For the first time in program history, the Early College School at Delaware State University's Boys basketball team qualified for the DIAA Tournament. The basketball program started in 2015.
One contributing factor to their success is third-year coach and DSU alum Darrell Jones. Jones was recently named Head Coach for the Gold team in the 2025 Blue Gold All-Star Basketball game this year.
The News Journal's Brandon Holveck recently featured Jones and his philosophy on coaching (Feb. 28, 2025).
When Darrell Jones left Baltimore after his senior year at Dunbar High School to play football at Delaware State, he didn't think he would stay in Dover long.
But there he is some three decades later, pacing the sidelines in the former Wesley College gymnasium as head coach of the Early College School at DSU high school boys basketball team. Opened in 2014, the charter school offers students an opportunity to earn high school credits before high school and college credits before college.
After graduating from Delaware State with a bachelor's degree in public relations, Jones one day went to Calvary Baptist Church at Queen and Fulton Streets in Dover to pray as he contemplated his future. There he met George Pulliam, then the director of the Boys and Girls Club. "I said, 'Listen, I want to stay in this area, but I don't have a job right now, and I want to get my master's,'" Jones said recently recounting the story. "Mr. Pulliam pulled me aside and said, 'Son, come work for me.'"
"Relationship-wise, I met some of the best people," Jones added.
The job at the Boys and Girls Club launched a career in mentoring and coaching youth. After several years at the Boys and Girls Club, Jones coached at Polytech, first as an assistant for the boys team and then as the head coach of the girls team. He is in his fourth season at Early College School @ DSU.
Early College draws students from across the state, which poses an extra challenge for its coaches. In his first two seasons, Jones' teams went 9-29. They were 12-8 last year, and at 13- 7 this year reached the DIAA Tournament for the first time in school history. "For the most part, we actually have homegrown kids that we're bringing through the program, and those kids are stepping up," said Jones, who is two months from finishing a doctoral degree in educational leadership.
How did you make connections in your time working at the Boys and Girls Club?
I was a two-time fifth grader with an IEP [individualized education program] and the whole nine. To actually work with those kids and give a testimony to those kids that they can change, they can make a difference. It matters not how well you're doing, but it matters how well you finish in life. That was one of the things I learned, and that was one of the reasons why I believe a lot of those kids and parents accepted me, because I didn't mind sharing where I came from.
What are your thoughts on sports and basketball and the role it can play for kids?
A lot of times you'll find that you'll have kids that may not – and like I said, it's not always the case – but for many, you'll have kids that come from broken homes, and they may not have a father figure. They may not have anyone to look up to. And my coaching staff – that's the reason why we're so successful. I have men that actually lead. Men that actually all my players look up to. We all hold our kids accountable.
Yes, it's basketball, but understand we give more. Life skills. Basketball is the carrot to get them to rise up to the occasion and be the men we need them to be.
When somebody first comes into your program, what do you do to instill that accountability or build trust with them?
This is where that staff comes into play. One of us will make some type of connection with the family in our program. It may not be me all the time. It may be my assistant coaches that reach out to his family and really finds out what this kid needs, because at the end of the day, we're going to get the most out of our kids by meeting their basic needs.
And then we come back and collectively figure, "OK, this is what this kid is missing. How do we collectively give it to him?" Maybe academically they're struggling. We've got to give them assistance within school. You know, some of my coaches are staff members were in the building. So we're able to get these kids the help they need, whether it be learning to be a better reader, be a better writer. You know, people don't understand when you fill those voids, that's when you get a better player.