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DePaul Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Blue Demons

By Bryan Mauro

PROVIDENCE, RI - FEBRUARY 27: Darrick Wood #1, Myke Henry #4, and Joe Hanel #33 of the DePaul Blue Demons reacts minutes before a loss against the Providence Friars in the second half on February 27, 2016, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
PROVIDENCE, RI - FEBRUARY 27: Darrick Wood #1, Myke Henry #4, and Joe Hanel #33 of the DePaul Blue Demons reacts minutes before a loss against the Providence Friars in the second half on February 27, 2016, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 03: Brandon Cyrus #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons reacts after losing to the Xavier Musketeers on March 3, 2018 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Xavier won 65-62. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 03: Brandon Cyrus #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons reacts after losing to the Xavier Musketeers on March 3, 2018 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Xavier won 65-62. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /

Key Losses

The fans in Chicago are restless for a winner. The pressure is on both the coaches and the players, to produce a winner and bring the Blue Demon program back to glory. As the losses on the floor start to pile up, players for those programs start to look for greener pastures. They want to go to places where winning is expected, and where they have a shot to play in the NCAA tournament. DePaul is no exception to this rule.

In the offseason, the Blue Demon program experienced a great deal of turnover. Some of that turnover was due to graduation, but the good majority left the DePaul program due to a transfer. Those transfers decided that sitting out a season was better than enduring the rebuild in Chicago for another season. DePaul will be able to replace most of the players that transferred out of the program. The one player that is going to be hard to replace on the floor is guard Brandon Cyrus.

Cyrus was a starter for the Blue Demons a year ago. Although he only scored seven points and 3.5 rebounds per contest last year, it is always hard to replace a starter. The players in line to get the bulk of the minutes left by the sophomore guard have limitations of their own. One player is coming off a season-ending injury and the other player was not a starter last year and played very few minutes per game. The departure of the guard is going to hurt DePaul more than they currently realize. Leitao is hoping that one of the two players in line to earn the minutes makes a huge jump in production.

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