Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame to induct five players, one coach

Five former high school basketball standouts, including three who later starred at the University of Delaware, and a two-time state coach of the year comprise the 16th class of inductees to the Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame.

Glasgow’s Marc Egerson, Caravel’s Tiara Malcom and P.S. du Pont’s Ken Helfand each later enjoyed success with the Blue Hens.

They are joined by St. Mark’s Susie Rowlyk, who also excelled at Mount St. Mary’s, and former Brandywine and University of Maryland standout Rick Wise.

Coach Jerry Peden, who guided championship teams at three Delaware high schools, will also be inducted.

The induction banquet is Nov. 22 at the Embassy Suites in Newark at 6 p.m. For tickets visit https://debbhof.ticketleap.com/2022/

The 2022 inductees:

Marc Egerson

Egerson was two-time state player of the year at Glasgow, which he led to the 2003 state championship. He averaged 19.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.5 steals per game as a senior. After transferring from Georgetown, the 6-6 Egerson was first-team All-CAA as a Delaware senior in 2008-09 when he averaged 15.6 points, CAA-best 10.3 rebounds (15th in the nation) and 2.6 assists per game.

Ken Helfand

Helfand was first-team All-State when he sparked P.S. du Pont to the 1968 state title, scoring 31 points in the state finals. At Delaware, the 5-10 point guard was a first-team All-Middle Atlantic Conference and first-team All-ECAC as a sophomore and leading assist man with 4.9 per game on 1971-72 team that tied the school record with 18 wins. He finished his career with 944 points and was named UD’s top senior athlete after also earning three letters in golf. Helfand played professionally in Israel.

BEST OF THE BLUE HENS:All-time top 50 UD men's basketball players ranked

Tiara Malcom

Malcom was a two-time first-team All-State pick at Caravel and co-state player of the year as a senior. She was CAA Player of the Year as a Delaware senior in 2005, when she led the league with 15.5 points per game while also collecting 6.8 rebounds and sparked the Blue Hens to the CAA regular-season title, ending Old Dominion’s long dominance. She scored 1,545 career points and had 794 rebounds. Malcom played professionally in Portugal before beginning a coaching career that took her to Delaware, Florida International as head coach and now the Villanova staff.

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Susie Rowlyk

The 6-foot Rowlyk led St. Mark’s to the state title in 1991, when she was Delaware player of the year after averaging 17.8 points, seven rebounds and four steals per game. At Mount St. Mary’s College, she was twice Northeast Conference Player of the Year while leading her team to four regular-season titles, three NEC Tournament titles and a 93-21 record. Rowlyk graduated as Mount’s fourth leading all-time scorer (1,502) and fifth-leading rebounder (766) and made the NEC’s 25th anniversary team in 2006.

Jerry Peden

Peden was voted Delaware high school coach of the year in 1988 and 1996, when he led Sussex Central and then Cape Henlopen to state championship games. Over 24 seasons in Delaware, his teams were 335-192 with Sussex and Cape winning four Henlopen North titles. Counting two stints in Pennsylvania, his record was 520-223. He first transformed A. I. du Pont, which averaged four victories a year in the six seasons before his arrival, into a powerhouse from 1972-80. The Tigers made five state quarterfinal appearances and ended Howard’s 35-game win streak. After returning to his native western Pennsylvania to coach, he came back to guide Sussex Central from 1983-92 and Cape from 1993-97.

Rick Wise

Wise was first-team All-State in 1962 when he set Brandywine records with 20.4 points, second in the state, and 16.7 rebounds per game. He was second-team All-State as a junior. He was then a three-year starter at Maryland, averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field. The 6-8 Wise led the Terrapins with 7.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore and shot 62.1 percent from the field as a senior, breaking Gene Shue’s school record.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame to induct these 5 players