Four years ago, Dick Rago came out of coaching retirement when Delaware Technical & Community College hired him to guide its men’s basketball team.
The idea was to make Delaware Tech a destination for area players with college basketball talent who wished to build an academic foundation for a move to a four-year school.
That 2018-19 team lost all 27 games, which showed the difficult job ahead.
“They hired me because they were discouraged that people were coming in and playing and leaving within half a year or a year,” said Rago, a Wilmington attorney who coached St. Elizabeth High for 30 seasons through 2015-16. “They wanted me to come in and not only help the program but help the kids graduate and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“Now this year, not only have we won a championship, but we’ve got five of our kids graduating [including a team manager].”
Last Saturday, the team, which is based at Delaware Tech’s Stanton campus, defeated Raritan Valley Community College on Raritan’s home floor in Branchburg Township, New Jersey, 86-79 to win the NJCAA Region 19 title.
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The victory earned the Spirit a spot in the NJCAA East District Tournament, in which it’ll face top-seeded and host Niagara County Community College in Sanborn, New York, in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal. The championship game is Sunday afternoon with a berth in the NJCAA Tournament in Rockford, Illinois, going to the winner.
Mount Pleasant High graduate Rashaan Butler had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Dickinson alumnus Tyson Tanner supplied 17 points and 20 rebounds as Delaware Tech avenged an 81-69 loss at Raritan just 11 days before.
Delaware Tech went 12-14 in Rago’s second season as coach but the 2020-21 season was erased by the coronavirus pandemic, though players continued to practice when they could while taking classes.
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This year, Delaware Tech has an 11-12 record, thanks to several early losses to Division I schools. The Region 19 title win was Delaware Tech’s 10th game in the month of February after COVID-19 issues erased its entire January schedule and also prevented practice most of the month.
“To go from 0-27 to the championship of the region in three years, we feel really good about it,” said Rago, whose coaching staff includes former St. E players Tim Massado and Eric Patton, along with Murphy Marbury. “They really earned it.
“The good thing about our team is they want me to recruit in-state kids and that’s what we’re doing and they’ve proven they can play ball with the other guys. We want them to get a degree and then go someplace else. It’s a great opportunity because you can play right away and every credit you get is going to be honored by whatever four-year school you go to.”
Joining Butler and Tanner on the Delaware Tech roster are fellow sophomores Jared McCarrity, who was born in Delaware but grew up in Florida, and Daniel Bernard (A.I. du Pont); and freshmen Malik Broome (William Penn); Izaiah Credle (Smyrna); Joey Donnelly (Newark Charter); Joe Jones (Appoquinimink); Cole Mathews (Smyrna); Syed Myles (Caesar Rodney); Noah Tran (Crystal Beach, Florida); and Shawn Ysaguirre (Appoquinimink).
Averaging in double figures scoring are Myles (18.4 ppg), Credle (15.8), Butler (14.6) and McGarrity (10.2).
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
