NCAA Basketball: Indiana, Kansas, and Maryland among 10 early 2024 offseason winners

10. DePaul Blue Demons

After going winless in Big East play and going 3-29 overall, DePaul made a coaching change. They hired Chris Holtmann, who had plenty of success at Ohio State. But the big question was whether he’d be able to turn the program back to being at least competitive.

After the entire roster departed, Coach Holtmann had 13 open spots to work with. So far, he’s landed nine players, including one incoming freshman. Below are the guys committed to joining the Blue Demons.

JJ Trayor (Louisville): 10.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg
CJ Gunn (Indiana): 3.9 ppg
Connor Enright (Drake): 6.9 ppg and 3.2 apg
Troy D’Amico (Southern Illinois): 9.3 ppg and 3.7 rpg
David Thomas (Mercer): 11.0 ppg 
Isaiah Rivera (UIC): 15.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg
Jacob Meyer (Coastal Carolina): 15.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg
NJ Benson (Missouri State): 8.6 ppg and 7.9 rpg

There are a couple of power conference names among them, including Trayor of Louisville; though he was on the team that lost to DePaul. The key is the guard duo of Rivera and Meyer, who was one of the top-scoring freshmen in NCAA Basketball at Coastal Carolina.

If those two can have their games translate to the Big East level, the rebuilding effort for the program will go faster than expected. Credit to Coach Holtmann for getting plenty of bodies early on and not having to scramble later on.