# Stan Waterman (basketball)

Stan Waterman (born May 20, 1966) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Delaware State Hornets men's basketball team.

## Early life and education

Waterman grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and attended Howard Career Center High School. Playing point guard, he was named Second Team All-State as a senior and earned an invitation to the Delaware High School All-Star Basketball Game. Waterman led the team to the state championship game in 1981 and the state semifinals in 1983. He received a scholarship to Delaware. Waterman sat out the 1985-86 season to focus on his studies. He made his first career start in February 1988 and finished with six points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Waterman earned a degree in sociology in 1988. In 1989, Waterman married his high school sweetheart, Robyn.

## Coaching career

Waterman was announced as the head coach of Delaware State University's men’s basketball team on June 4, 2021. Entering his fourth season in 2024-25, he has led a resurgence of the Hornets’ program, improving the team’s win totals in each of his first three seasons.
In the 2023-24 season, Waterman guided Delaware State to a 15-win campaign, marking a significant turnaround for the program. The Hornets advanced to the championship game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament, their deepest postseason run in years. As a result of their success, the team received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational Tournament, a 16-team national postseason event, where they were seeded 14th. Waterman’s leadership during the season earned him recognition as the 2024 Male Coach of the Year at Delaware State University.
Before taking the helm at DSU, Waterman had an illustrious 29-year career at Sanford School in Hockessin, Delaware. He amassed 571 wins and guided the Warriors to 10 state championship game appearances, winning eight state titles (1992, 2002, 2010-12, 2016, 2019, and 2021). His 2020 team reached the state semifinals before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to his coaching role, he served as Dean of Students and Assistant Director of Athletics at Sanford. Waterman also coached a girls AAU team, the Lady Sharks, which competed nationally and featured his daughter Paris as its star point guard.
In 2016, Waterman earned the Tubby Raymond Award as Delaware Coach of the Year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association after leading Sanford to its sixth state championship.
Waterman has also been a part of the prestigious USA Basketball coaching staff. He was an assistant coach for the gold-medal-winning 2018 USA Men’s U17 World Cup Team and the 2017 USA Men’s U16 national team. He was also an assistant coach for the 2019 USA Nike Hoop Summit team, which defeated the World Select Team in Portland, Oregon, and was named to the coaching staff for the 2020 Nike Hoop Summit Team (which did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
A former Division I basketball player at the University of Delaware, Waterman played under head coaches Ron Rainey and Steve Steinwedel, earning his bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1989. Following the close of his college career, Waterman pursued a coaching career serving as an assistant coach at Wilmington during the 1989-90 season before becoming an assistant coach at the Sanford School, while maintaining a job with Child Protective Services in Wilmington. Waterman was named head coach at the Sanford School in April 1991, after the resignation of Thom Shumosic.
Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright (Villanova) has praised Waterman as “an outstanding leader in our game” with “elite basketball knowledge and experience,” calling him a great choice to lead the Delaware State program.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Delaware State Hornets (MEAC) (2021–present) ||||||
| 2021–22 | Delaware State | 2–26 | 0–14 | 8th | |
| 2022–23 | Delaware State | 6–24 | 4–10 | T–6th | |
| 2023–24 | Delaware State | 15–19 | 6–8 | 6th | CBI First Round |
| 2024–25 | Delaware State | 16–14 | 8–6 | 3rd | |
| Delaware State: | Delaware State: | 39–83 (.320) | 18–38 (.321) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 39–83 (.320) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||