Big East Basketball: Is it time to let the Blue Demons out of the Basement?

Adjusting to the new way things are in any aspect of life can be challenging. As we are seeing across the sport, tenured coaches have decided to simply walk away from the new direction college basketball is heading.

Does it put a damper on the sport many of us follow religiously for six months out of the year? Of course, it would be impossible not to. But ultimately, the show must go on. Gone now are the titans of college basketball like Mike Krzyzewski, Jay Wright, Roy Williams & most recently Virginia's Tony Bennett.

Some fanbases may never recover in this new world, just ask Villanova at the moment. But while some programs flop, others flourish. Though it's never an exact science. To predict which programs will bounce back or publish an exact formula on how to rebuild a program from the ground up again would be proprietary information.

One fan base who is likely up for anything under the sun at this point is DePaul Blue Demon fans. Supporting a program who set a Big East record for the most losses in conference play last year (20).

Also having not enjoyed a winning season since 2018-2019, back when now Cleveland Cavalier Starter Max Strus was leading the charge. Not to mention, the proverbial cherry on top of a sad Blue Demon sundae, the program hasn't gone dancing since 2004.

That was back when DePaul was still a part of Conference-USA. Back when their conference mates included the likes of Marquette, Louisville, Houston, Memphis & Cincinnati to name a few. Not your grandkid's Conference-USA mind you.

So it definitely goes without saying, after last season's recording setting performance. Fans in Chicago are in need of any sort of progress when the season kicks off November 4th against Southern Indiana.

Just looking at the roster & coaching hires made this offseason, I can't see a carbon copy of last year's results. That may have been the absolute rock bottom of the Blue Demon's program. Luckily the university's admin took notice & made a home run hire to help lift DePaul out of the Big East's basement.

Coaching hires at DePaul have always felt a little underwhelming. Usually shopping around on the elder more veteran side of the coaching pool each time around, which hasn't exactly been a winning formula.

Oliver Purnell seemed like the man to help propel the Blue Demon's higher up the ranks in their new conference home back in 2010. After a successful run at Clemson, which included three straight NCAA Tournament Appearances before making his move to Chicago.

Purnell never found his footing at DePaul, even though in an interview with ESPN he spoke to the intent of those at the University "They are very, very committed to restoring a tradition.''
That restoration never took place & Purnell stepped down in 2015 to be replaced by the last man to take DePaul to the big dance almost a decade prior.

Dave Leitao was brought back to Chicago after about ten years away with stops at Virginia in the ACC, the D-League & assistant stops under Frank Haith at Missouri & Tulsa. I mean, it makes sense right? If it wasn't broke nearly ten plus years ago don't fix it?

No, unfortunately college basketball is evolving at such a pace, replicating results like that of Leitao at DePaul back in Conference-USA proved impossible the second time around.

Between the poor performance (5 straight last place finishes) on the court and NCAA sanctions surrounding their recruiting violations probe in the 2010s. Newly hired Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy decided the program needed new leadership.

Soon after longtime Oregon Associate Head Coach Tony Stubblefield was given the reigns. With only one year (abbreviated) of head coaching experience at the D-I level at New Mexico back in 2005. The hiring was certainly an odd choice for a program in desperate need of revitalization.

As mentioned prior, Stubblefield's group did etch their name in the Big East history books, but for all the wrong reasons. Fast forward three seasons & alas, yet another change in leadership was needed.

I think this second time around, AD Peevy knows this next hire had to count. In order to reestablish the culture & competitiveness DePaul basketball was once known for, the Blue Demons needed someone with a proven track record in D-I hoops.

Heading into the summer back in May, that splash in the Lincoln Park pool was made. With the announcement of former Ohio State Head Coach Chris Holtmann making his way west to take over DePaul's basketball program.

Holtmann took over the fabled Butler program when they were still in their Big East infancy. Leading the Bulldogs to three straight top-5 finishes & three straight NCAA Tournament berths. He took that experience & was given the keys to the Buckeye program after longtime lead man Thad Matta stepped down with personal health reasons.

He found success at Ohio State, taking the program dancing four out of his seven seasons in Columbus. But eventually found out how hard it is to sustain success at the high major level. One mid-west program's loss is another's gain. As the three-time conference Coach of the Year (Big South, Big East & Big Ten) now has the keys to the Blue Demons program, & ready to win.

It's obviously a tall task. But one Coach Holtmann appears up for & now fully understands the importance of the rebuild. “The pride they have, the hunger and motivation they have for DePaul to be relevant in college basketball,” Holtmann said. “I think that’s really exciting … I continue to learn what makes this place unique and special, and there have been a lot of really great conversations I’ve had around that here these past two months.”

DePaul is currently experiencing the longest postseason drought of any power conference member. But Coach Holtmann has assembled a roster & a staff with the experience to end that drought come March.

The DePaul coaching staff features five individuals with head coaching experience either at the D-I level or professional ranks. With the only exception being long time college basketball assistant Paris Parham.

Aside from that Holtmann (Ohio State), LaVall Jordan (Butler), Jack Owens (Miami (OH), Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois) & Brandon Bailey (Maine Red Claws) have all lead a program or team at some of the sport's highest levels.

The roster this year seems very different from DePaul rosters in years past. But in terms of the modern college basketball landscape, it's right on par if not slightly playing catchup with the rest of the country. Especially in Big East territory.

As expected it is a complete roster reset for Holtmann & company this season. With zero returning players from the last regime, the new coaching staff had the opportunity to build a roster built with their own vision in mind. Even though there were no holdovers from his last team at Ohio State, there were several transfer portal wins in the offseason.

The team added four double-digit scoring transfers in Isaiah Rivera (UIC), Jacob Meyer (Coastal Carolina), David Thomas (Mercer) & David Skogan (Davidson). Along with four high major transfers in Layden Blocker (Arkansas), Patrick Suemnick (West Virginia), JJ Traynor (Louisville) & CJ Gunn (Indiana).

Sprinkle in some three-star freshmen & some solid mid-major starters & the Blue Demon roster definitely looks the part. As always with transition years, the real question is how quickly can Coach Holtmann put everything together to create a viable Big East product?

I mean it's never a best practice to judge a team off of their exhibition wins or losses. But the Blue Demons logged their first win of the season (76-60) over Division-III title contender Illinois Wesleyan on Sunday.

Out of action with non-season threatening injuries were CJ Gunn & Conor Enright. While the starting lineup featured David Skogan in the paint, Rivera, Troy D'Amico, Meyer & Blocker running point. The team as a whole struggled from the field (38.8%) but owned the glass & guys like Meyer & Blocker showed out.

Chris Holtmann is very high on his sophomore shooting guard in particular. "He's a young man that I've had the privilege of coaching a couple guys like him that are just wired to score," Holtmann said of Meyer. "Kelan Martin at Butler was a terrific scorer that was really wired to score [so was] Duane Washington at Ohio State. Both guys just naturally could really score the ball. That's kind of how Jacob is built, and he's got great confidence. I think what we have to do is help him defensively grow, and we've got to help him make the right paint reads in certain situations."  

All in all, the vibe inside the program has shifted & the hype surrounding the program is there again. The Blue Demons were pegged to finish last in this season's Big East preseason poll released nearly a week ago.

Conference play will always be a gauntlet for DePaul. But aside from some regional mid-majors on the non-conference slate, Coach Holtmann has lined up some battles against Texas Tech, Northwestern & Wichita State.

I can't argue with that projection too much, being in a league with just 11 members & at least half of those teams as NCAA Tournament contenders. But the bottom half of the conference has some fallen giants who will likely drop a game or two to DePaul in conference play.