Delta hires Mitch Waters as girls basketball head coach

Delta did not just fill a coaching vacancy. It hired a coach who already proved he could take a struggling Indiana program and turn it into a winner, and that is what makes Mitch Waters such a significant move for the Eagles.

The Delaware Community Schools board approved Waters on Monday, May 4, 2026, giving Delta’s girls basketball program a new head coach with five seasons of experience at Blackford from 2018 to 2023. Waters inherited a Blackford team that had gone 1-21 in 2017-18, then helped guide the Bruins to 10 wins in each of his next two seasons after the debut year. Blackford finished 17-6 in 2021-22 and closed his tenure at 20-4, a record that turned a rebuild into one of the sharper success stories in the state.

That track record is why this hire matters beyond the announcement itself. Delta has recent proof that it can win at a high level, and Waters steps into a program that already understands bigger expectations. Tyronda Benning coached the Eagles for the previous three seasons and left after delivering three straight county championships and the first regional title in program history. Waters is not walking into a blank slate. He is walking into a program that has already tasted something better and now wants a coach who can keep it there.

The timing gives Delta a real advantage. A June hire opens the door to a full summer of workouts, open gyms and roster evaluation before the next school year and winter season arrive. That is where Waters’ first impact should show up: habits, spacing, pace and accountability. The next 12 to 24 months will be less about a dramatic overnight overhaul than about whether Delta can keep enough of its identity to stay competitive while Waters installs his own structure.

Waters also brings a connection to Indiana basketball that matters in a job like this. He said he and former Delta coach Tyronda Benning are close friends, and he has already spent years coaching in the state, which should help with relationships, expectations and the daily realities of building a program. His path back to the sideline was shaped by family circumstances, including time away to help care for his stepdaughter, Alysia Mann, during her cancer treatment. Away from varsity coaching, he stayed around the game by coaching his daughter Emma’s AAU team in Jay County and working at the Jay Community Center.

Delta’s recent run adds even more weight to the hire. The Eagles won the 2025 Delaware County Championship with a 54-43 victory over Wapahani on Jan. 18, 2025, then beat Yorktown 61-44 at the Spartan Bowl in Connersville to capture the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 24 title on Feb. 8, 2025. Waters is not being asked to rescue a dormant program. He is being asked to sustain one that has already climbed, and that is a different kind of pressure, and a better kind of opportunity.