On Tuesday Delaware beat UNCW 59-55 in the CAA tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The FIGHTIN’ Blue Hens went 7-8 in 2021 but bounced back this year to claim the school’s 1st NCAA tourney bid since 2014. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Martin Ingelsby about making the NCAA tourney as a player back in the day and heading back there again as a head coach.
You were a team captain as a senior at Notre Dame: what is the key to being a good leader? Being a great teammate. I was always a lead-by-example guy and took great pride in connecting with my teammates. You also need to be able to rally your team to get them to work hard.
In the 2001 NCAA tourney you had 9 AST in a win over Xavier and 9 PTS in a loss to Mississippi: what is your favorite memory from that tourney run? It was honestly Selection Sunday: just sitting in the basement of Coach Brey’s house and watching it on TV. We had not made it in 9 years and helped put the program back on the map. I just tried to do whatever I could to help our team win.
After playing 4 years for Coach Mike Brey you later spent 13 years on his staff at your alma mater: what makes him such a great coach, and do you think that we will hear the Irish’s name called on Selection Sunday? Mike is my mentor and I look up to him so much and learned a lot from him. He has an unbelievable ability to connect with people and make it fun: guys would run through a brick wall for him. I think they are a lock for the NCAA tourney: I am so proud of him and his team to play great down the stretch and finish in a tied for 2nd place in the ACC.
In 2015 you won the ACC tourney as an assistant and made it all the way to the Elite 8 before a 2-PT loss to Kentucky: where does that 38-win Wildcat team rank among the greatest that you have ever seen, and what would it feel like to face Coach John Calipari again next week? They were undefeated at the time and the best team in the country that year. It was a joy to be a part of that group: they believed in each other. To go down to Tobacco Road and beat Duke/UNC back-to-back to win the ACC tourney title was a special run. It is scary to think about the talent Kentucky had on that team: I tell my kids that Devin Booker was their 6th Man!
Last night in the CAA tourney title game you had a 4-PT win over a UNCW team that had been 5-0 against your school all-time in the CAA tourney to become the 1st #5 seed to ever win the CAA tourney: how were you able to get the job done when it mattered the most despite all of that history working against you? It was defense/toughness. Our group really dug in for 3 games in 3 days. We did not finish the regular season well (3 straight losses) so we regrouped and relied on our senior leadership…otherwise it would have been over quickly. I am so happy for them that we could get it done. We went through a gauntlet, beating the 1/2/4 seeds, which shows how talented we are.
FR PF Jyare Davis was named conference ROY/conference tourney MVP: how has he been able to make such a huge impact despite being a freshman who only started 3 games all year? He is such a hard worker who went to Providence for a year before transferring. He put in a ton of the work in the gym and took advantage of an opportunity when Dylan Painter went down with an injury. He can step outside or score in the post: he bought into his role and showed where he can make an impact at this level.
You faced a couple of possible NCAA tourney teams earlier this year in non-conference play (Davidson/Iona): which of them impressed you the most? Both of them are really good teams. Davidson was our season-opener: we wanted to challenge ourselves out of the gate. They have 5 guys who can shoot the ball so well that it is hard to defend them for 40 minutes. As far as Iona, when you have Coach Rick Pitino on the sideline you always have a chance and I have so much respect for what he has done. I think both of them can win a game or 2 next week.
Your father Tom scored 7 PTS for Villanova in the 1971 NCAA title game and 2 of your uncles also played college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? Probably my dad: he had a storied career at Villanova and played in the NBA for a couple of years. He was my high school coach and is the reason I do what I do: I cannot tell you how many times growing up when people would stop me on the street and tell me that they saw my dad play. I have a lot of siblings and sports were a big part of my childhood.
Your brother Brad had a good 2021, as he wrote/produced “Mare of Easttown”, which won 4 Emmy Awards: is 2022 the year that you win the award for “Best Performance by an Ingelsby in a Leading Role”? Let’s hope so: it was a good start last night! I am proud of my brother: he found his niche and watching his show gave me something to do every Sunday night during COVID. He is very talented at his craft and works really hard at it.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed you think you will get? I think that our metrics are pretty good, with a challenging non-conference schedule and a lot of wins away from home. I would love to be a 14/15 seed but we are just fortunate to be in the tourney and I just want our guys to be able to enjoy it. I was fortunate enough to play/coach in the NCAA tourney and I want them to get to experience it as well. There was such joy in being able to accomplish that goal.