Big East Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2024-25 season

11. DePaul Blue Demons

While the DePaul Blue Demons made a home run hire in Chris Holtzman from Ohio State, DePaul needs another couple of years to get back to where they need to be. There is much more talent here than last year, but they still should expect to finish near the bottom of the conference again. 

Holtzman had no choice but to completely rebuild this roster through the transfer portal for 2024, and then recruiting should improve going forward. But the Blue Demons will yet again have to deal with the quickly thrown-together team that may just lack chemistry. They have made some splashes in the transfer portal, but they still will not compete against most teams in this conference. 

They have brought in 10 total transfers, including four-stars JJ Traynor and Layden Blocker. It is yet to be seen if Holtzman can maximize these talents with this program, but he was good at this with the Ohio State Buckeyes. However, there is quite a long process when building a sustainable winner no matter who your head coach is.

This is a building year for this program, and that should be the expectation. You cannot afford another year of winning zero games in this conference, but you’re also not expecting a run st a Conference title. Improvement is all Blue Demon fans are asking for, so while they are likely to finish last if that comes with a few more wins and a respectable nonconference, then there will be plenty of hope for this program.