Previewing DePaul: The Blue Demons Look to Overcome Their Horrible Track Record in the Big East
It’s hard to muster up much enthusiasm previewing DePaul.
The last time they finished with a record above .500 in Big East play came back in their second year in the league — 2006-07. They were 9-7 in conference games that season, then they saw their Big East win totals fall to six, zero, one, one, three, two, and three games in the seven seasons that followed.
Last season’s 6-14 league record tied their second highest win total in Big East play since that 2007 campaign. It also marked the first year under head coach Tony Stubblefield, the long-time assistant who had spent the previous 15 years at Cincinnati and then Oregon.
Silver linings have long been tough to come by for the Blue Demons. Thanks to Georgetown (0-19 in conference games), DePaul avoided the league’s basement for the first time in seven years. And truth be told, Stubblefield produced a more competitive outfit than we’ve normally seen at DePaul.
The Demons were 9-1 entering conference play, with wins over Rutgers and what turned out to be a bad Louisville team. They lost star wing Javon Freeman-Liberty for a spell during Big East play, started 1-9 in-conference, before closing the regular season with wins in three of their final four games.
In their final two wins of the season, DePaul scored 99 points against St. John’s and 91 versus Marquette (58 of those came in the second half).
By season’s end, Stubblefield had at least put together an entertaining group. He wanted to play fast, and with the return of Freeman-Liberty (who filled the stat sheet with averages of 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game), combined with a terrific sophomore guard David Jones (14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds), shot blocker Nick Ongenda, a versatile wing scorer in senior Brandon Johnson, and Oregon transfer Jalen Terry at the point, Stubblefield had a solid enough core in place. They lacked depth, however.
Six months later, Stubblefield will be tasked with winning with a rebuilt once again after Freeman-Liberty made his way to the NBA, Johnson left to play professionally, and (perhaps the biggest blow) Jones transferred in-conference to St. John’s.
Stubblefield will look to all sorts of new faces this fall.
The best bet to make an early impact is Umoja Gibson, a transfer from Oklahoma who will let it fly from deep in Stubblefield’s up-tempo system. Gibson can light it up, as evidenced by his 30-point outburst against perhaps the best defensive team in the country in Texas Tech last season. He closed the year by scoring 26 and 28 points in a pair of NIT games, and finished the season by averaging over 13 points per game, and shooting 39% from deep. The 6’1 Gibson has already made over 330 career 3-pointers. If DePaul is going to compete at a higher level this year, Gibson figures to be a huge part of the equation.
Stubblefield added two other key transfers in point guard Caleb Murphy (via South Florida) and all-NEC forward Eral Penn. Murphy was a non-shooter at USF last year, but averaged 11 points per game and scored 19 against Auburn. Penn transferred from Long Island (who moved on from head coach Derek Kellogg) after scoring over 17 points per game. He put up 37 against Fairleigh Dickinson last year.
DePaul also welcomed a pair of top 20 junior college transfers in guard KT Rainey and the 6’8 Da’Sean Nelson.
Their high school recruiting class is highlighted by a top 100 player in Zion Cruz, the 73rd ranked player in the class of 2022 according to 247 Sports. Cruz is out of New Jersey and prepped at Donda Academy last year. 247’s Jerry Meyer notes that the 6’5 Cruz has “a great physique” with a “lethal crossover.”
Cruz is the second top 100 player in the past two classes to join DePaul, following Chicago native Ahamad Bynum, who redshirted last year after failing to gain academic eligibility from the NCAA.
If DePaul were to take a leap forward this year it will likely come from the continued development of the 6’11 Ongenda, who is one of the top shot blockers in the league. He had seven blocks against Providence last season, and eight versus Louisville. Ongenda and backup Yor Anei (a 6’10 grad student) are both solid deterrents at the rim.
DePaul will also hope to see a return to form from one-time Iowa State transfer Javan Johnson, who didn’t play until late January and then broke his hand. He was an eight point per game scorer for the Cyclones.
Their early season slate includes games against fellow Chicago-based schools Northwestern and Loyola-Chicago, as well as Minnesota (Gavitt Games), Texas A&M, and potentially Oklahoma State in a tournament in the Bahamas. They will also play on Christmas Day against Big East favorite Creighton.
There has been little reason to pay any real attention to DePaul over the past decade and a half, and on paper the 2022-23 team doesn’t look to have the talent to significantly alter that narrative this season. They have never reached the NCAA Tournament as a member of the Big East — a stretch spanning all the way back to 2006. In fact, they have won three conference games, or fewer, in ten of the 17 years they have been in the league.
Despite their history, and their proximity to so many talented recruits, DePaul has managed to stay uncompetitive in the Big East for nearly two decades. Maybe this year will be different, but they have a long way to go before they earn any believers.
poor depaul