of football, but there needs to be a renewed effort to provide support and care for the young women who want to win just as badly as the young men on campus do.
Otherwise, a revolving door of coaches will be drawn into wars they may have the heart for, but not quite the ammunition required for victory.
