America East Conference report

SportsLine.com report
July 20, 2000

It was only a matter of time before Mike Brey moved on, but the Blue Hens were hoping it wouldn't happen so soon.

Just weeks after signing a five-year contract extension, the charismatic 41-year-old coach was swooped up by Notre Dame.

"My background, I just felt for the last couple of years I'm trained to do the job (at Notre Dame)," Brey said. "This is a place I'd love to come and do it for a long, long time. I've been in love with two coaching jobs in my five years as a head coach, and that's Notre Dame twice."

Brey was coming off his third consecutive 20-win season with the Blue Hens, including a first-ever appearance in the NIT.

"We know Notre Dame is a special place and has held an attraction for Mike Brey," said University of Delaware athletics director Edgar Johnson. "We are happy for him and the Brey family. Obviously, I am disapponted for my university and share the sadness of all basketball fans around the state of Delaware."

Delaware again raided Mike Krzyzewski's staff to hire a new coach. David Henderson, an assistant at Duke for the last three years, has been annointed as the Blue Hens' new head coach.

Henderson, 35, played for Krzyzewski at Duke before embarking on a 10-year professional career that included a stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. Henderson becomes the latest Duke assistant to make the jump to Delaware, joining Brey and his predecessor, Steve Steinwedel.

Glance at 2000-01

Get ready for rebuilding.

Mike Pegues and his 20.8 points per game is the big loss, but the top four scorers are all gone, leaving Billy Wells (8.7 ppg) as the leading returning scorer. The rest of the cast is fine, but hasn't had a chance to prove anything.

The coach

Henderson beat out Indiana assistant Mike Davis and Florida assistant John Pelphrey for the job. This will be his first head coaching job, but if history is any indicator, the coach K protege will be just fine.

Who'll be back

Billy Wells is the leading returning scorer and Greg Miller (5.8) and Austen Rowland (4.1) can also put the ball in the basket. From there on, Dave Arnold and Dave Hindenland averaged less than a bucket each, but who knows what they can do with some court time.

Who's gone

Pegues was joined on the bus out of town by Kestutis Marciulionis (14.3 ppg), Darryl Presley (10.9) and John Gordon (10.3) -- double-figure scorers, all.