DePaul Basketball

One month after his firing by Ohio State, men's basketball head coach Chris Holtmann is headed to DePaul.

Holtmann has agreed to a six-year deal to coach the Blue Demons, according to reports from The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach and ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.

Ohio State fired Holtmann in February after the Buckeyes began the season with a 4-10 conference record.

Holtmann will replace Tony Stubblefield, who was fired in January after a 3-15 season start for DePaul.

After leading the Buckeyes to four NCAA Tournament appearances in his first six seasons, Holtmann will now attempt to bring DePaul back to the tournament for the first time since 2004.

Holtmann will become DePaul's fifth head coach since the program joined the Big East in 2005. Since then, the team has only twice recorded a regular-season record over .500.

The former Ohio State leader agreed to the position after being offered "a commitment from DePaul for a very competitive staff salary pool," according to Auerbach.

Holtmann's hiring comes after a historically bad season for DePaul.

The Blue Demons finished the campaign 3-28, marking the program's worst record since 1996-97.

That included an entirely winless slate (0-20) in Big East play and a 19-game losing streak to finish out the regular season, as well as 18 losses with double-digit deficits, per The DePaulia's Tom Gorski.

Holtmann began his head coaching career at Gardner-Webb in 2010, where he led for three seasons before heading to fellow Big East member Butler and then to Ohio State.

He found success early in his tenure with the Buckeyes, making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament twice before suffering an upset by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in 2021.

The Buckeyes made it back to the NCAA Tournament only to lose in the second round in 2022, then missed the postseason altogether last season.

Holtmann finished his Ohio State tenure with a 137-86 overall record and an 11-17 record in conference and NCAA Tournament games, per Johnny Ginter for Eleven Warriors.

He received a buyout of $12.8 million for the early exit from his contract, which ran through 2027-28, according to Ohio State.

Under interim head coach Jake Diebler, Ohio State has since gone 6-1 and is headed to the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday against Illinois.

DePaul has landed a potential game-changing recruit in the form of 5-star point guard Tyger Campbell.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN first reported the news, noting the class of 2019 player will try to reclassify for 2018.

Scout.com currently lists Campbell as the No. 21 player in the 2019 class and No. 5 point guard, although that could change if he ends up entering school a year earlier.

Although he had numerous offers from around the country, he made a bit of a surprise pick with DePaul, a team that has only won nine games in each of the past two seasons.

"Mainly what I like about the school is I want to help bring it back," Campbell said, per Evan Daniels of Scout.com. "I love Chicago. It's a great city. I want to bring the city a college back to cheer for."

"Really when I sat down with the coaches and they just told me really what they've expected of me. It all became real after that. They got the new arena and that will be amazing."

The 5'10", 155-pound player is undersized, but he makes up for it with excellent handle and quickness to create open shots for himself and others. He finishes with consistency and is an above-average shooter from beyond the arc.

While just a sophomore, Campbell played a big role in La Lumiere's win at the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals. While McDonald's All-Americans Jaren Jackson and Brian Bowen led the way, the point guard tallied 10 points and seven assists in the finals.

He will now hope to bring that winning mentality to DePaul, a program that hasn't reached the NCAA tournament since 2004.

The DePaul men's basketball team is in the midst of a terrible dry spell that has seen it go seven seasons without a winning campaign, but the Blue Demons are hoping to change that with a big head coaching hire.

Continue for updates.

Ben Howland in Driver's Seat for DePaul Job

Friday, March 20

On the heels of DePaul and former head coach Oliver Purnell parting ways, the Blue Demons are very much in the market for a coach who can change the program.

According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, DePaul has heavy interest in hiring former UCLA and Pittsburgh head coach Ben Howland:

Per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, the interest is expected to be mutual:

Howland took the Bruins to the NCAA tournament seven times, including three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006 through 2008. The Blue Demons haven't reached the big dance since the 2004 campaign.

Howland has not coached since getting fired by UCLA in 2013, but his track record is undeniable.

DePaul needs someone with a history of success, and there is no question that Howland is more accomplished than almost any other coach on the market.

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With the DePaul basketball program seven years removed from its last winning season, the Blue Demons haven't had much to celebrate recently, but that could all change with sophomore point guard Billy Garrett Jr. leading a revival.

Though the private school from Chicago has been the butt of many jokes in recent years, things could be changing. They have a legitimate big-time player in Garrett, and while the results have not been there for the Blue Demons of late, he provides the Big East team with some hope.

You see, Garrett is the reigning Big East Rookie of the Year. Last season he averaged 12.4 points, 3.0 assists while shooting .825 from the free-throw line, leading all Big East freshmen in those categories.

From a previous report I filed at WeAreDePaul.com (subscription required):

"It's an honor" Garrett said upon winning the award. "When I won the award I thought about all the great players that passed through the Big East, and to be in the same category as those players, like Johnny Flynn, Carmelo Anthony (who also won Rookie of the Year) and guys like that. It's an honor."

Playing with decorated seniors in Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young (who are both among DePaul's  all-time top-10 scorers) last season, Garrett had to defer to the upperclassmen, so he could have had a bigger year. With Melvin and Young gone, this Blue Demon squad will undoubtedly be Garrett's now.

Simply put, Garrett is a winner, and if there is one player who can turn DePaul's misfortunes around, it is him.

Garrett was a sought-after prospect out of Morgan Park High School in Chicago, and was ranked the 96th best player in the country, according to Scout.com's final 2013 rankings. However, he was going nowhere except DePaul, as his father Billy Garrett Sr. is an assistant coach on the DePaul staff.

Garrett ended his high school career winning Illinois' Class 3A boys basketball state championship. Morgan Park was also was one of the few teams to knock off Illinois high school powerhouse Simeon, led by Jabari Parker, in the 2012-13 season.

The Morgan Park team would beat Simeon in the Chicago Public League semifinals before falling in overtime to Whitney Young, led by Jahlil Okafor (who is headed to Duke), in the city championship.

When you watch Garrett play, you see an absolute warrior who hates losing. On a DePaul team that finished 12-21 last season, he took losing badly. But he at least went out on a high note.

In the first round of the Big East tournament, Garrett led DePaul to an upset over a heavily favored Georgetown team. It was Garrett's team-high 17 points and clutch free-throw shooting (four in the final minute) that carried the team past the finish line.

Although DePaul has lost a lot in Young and Melvin, the Blue Demons return some quality talent.

Along with Garrett, the Blue Demons return 6'10” forward/center Tommy Hamilton, who averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds (tops among Big East freshmen), and who was also named to the Big East's 2013-14 All-Rookie team.

DePaul also adds Illinois transfer Myke Henry, who was a consensus top-100 recruit (according to RSCI composite rankings) in 2011. Although he did not flourish at Illinois, averaging just 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game as a sophomore, a fresh start could be what's needed for Henry.

"We have to gel," Garrett said. "We have some talented guys coming in and we have a talented transfer (Henry) sitting out now. I think we'll be a good team. If we can bring it together, we'll be pretty good."

Oliver Purnell, head coach of the Demons, also adds a few intriguing junior college transfers to the mix this year in Aaron Simpson, Rashaun Stimage (both of whom played high school ball in Chicago) and Darrick Wood.

Maybe an infusion of new talent can help DePaul overcome some bad habits and play with a new edge.

Make no mistake, though, this DePaul team is all about Garrett.

"I'm getting ready to embrace that (leadership) role," Garrett said. "Brandon (Young) and Edwin (McGhee) are great leaders and I learn(ed) from them. I pick(ed) up on the things they do, so next year when it comes to my chance to lead this team I'll be able to do so effectively."

Garrett will be the engine that drives this DePaul team. Any success it may enjoy this year or during his three remaining years in Chicago, he will be at the forefront.

Of note is the the fact that he will be a senior when DePaul is set to open a brand new arena at the McCormick Place Events Center in Chicago's South Loop. If DePaul plans on building momentum and buzz as they head into a new era with a new arena, it all starts with Garrett.

These next couple of years should signal whether or not DePaul is heading in the right direction, and Garrett may be just the guy to lead them out of the darkness.

Follow me on Twitter @Stacdemon

On Friday night, the DePaul Blue Demons made the short trek to Evanston to face "Chicago's Big Ten Team," the Northwestern Wildcats. Both teams came into the contest with 7-5 records, looking to add one more victory to their resume before league play tips off next week.

The visiting Blue Demons came out victorious by a final score of 57-56, thanks to Billy Garrett Jr.'s buzzer-beating layup. The Wildcats took a one-point lead on Dave Sobolewski's three-point shot with 4.9 seconds remaining, but Sobolewski allowed Garrett to get the last-second look.

Sobolewski's late made three ball ended a 1-of-32 shooting slump from deep, but it was not enough for the Wildcats. Jershon Cobb returned from injury, though he was limited and only scored three points in the losing effort. 

DePaul is part of the new Big East and is expected to finish near the bottom, while Northwestern is expected to also finish in the lower tier of the deep and rugged Big Ten. This was the first matchup between the two schools in five years.

Northwestern knocked off DePaul back in 2008, before the series took a break as Northwestern's program was on the rise while DePaul's was struggling. The two teams will meet again next season, though that game will be played at Allstate Arena, rather than Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The first half of Friday evening's game was a sight for sore eyes. The Blue Demons took a 28-23 lead into the intermission and led for most of the first stanza. The two teams combined for 23 fouls and 16 turnovers in the first half, while also struggling to shoot the ball.

DePaul was only 8-of-28 from the field and 11-of-21 from the free-throw line. Northwestern shot 7-of-25 from the floor, but connected on 7-of-10 free-throw attempts. Both teams shot 20 percent from three-point range, a combined 3-of-15 between the two squads.

Oliver Purnell and Chris Collins were forced to dig deep into their benches during that first half, as DePaul had 11 players enter the game, while 10 Northwestern players saw the floor. Seven players picked up at least two fouls, while Tommy Hamilton IV and Dave Sobolewski each fouled three times.

Drew Crawford and Tre Demps were the only players to score over five points during the half, as Crawford scored eight points, though on 3-of-11 shooting, and Demps tallied seven points. DePaul's Sandi Marcius served as a familiar face to the Wildcats, as he transferred from Purdue following last season.

The second half was much of the same boring play, until the final minutes. Marcius and Crawford exchanged late and-ones, while Tre Demps led the charge to get NU back into the game. Demps finished the game with a career-high 23 points.

Crawford contributed 15 for the Cats, though on 5-of-17 shooting. Marcius was DePaul's leading scorer on the night with 12 points, followed closely behind by senior Cleveland Melvin's 11 points. The victory was DePaul's first at Northwestern since 1995, having lost in their previous four visits to nearby Evanston.

Alex Olah's play was particularly discouraging for Collins' bunch, as the 7'0" Romanian sophomore channeled his inner-Luka Mirkovic, being held scoreless and fouling out in the game's final minute. Senior Brandon Young struggled for the Demons, scoring only six points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.

DePaul next takes the court on New Years Eve, facing Georgetown on the road. The road doesn't get any easier from there for the Blue Demons, as the open Big East play with Marquette, Creighton, Butler, St. John's and Villanova following to start 2014. Four of those first six contests also come on the road.

Northwestern will also be tested early on in their conference. The Cats open with the Wisconsin Badgers at home on January 2, before playing Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State and Indiana to round out the first third of their conference slate.

Both teams will need to play better during their conference season than they did on Friday night in order to have successful seasons and reach any postseason tournament. DePaul improved to 8-5 with the win by the narrowest of margins, while NU enters B1G play just over .500 with a 7-6 record.

For months, make that years, DePaul University has been looking at ways to ditch the suburbs of Rosemont and finally make Chicago their home again for basketball games.

What has been rumored for months may come to fruition this week as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce a $300 million stadium at McCormick Place for the DePaul Blue Demons to play their home games (via Chicago Sun-Times). While $300 million could be a reach of a total (and could include the cost of hotels), DePaul is expected to pitch in a lot of money with the exposition authority (aka McPier), perhaps spending more than $100 million in untapped bonding authority.

The plans call for a 10-12,000 seat stadium for DePaul basketball—with adjoining hotels adjacent to the arena—in the hopes that the south side of Chicago can revitalize its businesses. There is even talk of casinos possibly being built in the area.

DePaul currently plays its home games at the outdated Allstate Arena (formerly Rosemont Horizon), which is roughly 15 miles away from its main campus in Lincoln Park. With the team underperforming (six straight losing seasons) in recent years, there hasn’t been many legitimate reasons why the casual fan should feel compelled to make the trip.

But, if you have an arena in the city (even if not on campus), that changes the equation. DePaul has already rejected a deal to play its home games at the United Center for 10 years rent free. The feeling is DePaul did not want to play second fiddle to the Bulls and the Blackhawks. They wanted a place they can truly call their own. Plus, the United Center is too big of a setting for the university.

DePaul has to capitalize on this new opportunity in front of them. With a brand-new spanking stadium, they could reinvigorate its moribund program and get back to the levels it enjoyed in the late 70’s/early 80’s, which culminated in its appearance in the 1979 Final Four. In fact, it was their success in late 70’s that warranted their move from their tiny on-campus gym at Alumni Hall (seating capacity 5,308) to the spacious and more modernly appealing (at the time) Rosemont Horizon (capacity 18,500) in 1980.

DePaul did enjoy quite a run in the early 80’s at Rosemont Horizon, routinely selling out the arena while being an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament. However, that atmosphere has all but vanished at the unaesthetically pleasing Allstate Arena.

DePaul, who are about to enter the remodeled and basketball-centric version of the Big East (with the additions of Xavier, Butler and Creighton), is at a crossroads and it's time for them to remodel their brand while also reinventing themselves. A new home court in their own city can help immensely in that process. It would give the program a much-needed facelift.

For years, DePaul and its multitude of coaches (currently led by Oliver Purnell) have tried to lure top-flight recruits, but between all the losing combined with the outdated facilities, they have continued to struggle.

Students simply don’t want to travel that far to support a mediocre product. But you put a campus in the city, and suddenly going to a game is much more feasible and trendy. And for the casual fan, they can enjoy the game while also immersing themselves in the bar/restaurant scene around the area prior to and after the games. That’s something that’s not plausible at DePaul’s current home at Allstate Arena, which is basically landlocked.

Things could be on the upswing at DePaul. This year they signed an ESPN top-100 recruit in Billy Garrett Jr. (his father Billy Sr. is a member of the coaching staff) while also reeling in a potential steal in Tommy Hamilton, a once-promising former top-50 recruit from Chicago (via depaul.scout.com). Both players, who call Chicago home, can possibly spark a renaissance in the city.

DePaul has long been canonized for romanticizing about the past. It’s time for them to start thinking ahead, and the building of an arena in the city that you can call your own is a step in the right direction.

While DePaul may continue to struggle in the near future (the team is still coming off a disappointing 11-21 season), there finally could be a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Big East basketball takes center stage this Tuesday night when the Cincinnati Bearcats will try and get back over .500 in conference play when they square off against the DePaul Blue Demons at Allstate Arena. This game is slated to get underway at 8:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be available on ESPN3.

The Bearcats cruised through the nonconference portion of their schedule with one straight up loss in their first 13 games, but it has been rough sailing so far in the Big East with back-to-back losses to Saint John’s and Notre Dame. They did bounce back with a 68-58 victory over Rutgers this past Saturday as five-point road favorites to improve to 14-3 SU and 7-6 against the spread. The total has stayed “under” in six of their last seven games.

DePaul is off to a respectable 10-6 SU start, but it has lost three of its last four games, including a 99-78 beating at the hands of Connecticut as an 8.5-point road underdog last Tuesday. It is now 7-6 ATS with the total going “over” in its last two games.

Cincinnati vs. DePaul Betting Storylines

 Cincinnati has done a good job at putting the ball in the net this season with an average of 74.2 points a game, but it has come nowhere near that total in its last seven games with just 62.9 points a game.

The Bearcats will look to Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright to help the team break out of this scoring slump. Kilpatrick is averaging 17.2 points a game with 5.2 rebounds, and Wright is putting up 14.8 points a game and dishing out a team-high 3.5 assists.

Overall, Cincinnati is shooting just 42.8 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from three-point range. It has really struggled from the foul line this season in converting on just 62.8 percent of its attempts. Defensively, it is holding opponents to an average of 57.9 points a game and pulling down 43.4 rebounds a game, which is the second-highest total in the nation.

The Blue Demons have averaged 75.3 points in their first 16 games and have not scored less than 69 points all season long. The duo of Brandon Young and Cleveland Melvin have accounted for the bulk of the production with a combined 34.1 points a game. Young leads the team in assists (4.4) while Melvin is averaging a team-high 7.6 rebounds a game.

DePaul has been slightly better from the field than the Bearcats with a 45.1 shooting percentage, but it is converting on just 30.3 percent of its shots from beyond the arc and on 69.5 percent of them from the free-throw line. The defense is holding teams to an average of 69.4 points a game while pulling down a total of 37.2 rebounds a game.

Cincinnati vs. DePaul Betting Odds and Trends by BetOnline

BetOnline has opened Cincinnati as a seven-point favorite on the road with the “over/under” line still listed as OFF on its latest board.

The Bearcats are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 conference games and 18-6 ATS in their last 24 games on the road. The total has stayed under in their previous six games following a SU win.

The Blue Demons are just 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games against the Big East. The total has stayed under in five of their last six home games.

Head-to-head, the underdog has covered in the last five meetings with the total staying under in seven of the last nine games. Cincinnati has won five of the last six meetings SU, but it is only 1-5 ATS during the same stretch of games.

College Basketball Picks: Cincinnati vs. DePaul Betting Predictions

It would be hard to see the Bearcats drop their third conference game in five outings especially against a team it has dominated over the past several seasons. However, this is one of DePaul’s best teams in years. And the Demons are more than capable of keeping things closer than seven points at home.

Take No. 528 DePaul (+7) over Cincinnati (Tuesday, Jan.15, 8:30 p.m.)

The 2012-2013 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team has been something to cheer about. Oliver Purnell is in his third season as the Demons' head coach. Over the course of his coaching career, Purnell has been known for making his third season the one where things turn around for the better.

That seems to be the case with DePaul this year. Currently, the Demons are 9-3 and are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. They haven't lost since November 21st. Since then they have beaten teams like Arizona State, Auburn and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

They have also been successful against other Chicago-area teams. They've already beaten Chicago State and Northern Illinois and they play Loyola on Saturday. While the first two months of the season have been fun to watch, I can only hope that the Demons keep up this momentum once their conference schedule begins.

The Big East portion of their schedule will start on January 2nd. The Demons have not been very successful as a member of the Big East. 

Over the last few seasons, the Demons have done well in non-conference play, but only to fall apart when they take on conference opponents.

If DePaul is to have any chance at getting into the postseason in 2013, they need to win at least 10 conference games. That task will be easier said than done as six of their Big East opponents this season are ranked in the Top 25.

They also have to play Notre Dame and Pittsburgh twice, along with road games at Connecticut, Georgetown, St. Johns, Marquette and Syracuse.

The road to a 20-win season will not be easy, but it must be done for Oliver Purnell's squad to get postseason consideration. At the end of the day your non-conference schedule means nothing.

Conference victories are how teams raise their RPI and catch the eye of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. 

Blue Demons hoops may be fun to watch now, but will they still be fun to watch in January and February? Only time will tell.