It is with a heavy heart that we report on the passing of former Delsea star Demetrius Poles.

Poles passed away from heart failure at the much to young age of 50.

Poles has been the Women's Head Coach at Rowan for the past four seasons. He led the Profs to two NJAC Championships and two berths in the NCAA Tournament. He was named the 2020 NJAC Coach of the Year.

As a player he graduated from Delsea in 1991 with 1,783 career points and powered Delsea to the Group 2 state championship.

He played at Saint Joseph's where he was named to the 1992 Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie Team.

He transferred to Rowan and was the starting center and leading rebounder on the 1996 NCAA national Championship team.

After college, he embarked on a professional playing career overseas that spanned seven years and took him to more than 10 countries. He transitioned that into a successful coaching career, serving as head coach in Sweden and Italy for 10 seasons, which included him being named the 2012-13 Eurobasket.com Coach of the Year.

Coach Poles came back home making his return to Rowan in 2013, joining the Profs' men's basketball staff as an assistant coach for three years, and then moving to assist the women's basketball program in 2016-17 until assuming the role of head coach.