DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball

The DePaul Blue Demons Men's Basketball program is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. The team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

History

DePaul was independent for much of its basketball history and has enjoyed success with such great players as George Mikan in the 1940s and legendary coaches such as Ray Meyer in the 1970s and 80s. Success continued with multiple NCAA appearances under Ray Meyer's son, Joey Meyer, throughout the 1980s. DePaul joined the Great Midwest Conference in 1991 which later merged with the Metro Conference in 1995 to become Conference USA, in which DePaul was a member through 2005. DePaul left for the Big East Conference for the 2005-2006 season where it currently resides as a member.^[1]

The current men's basketball coach is Oliver Purnell. The previous coach was Jerry Wainwright, who joined DePaul in 2005. Wainwright's first season with his young team was erratic, beating No. 16 Wake Forest 84-81 before falling to Old Dominion by a score of 87–43 (the worst defeat in the team's history), and then beating future Big East Champion, Syracuse, 108–69 on March 2, 2006. In the 2006–2007 season, the Blue Demons beat powerhouse #5 Kansas, pulling off one of the greatest upsets in school history. They also beat 2007 NCAA tournament teams California, Northwestern State, Marquette, Connecticut, and Villanova. The team made it to the NIT and lost in the bracket final to Air Force.

The Demons opened up the 2008 season with two of their star players gone to the NBA. Four games into the 2007-2008 season, Wainwright logged his 200th career win as a head coach. The 2007–08 season saw the Demons with a 10–19 record, but there were high points in the year. DePaul had upsets over Villanova, then ranked #15 nationally and ultimately a member of the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and Northwestern. However, things took a turn for the worse during the 2008-2009 season. DePaul went 0-18 in Big East play, setting a school-record for longest losing streak. The Demons were able to redeem themselves somewhat knocking off Big East 9th seeded team Cincinnati in the first round of the Big East tournament and putting up a fight in a close loss to 8 seed Providence.

In the 2009 season, the Blue Demons suffered arguably their worst loss in school history, a 64-61 upset by Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles, a recent Division I entrant.^[2]

Post-season

NCAA Tournament

Final Fours (2): 1943, 1979
NCAA appearances (18): 43, 53, 56, 59, 60, 65, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 91, 92, 00, 04

• NCAA appearances in 1986, 87, 88, and 89 were vacated due to NCAA rules infractions and are not a part of the official NCAA records.^[3]

National Invitation Tournament

NIT Champions: 1945
NIT appearances (16): 40 (FF), 44 (2nd), 45 (champion), 48, 61, 63, 64, 66, 83 (2nd), 90, 94, 95, 99, 03, 05, 07 ^[4]

Honors

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame:

• George Mikan
• Ray Meyer

National Player of the Year:

• George Mikan (1944, 1945)
• Mark Aguirre (1980)

National Coach of the Year:

• Ray Meyer (78, 79, 80, 84)
• Joey Meyer 1987

^[5]

Professional players

The following former DePaul Blue Demons have played in the NBA or original ABA^[6]:

• Mark Aguirre
• Andre Brown
• Stanley Brundy
• Em Bryant
• Howie Carl
• Wilson Chandler
• Dallas Comegys
• Tyrone Corbin
• Dave Corzine
• Terry Cummings
• Gene Dyker
• Kevin Edwards
• Ron Feiereisel
• Elmer Gainer
• Gary Garland
• Bato Govedarica
• Stephen Howard
• Steven Hunter
• Johnny Jorgensen
• Whitey Kachan
• Paul McPherson
• Ed Mikan
• George Mikan
• Errol Palmer
• Jack Phelan
• Quentin Richardson
• Bill Robinzine
• Bobby Simmons
• Ron Sobieszczyk
• Rod Strickland
• Gene Stump
• Dick Triptow

See also

• Former DePaul Head Coach Ray Meyer
• NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coaches
• NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by school

References

1. ^ "DePaul Men's Basketball History". http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15600&KEY=&ATCLID=1289795&SPID=7777&SPSID=68829. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 
2. ^ "ESPN.com game recap". http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=293560526. Retrieved 2010-04-02. 
3. ^ Official 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book, The National Collegiate Athletic Association, pg. 254, date=2008-10, ISSN 1089-5280| accessdate=2009-03-05
4. ^ 2008-09 Big East Media Guide: The Record Book: The Big East in Postseason Play (All-Time), pg. 149| accessdate=2009-03-03
5. ^ DePaul Basketball Record Book: All-Time Honors| accessdate=2009-03-03
6. ^ NBA & ABA Players Who Attended DePaul University

External links

• Official Site of DePaul Blue Demons Basketball