DePaul Basketball: Can new arena save Blue Demons’ program?

DePaul basketball will move into the brand-new Wintrust Arena for the 2017-18 season.

Since joining the Big East in 2005, the DePaul Blue Demons have had little success on the basketball court. In fact, you would have to go back a full-decade before finding a season that even ended above .500.

Related Story: Three offseason questions for DePaul basketball (2016-17)

Through 12 seasons in the basketball-crazed conference, DePaul has one winning season and zero NCAA Tournament appearances. Their lone-winning season came in 2006-07, which ended three games into the NIT and marked the last time they flirted with any type of glory.

To make matters worse, nearly half of their 12 seasons saw single-digit win totals, including back-to-back nine-win seasons leading into 2017-18.

Could it be possible that they are simply doomed? A program that will never again meet the success of the 1980’s?

It may look that way on the outside, but the folks at DePaul see things quite different.

Effective immediately, the Blue Demons will begin to play at a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in Chicago. The new home court, known as Wintrust Arena, cost $173 million and will be 24 miles closer to campus than their former home, Allstate Arena.

While it’s an expensive gamble to relocate a downtrodden program, school officials obviously see it as a way to draw fans and recruits back to the program. Both areas have been massive hindrances to the team’s success, leaving them with a poor on-court product that few people enjoy watching live.

Per Danny Ecker of Chicago Business, DePaul saw all-time lows in attendance last season.

Playing in their last season at Allstate Arena, overall attendance was down 20 percent. Of their 15 home games, seven wound up with less than 1,000 fans — two of which came in under 600.

Chicago has always been a place that loves basketball. To see a Big East school draw high-school-like attendance numbers, both shocks and leaves you wondering what the real problem is.

More from Big East

• Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
• St. John’s Basketball: Top-100 commit Jaiden Glover part of future guard core
• Xavier Basketball: Impact of potential losses of Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter
• UConn Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24 season
• Villanova Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24 season

With a new home more accessible to campus, the hope is that fans will have an easier time making it to home games. While that is certainly a noble idea, fans of any sport can quickly lose interest if the actual product is sub-par.

In recruiting terms, the new arena hasn’t drawn any mind-blowing commitments to save the program in the short-term. In fact, this year’s incoming class mirrors the incoming class from last year — (three) three-star recruits. Ironically, the last four-star recruit the Blue Demons landed, Billy Garrett Jr. (2013), will be on his way out the door after completing four solid years with the team.

On the bright side, DePaul will return their leading scorer from last year, 2015 three-star recruit Eli Cain. With Cain being the only double-digit scorer on the 2017-18 roster, the door is open for the younger players to develop. That is definitely a good thing in the long-term but doesn’t scream ‘success’ for their inaugural season at Wintrust Arena.

With that said, having a new place to show off to prospective recruits is a big deal in this day and age. Just imagine the wow-factor Wintrust Arena can provide to a high school kid coming in on a visit.

Next: Top-20 College Basketball Home Court Advantages

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same goes for DePaul basketball. The important thing is that the school is actually serious about a rebuild. Let’s just hope fans give them a fair shot and don’t get discouraged if the upcoming season looks like earlier campaigns.