Basketball
Favorite athlete: Larry Bird
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning division for first time in school history
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My teammate last year took a full court shot that hit the ceiling and came down
Music on playlist: All of the Above
Future plans: Go to Penn State
Words to live by: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” --Ben Franklin
One goal before turning 30: Be successful
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m a good golfer
By Mary Jane Souder
Ryan Delp was destined to become a scorer in basketball. At least if early indications are worth anything.
In first grade, the now Council Rock South senior scored 30 points in one game. A feat that would be a challenge for most teams at that level, let alone one player.
Rock South boys’ basketball coach Jim Cassidy, for one, was not surprised. Turns out the first-year Hawks’ coach had his initial encounter with Delp while coaching his older brother Cole’s CYO team. 
“We would practice once or twice a week, and you could count on Ryan being there too, getting shots up,” Cassidy said. “You could tell he had a gift for shooting, and also, he was a gym rat.”
That hasn’t changed.
Fast forward to Delp’s final high school season.
Delp – now a three-level scorer – is still torching his opponents, and he also can’t get enough gym time.
“He’s always bugging the coaching staff about getting into the gym, things like that, which you love to have,” Cassidy said. “He loves basketball, without a doubt.”
As for his ability to put points on the board, look no further than his team’s final regular season game at Pennsbury with the SOL Patriot Division title hanging in the balance. Both teams entered the game with identical division records.
With the Hawks trailing by two at halftime (26-24), Delp put the team his shoulders, scoring all 17 of the Falcons’ third quarter points and turning a two-point deficit into a 40-33 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Golden Hawks went on to win by that seven-point margin and made history, clinching the program’s first ever division crown. Delp led the Hawks – who opened the season 0-4 - with 29 points.
“Going into the game, it was just a lot of built-up motivation and energy, knowing we had a chance to make history after the unfortunate start to the season,” Delp said. “I think that was a big factor coming into the game.”
Things didn’t look all that promising when the Hawks found themselves trailing by 11 midway through the second quarter, but they went into halftime with momentum after an 11-4 tear to close out the half.
“We were a little flustered earlier in the game because I think guys weren’t really used to playing in an environment like that for such a big stake to make history,” Delp said. “Once we kind of settled down, we started playing for each other, playing to win. I think that’s what really turned the game around.”
Making the title especially sweet is the fact that the senior class played a pivotal role in this year’s success story. The Golden Hawks were coming off a five-win season when the Class of 2026 entered the program as freshmen. That first year, the Hawks were 5-17 overall, 3-11 and in fifth place out of six division teams.
“Council Rock wasn’t always the greatest basketball team, but starting my sophomore year, that’s when we started winning,” Delp said. “So, this has been three straight years now where we’ve been in the (district) playoffs and had a winning record, so I think we’re trying to rewrite what type of program we are, and the old stereotypes of us not being good – it’s kind of over with.”
This year, the Golden are 14-7 overall heading into districts and 8-2 in division play.
“There were just so many emotions when we got back to the locker room and realized we were finally champions,” Delp said. “Council Rock South’s sports aren’t really a huge priority and trying to change that stereotype is definitely a big thing. I’m very proud of that, and I think all the guys are too.
“We’ve been working for this our entire careers, so to finally do it my senior season is a huge accomplishment, and we’re all super proud. Just the emotion – everyone went crazy in the locker room, and it was just awesome.”
Back to the beginning
Delp was all but born with a basketball in his hands, although he did play three sports – football, basketball and baseball. His older brother Cole also played basketball, but his sport was football.
“He was like a freak athlete,” Delp said. “Unfortunately, he tore both his ACLs, so his high school career was cut short, but he was a great athlete, probably more athletic than me, but due to injuries, he couldn’t really prove himself, so that was unfortunate.
Ryan played football and baseball until seventh grade, but basketball stuck.
“I wasn’t really a fan of football – I just played because my friends were playing, and starting from a young age, my dad was always having me around basketball,” he said of his father, Matt Delp, who coached Ryan growing up and is now an assistant under Cassidy. “I don’t know what age it was, but I just know as soon as I could shoot a basketball, I would always shoot a basketball. No matter what I was doing, it was always a passion for me. I love basketball, and I enjoy it. It’s not a job for me.”
When he arrived at high school, Delp wasted no time at all before making his presence felt and was moved up to varsity by the end of his freshman year. He’d actually made an impression before he arrived at high school.
“I was originally hired as the freshman coach five years ago,” Cassidy said. “At one point, I had Matt Delp’s AAU team come in, which was all eighth graders, so you have one of the standouts from Neshaminy, and I believe Nate Szydlik was on this team.
“They destroyed my freshman team over Christtmas break, and you could just tell - he was a standout among a standout group. He was a borderline JV/varsity player even in eighth grade.”
Delp did not disappoint, living up to his advance billing and then some.
Special seniors
Delp was one of three senior captains of this year’s successful squad, joining Ray Haglund and Spencer Edelman
“He’s grown into the leadership piece,” Cassidy said. “I think he’s had to learn to be patient with his teammates because there is an aspect where he is maybe one or two steps ahead as far as just knowledge of the game, certainly a knowledge of our offensive concepts.
“As a coaching staff, we really worked with him to just be a little patient and to be positive with his teammates, and he’s really taken to that to the point where by the end of the year, he’s been like one of our rah, rah guys, and that certainly wasn’t his personality let’s say a year ago. So, I’m really proud of him as far as that goes as well.”
Cassidy goes on to recall a recent game against Council Rock North.
“He was saying something to one of his teammates during the huddle, and I just turned to him and handed him the marker board and said, ‘Do you want to take over here?’” Cassiday recalled with a laugh. “I think he was taken aback, and one of his teammates said, ‘Coach is messing with you.’ But he does have the instincts and knowledge. He’s always says – ‘We could run this, we could run that,’ and he’s usually on point.”
As for his immense talent on the court, Cassidy points to the Pennsbury game as Exhibit A for what he can do.
“It’s a credit to him, but he couldn’t have had that game two years ago because he wasn’t the complete player that he is now,” the Rock South coach said. “He was always the shooter, but if a team really wants to take the jump shot away, they can do it. So, he hit his fair share of 3s, he also had a number of post-ups, and he also had a couple of backdoor cuts where his teammates found him, so he turned himself into what we call a three-level scorer. When you can do that, you’re extremely difficult to defend.”
Delp is part of a strong group of seniors that provided the nucleus of this year’s squad.
“A bunch of my closest friends are on the football team, and there were a couple of them who were captains of the football team,” he said. “So, I always knew growing up that we could be something special in high school and rewrite history, first time ever winning both a basketball title and a football title, so that was special for us.
“Overall, the seniors are all great kids, great athletes especially, so I think to finally produce and prove ourselves - whether that’s on a football field or a basketball court, I think it was just overall a great job by both sports.
“Especially for basketball, being led by our senior captains, Ray Haglund, myself and Spencer Edelman - I think it really helped the team stick together, and we couldn’t have done it without them. Coming in, I knew we had a special group, even as freshmen, so I knew it was just a matter of time before we could do something, and hopefully we proved that.”
“They’re just a talented group all the way around,” Cassidy said. “The football team proved that earlier this year, and we’ve been fortunate enough to carry that over into the wintertime.
“I had a lot of confidence in this group, and part of it was, I came up with these guys through the ranks, so I knew what kind of made them tick. I’m thrilled for the kids. This was the perfect senior group to do it with.”
And Delp, according to Cassidy, is the linchpin.
Looking ahead
Coming as perhaps a surprise, Delp does not plan to continue his basketball career at the next level.
“I visited a couple of colleges, and I liked the majority of them,” Delp said. “It was just it came down to if I was 100 percent playing or not, and I wasn’t really totally sure if I would fully enjoy that, so I figured if I wasn’t 100 percent, then it just wouldn’t work out for me, and I would end up regretting my decision.
“So I just decided to tell those coaches that did put out an interest in me that I wasn’t going to play in college and just take a different aspect and view of life. It was definitely the most tough decision I’ve made in my life. It was super difficult.”
It's a decision Delp reached this past summer.
“I pulled my groin in July, then fell ill, so I was kind of out of basketball for two months, and that’s when I had a change of heart and kind of viewed my entire life in basketball and life in general because I enjoyed that time,” Delp said. “Obviously, I missed basketball, but I realized that life wasn’t just basketball. There was more to live for, so that was the leading factor in my decision not to play. So, I just want to enjoy it and make the most of my college life.”
An excellent student, Delp is a member of the National English Honor Society and is taking two honors and one AP class.
“I was accepted at Penn State, and I’m almost positive I’m going to end up going there,” he said.
Uncertain of his major, Delp places a high priority on academics.
“My parents always prioritize that, so I try to keep my grades up the best I can, but obviously, academics are a huge thing for me and my family,” he said. “That comes before sports, of course, because if you can’t keep up your grades, you can’t play basketball. It’s always what I’ve lived by, so I think academics are always going to be a huge thing for me.”
Whether he ever plays basketball again or not, Delp – according to his coach – has a future in the sport.
“Ryan loves basketball, without a doubt,” Cassidy said. “He’s a real student of the game, and he’s a future coach if that’s what he wants to do.”
