Dover, Del. - A Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football All-MEAC first-team selection in multiple seasons and MEAC preseason player of the year, a member of the three MEAC Championship Teams, the winningest women's basketball coach in Delaware State history, and a United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles National Championship highlight the 2024 Delaware State University Athletics Hall of Fame class announced today.

A total of 13 individuals will be honored during the annual hall-of-fame ceremony scheduled for Friday, November 8 on the DSU Dover Campus. The class will also be recognized at halftime of the Hornets' football against Morgan State at Alumni Stadium the following day. HOF Tickets and ads.

Among the Hornets' 2024 Hall-of-Fame honorees is Justin Cory Wilson, a two-time All-MEAC First Team selection, who ranks second on the Hornets' career list with 189 receptions and is fourth in team history with 2,416 receiving yards. He is also fourth on the school's all-time list with 23 touchdown catches.

In 2010, Wilson became the first player in the history of the MEAC to lead the league in receptions (59), receiving yards (937), and touchdown catches (11) in the same season.

In addition, he has the second-best receiving yardage game in team history with 217 vs. Howard in 2010.

Wilson was named to the All-MEAC First Team in 2010 and 2012 and was the league's preseason player of the year in 2011.

Standout basketball coach, Edward Davis, the Winningest coach in the history of Delaware State women's basketball with 178 overall wins, highlighted by a 121-85 record (.587) in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) games in 12 seasons with the Lady Hornets. Davis was selected by his peers as the 2003-04 MEAC Coach-of-the-Year.

Coach Davis led the team to its lone MEAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2007, where the 15th-seeded Lady Hornets only trailed by three (43-40) with nine minutes left before falling to No. 2 seed Vanderbilt 62-47 in the 2007 NCAA Tournament contest.

Former Hornet baseball standout Jordan Elliott still leads Delaware State baseball in pitching wins and innings pitched and is third in career strikeouts. Elliot had multiple MEAC accolades, including being named to the 2011 Second Team and 2012 All-MEAC First Team. Was the MEAC leader with 10 wins, tying Delaware State's single-season record, in 2012.  

Helped lead Hornets to 73-35-1 overall record and 43-5 MEAC mark and back-to-back MEAC Northern Division titles in 2012-13.

Elliot signed a contract with Frontier Professional Baseball League's Washington Wild Things in Washington, Pa.  

Joining his fellow baseball alum in this Hall of Fame class is Jack Powell. Powell was a 1974 MEAC Honorable Mention second baseman. Had over 125 stolen bases during years at DSU. Also, in 1974 finished with 52 and was never thrown out.

Delaware State's 2024 Hall-of-Fame class also includes MEAC high jump Champion Jacqueline Carmichael Wilson, a school record holder in the long jump (20'5) and distance medley.

Bowling standout, Stephanie Sheridan, the MEAC most outstanding player and all-tournament team selection from the 2016 Delaware State's bowling team. Led the Hornets to a number one tournament seed with a 193 average (high 235) in the tournament qualifying round.

Sheridan was named the 2015-16 Delaware State Female Athlete of the Year and was a three-time MEAC All-Academic honoree.

Duane Henry, Led Delaware State men's and women's track teams to unprecedented and record-breaking success in individual and relay competitions. Hornets earned eight All-America honors and competed in numerous NCAA national and regional events, in addition to amassing 15 MEAC championships during his tenure as head coach. Among Henry's most accomplished Hornets are Delaware State Hall of Fame honorees Leslie Murray and Donte Holmes.

Henry also served as Delaware State's women's coach when Ketsia Dornevil set the MEAC record in the 800-meter run (2:08.40) in 2012, and Kendra Mayers reached the NCAA nationals after a school record leap of 6.16m in 2011.

Delaware State's 2024 Hall-of-Fame class also includes former football greats Andre Dixon and Balign Formerly "Reggie" Johnson.

Dixon Played in the first-ever Bowl in 1977, the orange blossom classic against FAMU. Was named to first team All-MEAC (1977).

A three-year MEAC Champion (1987, 1988,1989), Johnson was fourth All Time in Delaware State history with 15 career interceptions. Third in the nation with seven interceptions in 1988.

MEAC leader with seven interceptions in 1988. Third in the MEAC conference in interceptions with five in 1987.

Ranked 9th in MEAC history in interceptions.

The late Nelson Elijah Townsend was hired by Delaware State College (currently Delaware State University) and in 1980 finalized the transition of Delaware State from a Division II laughingstock to a Division I school and the Pride of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

In 1981, Townsend made a bold appointment by hiring Joseph Purzycki as the first white man to ever be named a head football coach at a historically black college or University.  

Townsend has, also, been credited for adding Super Bowl wide receiver John Taylor to the Delaware State Hornets in 1983 as the last scholarship player without Coach Purzycki's knowledge but to his pleasant surprise.

Coach Purzycki and succeeding coach, William "Bill" Collick another Townsend hire, led the Hornets through the glory years of Hornet football which included thirteen straight years of non-losing seasons and five conference championships. Coach Collick added a wrestling championship in 1983 during Townsend's tenure.

The Delaware State Hall-of-Fame will also welcome women's basketball great NaJai Pollard to its ranks. Delaware State women's basketball all-time leader and ninth in MEAC history with 1988 career points. All-time leader with 254 blocks and No. 2 in team history with 1.033 rebounds

10th all-time in MEAC with 17.8 points per game average, seventh in total field goals (753), and fifth in blocks (254). 2018-19 MEAC Player-of-the-Year, three-time All-MEAC First Team selection, and 2015-16 MEAC Rookie-of-the-Year. Pollard followed her college career playing professionally in Sweden and Turkey.

Delaware State's very own contributor, Mark Sills is a well-known Delaware and regional reputation advocate, organizer, and business entrepreneur of youth development programs, with organized youth basketball programs as a focal point.

Instrumental in assisting countless students to enter college and receive athletics or academic scholarships, including a host at Delaware State University. A member of the Delaware Afro-American Hall of Fame, he currently serves as president of the organization. Sills is also a Board member of the Delaware Sports Broadcaster's Association. Also, serves as a board member of the Delaware High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rounding out the Delaware State 2024 Hall of Fame class IS former dual sport athlete, Willie Lee Sheppard. Sheppard was a football MEAC Champion for three years in a row (1985-1987). Also, in 1987 Sheppard won the high jump at the MEAC Championship (6'8) and made the podium in the triple jump (3rd place, 48').