The Holy Land of Hoops

DePaul was.....well, DePaul once again this season.

Losing:
*Billy Garrett Jr (You gotta give this guy props. He's stuck with it and played his heart out for his team for all 4 years. He's a talented player and I could see him playing pro ball overseas)
*RJ Curington
*Darrick Wood
*Chris Harrison-Docks

Keeping:
*Tre'Darius McCallum
*Devin Gage
*Brandon Cyrus
*Al Eichelberger
*Levi Cook
*Eli Cain (Along with BGJr, he was easily the teams best player)

Getting:
*Max Strus (A D2 transfer. 6'6 215. He was also chased by Butler and Xavier so this is a pretty good get)
*Austin Grandstaff (He's already transferred twice. First went to Ohio State then transferred to Oklahoma after 1st semester and then left OU and is now at DePaul. Not sure what's been the case with him. However, this is another good get. From what I've heard, he's an excellent shooter. 6'4 190)
*Justin Roberts (5'11 170 from Indianapolis. Doesn't seem like a good get. Only had two other offers from IUPUI and Bradley)
*Jaylen Butz (6'9 200 from Fort Wayne, IN. Also just had a bunch of small mid-major programs offer him. No one of substance)
*Paul Reed (6'8 180 from Apopka, FL. I'd say the best of the 3 HS kids. Had offers from Rutgers, Kansas State, UCF, Clemson, etc.)

Now I'm not ready to call for Dave Leitao's job just yet. But he's adding and keeping more talent for next season. If they don't make any strides by the end of next season, I'll be calling for him to go. He did have a pretty young team so major struggles were inevitable. Also, players like Reed, Butz, and Roberts could easily prove me wrong and play better than their rating next season. Hopefully DePaul's squad was able to learn a lot from this year and they'll be ready to make strides out of the basement.

This of course was the last season for them in the Allstate Arena. The new arena should definitely help with recruiting. It won't guarantee a better product but it should help them as they try to create a better product. I really want these guys to become relevant again because if they can that'd be HUGE for our conference.

Summary

OmahaGuy wrote:*Max Strus (A D2 transfer. 6'6 215. He was also chased by Butler and Xavier so this is a pretty good get)

Was a D2 All-American at Lewis. DePaul played him twice in pre-season, and we couldn't guard the kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glAhe3CkSaY&t=155s

*Justin Roberts (5'11 170 from Indianapolis. Doesn't seem like a good get. Only had two other offers from IUPUI and Bradley)

Probably DePaul's highest-rated recruit since Billy Garrett. Was considered a Top 100 player at one point, and scouting services rated him as either a three or four star player. He's got a chance to start immediately.

*Jaylen Butz (6'9 200 from Fort Wayne, IN. Also just had a bunch of small mid-major programs offer him. No one of substance)

When he committed to DePaul, he had just started hearing from Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, and Arkansas after a big summer. He followed that up with a fairly strong senior season.

And he's GOT to be better than Joe Hanel and Peter Ryckbosch.

*Paul Reed (6'8 180 from Apopka, FL. I'd say the best of the 3 HS kids. Had offers from Rutgers, Kansas State, UCF, Clemson, etc.)

If I remember correctly, he's somewhat similar to Anthony Davis in terms of development in that he was a guard until he had a significant growth spurt in high school, and he still retains some guard skills. That said... he's a project. Needs to pack on a TON of weight. Unless he's good enough where they can't keep him off the court, I think he's a red shirt candidate.

Now I'm not ready to call for Dave Leitao's job just yet. But he's adding and keeping more talent for next season. If they don't make any strides by the end of next season, I'll be calling for him to go.

That's basically where I am. They need to make significant strides forward next season, or they'll go in a different direction.

DePaul is who we thought they were.

Review complete.

They are an extremely consistent team, just not in a good way.

SJHooper wrote:DePaul is who we thought they were.

Review complete.

They are an extremely consistent team, just not in a good way.

But will they be who you thought they were next year?

Demon22 wrote:But will they be who you thought they were next year?

Leitao's got a tough road ahead, as the conference looks stacked for next season. At least they appeared to be playing hard till the end.

kayako wrote:

Demon22 wrote:But will they be who you thought they were next year?

Leitao's got a tough road ahead, as the conference looks stacked for next season. At least they appeared to be playing hard till the end.

Problem for Depaul is that this conference will always be stacked for next season. On the bright side, they can only go up.

Doesn't make much of a difference but Erten Gazi is transferring

Live look-in at the state of DePaul Men's Basketball...

Levi Cook is apparently transferring now. Seems like odd timing.