Big East Basketball: Best and worst-case scenarios for each team in 2018-19
By Brian Foley
DePaul Blue Demons
Last year: 11-20 (4-14)
Key Departures: C Marin Maric
Best Case
Max Strus carries the Blue Demons all season long, leading the Big East in scoring, gulping rebounds on both ends of the floor, and dropping a few assists to boot. Eli Cain and newly eligible Illinois transfer Jalen Coleman-Lands form a steady backcourt next Strus, which gives DePaul three reliable playmakers. At least two of DePaul’s three incoming recruits turn into promising contributors during Big East play, and the Blue Demons finish above .500 for the season for the first time since 2006-07, which causes more talented prospects to join Dave Leitao’s 2019 class.
Eight of DePaul’s 20 losses were in overtime or by five points or fewer last season; if a couple of those flip the other way, Wintrust Arena may no longer sound ironic.
More. Can Max Strus elevate DePaul?. light
Worst Case
Yikes. The worst-case scenario for the worst program in the league can get pretty dark. Without Maric on the roster, Strus could collapse under the weight of a monstrous workload should Cain, Coleman-Lands, and Femi Olujobi fail to provide the requisite help around him. It’s very hard for a high-major team to go winless in conference play, especially because DePaul was probably closer to six or seven wins in the Big East than the four it finished with last year. Still, if we’re talking worst case, the Blue Demons can always go low. DePaul has logged just 25 conference wins in the last decade (Villanova has 127 such victories), and posted a goose egg in 2008-09.