Once a walk-on, always a walk-on.
Brett Buckman earned a partial scholarship as a University of Delaware football wide receiver after last season. But the determination that comes with arriving as a walk-on invitee continues to drive the Park Ridge, New Jersey, product.
The fourth-year Blue Hen is now third on the team in catches (18) and fourth in receiving yards (248) as No. 12-ranked Delaware (6-1 overall, 3-1 CAA) visits Elon (5-3, 3-2) at 3:30 Saturday.
“There’s a lot of vindication involved,” Delaware coach Ryan Carty said of unheralded recruits showing they belong, “but there’s also a reason that happened.”
For Buckman, Carty added, it’s been talent and the diligence to get the most out of those skills, which have been evident since his arrival at Delaware in 2019. Buckman immediately showed his potential then before catching six passes for 74 yards in the 2021 spring season and 16 for 219 yards last fall.
In last Saturday’s 38-7 win over Morgan State in Delaware Stadium, he scored his first college touchdown on a 7-yard strike from Ryan O’Connor to close the scoring.
“It felt awesome, like a weight lifted off,” said Buckman. “It was a long time coming.”
In a game Delaware had already wrapped up, Buckman’s TD catch led to an exuberant sideline reaction.
“He’s just one of those guys that’s earned it, whether it be [scholarship] money or playing time or respect or targets,” Carty said. “Just excited he got a chance to get in the end zone.”
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Which quarterback may be throwing to Buckman and his teammates Saturday remains to be seen after starter Nolan Henderson left the Morgan State game with an apparent left, non-throwing, shoulder injury early in the fourth quarter.
Carty said Wednesday that Henderson “has been able to do some things” this week in practice. That means he will likely be “a game-time decision on whether or not he can go, and then if he can, how much that limits him, what he can do,” he added.
Zach Gwynn, the Salesianum graduate who started Delaware’s final seven games at quarterback last year after Henderson suffered a pelvic area injury, would step in, Carty said. But red-shirt freshman O’Connor, who has split second-unit snaps with Gwynn in practice, would also likely see duty, Carty said.
“We’ve had really good practices,” Carty said. “These guys are ready to go when their number’s called for sure.”
Delaware is beginning a key four-game stretch to close the regular-season with its eye on the NCAA FCS playoffs. Delaware would likely have to win at least two of those games to make the 24-team field. Home bouts with Monmouth and Richmond and a finale at Villanova also loom.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Buckman didn’t start until his senior season at Saint Joseph Regional High, where he also played basketball and golf and ran track. An honor-roll student, Buckman “wasn’t on any radar to be honest,” he said, and only earned Division II and III recruiting interest.
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But he had his sights set on Division I FCS Delaware, which he’d visited when his older brother was checking out prospective colleges. Buckman is studying to become a physical therapist.
“I was gonna come here whether I played football or not,” Buckman said. “ . . . My coach reached out to their coach and I got the opportunity to be a preferred walk-on.”
He has made the most of that chance, always approaching football with extra bits of grit and resolve.
That comes from knowing he has to prove himself more, perhaps, than those who earned football scholarships out of high school. It’s a chip that, Buckman said, will never leave his shoulder.
“I’m always trying to work as hard as I can,” he said, “trying to be the first guy [on the field] and the last guy off.”
Earning a half-scholarship, Buckman said, was especially gratifying so his parents didn’t have to pay quite so much for him to attend school. Carty, hired in December as Delaware’s new coach, and his staff didn’t need much time to observe Buckman’s value.
“We saw him run around and he was pretty good,” Carty recalled.
“I know this: He works as hard, if not harder, than everybody on our team. He is always getting extra work in. He’s almost sometimes an over-worker. The kid can run all day, and he makes plays. He’s long, he’s physical, he’s tough, he works on his craft. He’s only going to get better.”
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.
