A Review of the Blue Demons

[OmahaGuy]

The first season of the Tony Stubblefield era is complete. Let's take a moment to review the Blue Demons of DePaul

OUT
*Javon Freeman-Liberty (going pro)
*Courvoisier McCauley (transferring to Indiana State)
*David Jones (transferring to St Johns)
*Brandon Johnson

STAY
*Philmon Gebrewhit
*Jalen Terry
*Nick Ongenda
*Yor Anei

IN
*KT Raimey
*Zion Cruz
*Da'Sean Nelson (JuCo)
*Umoja Gibson (transfer from Oklahoma)
*Caleb Murphy (transfer from South Florida)

My 0.02:
Is DePaul coming back to life? Yeah the conference season wasn't all that great but they didn't lose any buy games in the non-con (unlike most DePaul teams of the past) and also got some nice wins over Rutgers and over Louisville at the chicken bucket. In conference play they did get wins over Xavier on the road, Seton Hall and Marquette. I'm not sure about Raimey but that Zion Cruz pickup was HUGE. He's gonna be a ball player in Chicago.

Though it wasn't a very bright year, I think this year laid the foundation for Stubblefield and if all those guys on the "return" list stay and maybe get a good player or 2 from the portal, brighter days are finally ahead in the Windy City! What say you?

[Omaha1]

Confirmed today by Freeman-Liberty that he will not return to DePaul.

[gtmoBlue]

DePaul:

...add in returning guards Max Wms and Ahamad Bynum, both from Chicago.

So Gebrewhit and Jones ret forwards, Terry and the two listed above ret guards.
Ongenda in the paint.

Good incoming class and supposedly in on Judah Mintz (53-247, 56-Rivals). 'Experts'
say it's down to DePaul and Syracuse.

The Demons can use a couple of transfer fwds to round out the roster.

[gtmoBlue]

per Jon Rothstein:

Ctrs Yor Anei and Akok Akok are both returning for another year at Depaul.
No need to hit the transfer portal for more Bigs...

Zion Cruz is a Huge pickup. Cruz will be FoY in the BEast in 22-23.
Stubbs gettin' it done. DePaul will need to be dealt with. Should be a vastly improved team.

The Full 40 Podcast
@thefull40
Replying to
@JonRothstein
DePaul’s Akok Akok is back
@BlueDemonDegen

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
DePaul's Yor Anei tells me that he will return to school next season and use his additional year of eligibility.

Averaged 4.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.6 BPG last season.
8:25 AM · Mar 31, 2022·TweetDeck

[Demon22]

Updating the original post...

Javon Freeman-Liberty is gone. Yeah, he's going to be tough to replace.

Courvosier McCauley is transferring. Thought he should have gotten more playing time over the past two years, and I thought he kind of hit his stride towards the last 10-12 games of the year.

Brandon Johnson out of eligibility, as far as I know.

Yor Anei is actually returning. Like him as a backup big.

I'm pretty sure Jalen Terry will be back. Thought he showed flashes of really solid play this year.

David Jones seems to be recruiting kids in the portal via social media, so I'll assume he's back. Excited to see if he can take another leap forward.

Javon Johnson wasn't listed, but it was tweeted out earlier that he'll be back, as well.

I think Nick Ongenda will be back, as well. Hopefully with a little more muscle.

I believe... but am not certain that Phimon Gebrewhit will be back. He was supposed to be a 3-and-D wing. The D was solid, but the 3s didn't fall this year.

KT Raimey is supposed to be one of the best JuCo players in the country. Hopefully he'll be able to make an impact.

Zion Cruz was a big get. Excited to see what he can do.

I believe that Ahamad Bynum will be eligible by the start of next season. He was a consensus Top 100 guard for the Class of 2021, but couldn't get eligible in time to help.


I think Jalen Terry and David Jones are definite starters. Javon Johnson and Nock Ongenda would probably start. There are bunch of wildcards on the roster. I have no idea what to expect for next season from Raimey, Cruz, or Bynum, but I know they're all really talented. I think they'll probably look for a veteran PG, another shooter, and hopefully a couple of bigs in the transfer portal. If they can grab three or four players who can make a positive contribution, I think they could be pretty interesting next season.

[gtmoBlue]

SF Javon Johnson, 6-6 from Iowa St. What, did he enroll earlier this year?
(He is on the current transfer list?)

[Demon22]

SF Javon Johnson, 6-6 from Iowa St. What, did he enroll earlier this year?
(He is on the current transfer list?)

He did. He actually played a few games this year before he (...allegedly...) broke his hand in a bar fight.

[OmahaGuy]

A question for Demon22,

What is your take on Tony Stubblefield so far? I think he looks pretty promising! First years on the job don't normally go well and this year wasn't any different but I think he can really connect well with players and his get of Zion Cruz was big time.

What say you? What does the DePaul community think of him so far?

[Demon22]

I can't speak for the entire DePaul community, but I'd say "cautiously optimistic" fits the bill at the moment.

On the plus side, they generally played hard, and I think they got better as the season went along, despite some tough injuries. We were 15-16, and we lost probably four of five games on the final possession. And they looked well-coached at times. There were more instances of "that looks like something a good team would do" this year than there were in any season under Dave Leitao 2.0.

On the downside, Stubblefield earned his chops as a recruiter, and of the six kids he brought in last year, only two of them made any real impact, and one of those two won't be back. They didn't sign enough kids last Spring, and they've only got two signed so far this year. Lack of depth killed them last year, and unless he strikes gold in the transfer portal, I have real concerns about the same issues popping up next year.

[Wizard of Westroads]

Demons show up in speculation on where Kentucky's Bryce Hopkins lands:

https://twitter.com/JackPilgrimKSR/status/1512058952871198728

Chicago kid, so might just be speculation. PC also mentioned.