Andy Katz: DePaul to Name Dave Leitao Head Coach

[jfan]

I'm curious about the talent that Coach Leitao inherited during his first stint and how he recruited? As an outsider, this is definitely a "safe" type of hire, but he obviously did well the first time around (compared to other DePaul hires) and this seems to have potential. I understand the angst of some because they didn't go for a younger and more exciting coach! If this does fail, the AD will have to go.

[Hoyas]

I'm curious about the talent that Coach Leitao inherited during his first stint and how he recruited? As an outsider, this is definitely a "safe" type of hire, but he obviously did well the first time around (compared to other DePaul hires) and this seems to have potential. I understand the angst of some because they didn't go for a younger and more exciting coach! If this does fail, the AD will have to go.

just looking, the 2 years before he came to DePaul- DePaul was 12-18 and 9-19 overall and 4-12 and 2-14 in conference play. His 1st year they were 16-13 and 8-8 in conference play.

[XtoDC]

I'm a Xavier fan, so maybe I'm biased, but I feel like the schools that have been underachieving and are now looking for new coaches should look to their fellow conference mates who have made several of these decisions in the past decade for advice.

Essentially, St. John's and DePaul should ask themselves, "Would Butler/Xavier hire this guy?" If the answer to that question is not yes, then keep looking. In this instance, the answer is an emphatic, "Hell no!"

[billyjack]

I'm curious about the talent that Coach Leitao inherited during his first stint and how he recruited? As an outsider, this is definitely a "safe" type of hire, but he obviously did well the first time around (compared to other DePaul hires) and this seems to have potential. I understand the angst of some because they didn't go for a younger and more exciting coach! If this does fail, the AD will have to go.

just looking, the 2 years before he came to DePaul- DePaul was 12-18 and 9-19 overall and 4-12 and 2-14 in conference play. His 1st year they were 16-13 and 8-8 in conference play.

I wasn't liking the hiring of Leitao, but I'm searching for reasons to change my mind. I like that he has Jim Calhoun connections. I like that he's from New Bedford Mass. I just really know very little about the guy.

Anyway, this is from the DePaul message board:
It was within this thread:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=430&f=2585&t=13768828

"[Dave Leitao] at DePaul had good results record-wise and all 3 of his recruiting classes were top-notiched, top 25 classes. The only class that I could have questioned was his 2nd class (2004), which he scrambled in the spring to pick up 4 players, 2 of whom never panned out or did much. His very first pickup was off the scrapheap that proved to be a solid player for the majority of the time that he was here - Marlon Brumfield, a CPL player."

"2003
Sammy Mejia - top 100 player, 4 star, top player in New York, NBA draft choice.
Tyler Smith - 3 star - Baltimore, same AAU and childhood friends with Carmelo Anthony
Lorenzo Thompson - 3 star - CPL player
Marcus Heard - 3 star - downstate Illinois player
Wesley Green - top 75 player, 4 star

2004
Aking Elting (JC) - top JC PG in the country - (actually I think he was a PK recruit, not a DL recruit, but he never made it in regardless)
Dorrell Wright - 5 star, 1st round NBA draft choice, long-time NBA player
Karron Clarke - 4 star when he was in HS
Cliff Clinkscales - 3 star
Draelon Burns - 3 star, borderline Top 100 player
Marcus Malone, Jamal Nichols (JC)

2005
Jabari Currie - 3 star, decent 4 year player
Wilson Chandler - 4 star, 1st round NBA draft choice
Rashad Woods - Top 100 player

You can see that DL had solid recruits throughout the country - Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, etc."

[jfan]

Looks like he can recruit! Thanks for the info.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Recap of the Leitao/Jean Lenti Ponsetto press conference, which I can honestly say is one of the funniest/saddest things I've ever seen:

JLP starts off by saying she wanted someone with Big East ties and success (Leitao was head coach during Conference USA, never a head coach in the Big East - which point was made by a reporter). Then, she listed all the coaches that Leitao defeated while at DePaul (Crean-Marquette, Huggins-Cincinnati, Calipari-Memphis, Pitino-Louisville, etc.) - this drew some audible laughs from reporters on the livestream (like seriously???). Then, she says how Leitao was her number one choice from day one (then why hire a search firm???). She goes on to say that he is good friends with a lot of the current Big East coaches (seems legit - I would hire friends of successful people any day of the week). She re-affirms her decision by stating that she received emails from two, yes TWO, former players that vouched for Coach Leitao and said he was a good coach (wow, if she got two letters of recommendation in the past two weeks, imagine if she waited another week!). But, then, the icing on the cake - JLP then diminished the importance of facilities and fundraising (DING! DING! DING! DING!).

My personal favorite line is when she lists the three most important goals for DePaul Athletics. Winning was not one of them (clearly).

DePaul Men's Basketball will be down until new leadership takes over. Until then, let's enjoy the laughs.

[Jet915]

Oh, there was a press conference today?? ....This makes me so angry as a Big East fan, feel sorry for Depaul fans...

[Demon22]

Not exactly a high hurdle to clear, but I'm fully confident that Leitao will recruit and coach much better than either of the last two clowns we had here.

[XUFan09]

Not exactly a high hurdle to clear, but I'm fully confident that Leitao will recruit and coach much better than either of the last two clowns we had here.

Yup, that's true, even if it's an uninspiring hire.

[OmahaGuy]

Ok, this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I firmly believe that DePaul fans need to give Leitao a chance. He was your last successful coach who made the most out of his time at DePaul the first time. I came away pretty impressed with how he handled the press conference. He knows there are many people bashing this hire and he sure looked like and wanted to shut everyone up. I sure hope he can recruit Chicago hard and he backs up his talk with good results. We will see what happens.