DePaul’s quest for Big East success continues with a new coach and new roster

Chris Holtmann speaks in March after being introduced as the new men’s basketball coach at DePaul University.
AP

DePaul men’s basketball has two stories.

There was a fabulously successful era in which the program received as much attention as any in the country. Then there is the current era in the Big East, which has been wildly unsuccessful.

The Blue Demons are poised to begin their 20th season in the Big East with a home opener against Providence on Tuesday at Wintrust Arena.

So this is a day to dream about the possibility that new coach Chris Holtmann and a new squad can actually be competitive. The harsh reality could soon arrive. But maybe it won’t be like that.

Even with a record of 7-1 so far this season, the outlook is bleak. DePaul is on a 32-game conference losing streak in the regular season, although it did include a win over Seton Hall in the first round of the 2023 Big East Tournament.

There has been one successful season in the Big East, and that was back in 2006-07, the second year with Jerry Wainwright at the helm. Since then, reputation has been lost. DePaul’s highlight was a 7-11 conference record under Dave Leito, part two.

The landscape of the Big East was vastly different during the Wainwright era. Back then, schools like Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Rutgers were still in play. Catholic schools dropped out in 2013-14, likely making the task even more difficult.

During his first term as head coach, Leito led the Blue Demons to their final NCA tournament in 2004. They had been unranked since the start of the 2000-01 season after Quentin Richardson left, but Bobby Simmons was still there.

There is so much great history in Lincoln Park, but it was a long time ago.

“It’s been a challenging run since we’ve been in the Big East, there’s no denying that,” Holtmann said Monday. “I think we all kind of have our own thoughts about it. They really spend most of their time focusing on how we can be good in this version of DePaul basketball and how we can be competitive and do our best starting this season.”

Maybe it helps that Holtmann mentions Big East success on his resume. He posted a 34-20 record in three seasons at Butler before transferring to Ohio State, where he made four NCAA Tournament appearances in seven years.

Holtmann decided to start the Blue Demons with seven winnable home games, and they took care of business. The first tough test took place last week at Texas Tech. DePaul fell behind 14-0 and 19-4 in that game, then rallied and trailed by 1 at halftime.

Was this a sign that the Blue Demons could hold their own, barring a few major nerves? Hard to say. In the second half they couldn’t keep it close. Tech’s lead reached double digits in the final 13 minutes.

When things are going well for DePaul, the 3-point shots are falling. The top three scorers – Jacob Meyer, Isaiah Rivera and David Skogman – are all well over 40% from distance.

Against Texas Tech, the Demons didn’t shoot well, going 11 of 35 from 3-point land and just 3 of 6 at the foul line. They averaged 88 points in the seven wins and then scored 62 points in Lubbock.

Again, every player on the squad is either a transfer or a newcomer. No one returned from last year’s 3-29 squad. Mundelein native Conor Enright plays key minutes in the role of Alex Caruso, a hard-charging defensive pest.

Providence is just 6-4, but its best player, Bryce Hopkins, has only appeared in two games due to injury. He’s back now.

“I love our guys’ approach,” Holtmann said. “I love how selfless they were. I love how they shared the ball and I love how they were able to play in an offensive system that was really designed to create space and attack in space.”

From Holtmann’s perspective, it’s still just basketball and the story is largely irrelevant. But this is a situation where a small success would go a long way.