Delaware State gets a visit from The General

Delaware State played Texas Tech out in Lubbock on Tuesday night and, as you generally expect when a MEAC team takes on a power conference program, they lost pretty handily.

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 43-27 halftime lead and never looked back, getting 21 points out of Brad Reese and dominating the Hornets in the paint.

Typical outcome for a guarantee game.

The postgame, however, went a little better for Del State.

Bobby Knight, the legendary former Indiana and Texas Tech head coach and the father of current Tech head coach Pat Knight, was at the game and was so enamored with the Hornet's play that he met privately with DSU head coach Greg Jackson and visited with his team in the locker room after the game.

"I finished my postgame and came down and he was still in out locker room diagramming plays and talking gameplan," Delaware State play-by-play announcer Scott Klatzkin texted me after the game. "He loves the game, that's for sure. He praised the team for their effort and said he's never talked with an opposing team before."

"We're not into moral victories, but when someone of Bobby Knight's stature is impressed with our play, it says something about our program," said Jackson. "Coach Knight affirmed the belief of our coaching staff that if we play smart and control the basketball, we can be quite successful in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this season."

Delaware State is a gritty defensive team that plays as slow as anyone in the country. Literally. Of the 345 teams playing Division I basketball, only Wisconsin averages fewer possessions per game than the Hornets.

And if Knight's on-air persona is real, than Jackson's team must also be a connoisseur of the shot fake.