Andy Katz: DePaul to Name Dave Leitao Head Coach

[Bill Marsh]

I know nothing about Leitao. At a minimum, he has to be better than Purnell. I agree a young hungry coach like Bobby Hurley would have really excited the program. Looking forward to finding out more about the guy.

Jim Calhoun protege

[DemonLS]

Do any of you believe that Hurley (and Drew) turned the DePaul job down???????

[Hoyas]

Do any of you believe that Hurley (and Drew) turned the DePaul job down???????

Possibly if any of them were wanting to wait to see if they could get a bigger job and they DePaul didn't want to wait maybe?

[Demon22]

Starting to calm down. I'll try a reasoned discussion of positives and negatives with those of you who are unfamiliar.

POSITIVES
1. Was an excellent defensive coach whose teams had a reputation of playing hard. - Would be a welcome change from the DePaul teams we've seen for much of the past 10 years.

2. Recruited pretty well. - Signed kids like Wilson Chandler, Sammy Mejia, and Dorrel Wright. Wright was a five-star recruit from South Kent Prep who pretty much shocked everyone when he turned pro straight out of High School. Even kids like Zo Thompson and Jabari Currie and Wes Green were well-regarded High School players, even if their college careers disappointed. Guy was Jim Calhoun's top recruiter when he was at UConn. Actually wouldn't be surprised if Donyell Marshall ends up being one of his assistants.

3. Players got better. - Guys like Drake Diener and LeVar Seals and Marlon Brumfield and Andre Brown and Quemont Greer and Delonte Holland all got much, much better while playing under Leitao.

NEGATIVES
1. After one good season at UVA, he's pretty much failed miserably ever since. - Maine Red Claws to Assistant at Missouri to Assistant at Tulsa. Not exactly the kind of career trajectory that screams "good hire".

2. May or may not have pissed off Chicago area High School coaches with the way he left. - Depending on who you talked to, there were allegations that promises were made and not kept. What we do know is that he left less than a year after signing a contract extension that was considered a significant financial commitment at the time.

3. May or may not have pissed off fans, alumni, season ticket holders with the way he left. - See above.

4. Played a deliberate, slow-tempo, offense. - The word "boring" was used more than once. Then again, playing up-tempo basketball where you get your head kicked in by 30 points on a nightly basis wasn't so exciting, either.

[xsteve1]

I've got to think Depaul is saving a lot of money on this hire. If they are paying this guy more than 600K they are crazy. He was probably making 150K tops at Tulsa.

[HoosierPal]

Bunt single at best.

[billyjack]

Starting to calm down. I'll try a reasoned discussion of positives and negatives with those of you who are unfamiliar.

POSITIVES
1. Was an excellent defensive coach whose teams had a reputation of playing hard. - Would be a welcome change from the DePaul teams we've seen for much of the past 10 years.

2. Recruited pretty well. - Signed kids like Wilson Chandler, Sammy Mejia, and Dorrel Wright. Wright was a five-star recruit from South Kent Prep who pretty much shocked everyone when he turned pro straight out of High School. Even kids like Zo Thompson and Jabari Currie and Wes Green were well-regarded High School players, even if their college careers disappointed. Guy was Jim Calhoun's top recruiter when he was at UConn. Actually wouldn't be surprised if Donyell Marshall ends up being one of his assistants.

3. Players got better. - Guys like Drake Diener and LeVar Seals and Marlon Brumfield and Andre Brown and Quemont Greer and Delonte Holland all got much, much better while playing under Leitao.

NEGATIVES
1. After one good season at UVA, he's pretty much failed miserably ever since. - Maine Red Claws to Assistant at Missouri to Assistant at Tulsa. Not exactly the kind of career trajectory that screams "good hire".

2. May or may not have pissed off Chicago area High School coaches with the way he left. - Depending on who you talked to, there were allegations that promises were made and not kept. What we do know is that he left less than a year after signing a contract extension that was considered a significant financial commitment at the time.

3. May or may not have pissed off fans, alumni, season ticket holders with the way he left. - See above.

4. Played a deliberate, slow-tempo, offense. - The word "boring" was used more than once. Then again, playing up-tempo basketball where you get your head kicked in by 30 points on a nightly basis wasn't so exciting, either.

Thanks for this information.
I like that he stresses defense and rebounding.
Nice to hear he's from Calhoun's pipeline.
Although this seems like an underwhelming hire, really the nightmare scenario was if Purnell returned for a 6th year.

[pki1998]

Wow DePaul! Wow! Can't believe how amazingly bad they F'd this up.

Believe me, DePaul fans need to understand that I'm trying to offend at the highest possible level - not my style, but this is disgraceful: DePaul really Fordhamed this thing up.

That might be the coldest comment posted in the history of this board. Not saying it's not accurate, but damn that's cold!

[hoyahooligan]

Starting to calm down. I'll try a reasoned discussion of positives and negatives with those of you who are unfamiliar.

POSITIVES
1. Was an excellent defensive coach whose teams had a reputation of playing hard. - Would be a welcome change from the DePaul teams we've seen for much of the past 10 years.

2. Recruited pretty well. - Signed kids like Wilson Chandler, Sammy Mejia, and Dorrel Wright. Wright was a five-star recruit from South Kent Prep who pretty much shocked everyone when he turned pro straight out of High School. Even kids like Zo Thompson and Jabari Currie and Wes Green were well-regarded High School players, even if their college careers disappointed. Guy was Jim Calhoun's top recruiter when he was at UConn. Actually wouldn't be surprised if Donyell Marshall ends up being one of his assistants.

3. Players got better. - Guys like Drake Diener and LeVar Seals and Marlon Brumfield and Andre Brown and Quemont Greer and Delonte Holland all got much, much better while playing under Leitao.

NEGATIVES
1. After one good season at UVA, he's pretty much failed miserably ever since. - Maine Red Claws to Assistant at Missouri to Assistant at Tulsa. Not exactly the kind of career trajectory that screams "good hire".

2. May or may not have pissed off Chicago area High School coaches with the way he left. - Depending on who you talked to, there were allegations that promises were made and not kept. What we do know is that he left less than a year after signing a contract extension that was considered a significant financial commitment at the time.

3. May or may not have pissed off fans, alumni, season ticket holders with the way he left. - See above.

4. Played a deliberate, slow-tempo, offense. - The word "boring" was used more than once. Then again, playing up-tempo basketball where you get your head kicked in by 30 points on a nightly basis wasn't so exciting, either.

He may have a reputation as a defensive coach, but it's not warranted based on the Data.

Here are his defensive rankings per kenpom:

At DePaul: 57th, 142nd, 121st. At UVA: 68, 72, 173, 68.

Offenses were generally better: 120th, 23rd, 41st; 124th, 42nd, 54th, 178th.

He did seem to have good rebounding teams on both ends of the floor, but they were nothing to write home about overall defensively at either DePaul or Virginia.

[Jet915]

Bunt single at best.

More like strike 3 for Depaul's AD.....she's probably gonna use the money she saved with this hire to "invest" in women's athletics...