Welcome to the first installment of our Hot Take Corner, a recurring series. We’ll take on topics regarding Georgetown, the Big East, and the college basketball landscape as a whole. The takes are pretty spicy, so wash it down with some water, and don’t take everything too seriously.
Open a dictionary, and under the word “mediocrity” you will find DePaul.
I might touch on the nerves of all three DePaul fans when I say this, but it needs to be said: DePaul, as an institution, offers nothing of value to the Big East Conference, and they should be kicked out.
The biggest reason is because the basketball program is a joke. Not just a new joke either, but a long-running punchline. When they make the pre-season predictions for the Big East, they should just automatically write DePaul in tenth in Sharpie and save everyone the hassle.
Overall, DePaul basketball has had just one overall winning season since joining the conference in 2005. That winning season was in 2006-07, and it was also the sole season they had a winning record in conference play.
Take a look at this table to see just how bad they’ve been. I mean, jeez.
| Over | Over | Over | Conf | Conf | Conf | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Season | Conf | W | L | W-L% | W | L | W-L% |
| 1 | 2019-20 | Big East | 13 | 10 | .565 | 1 | 9 | .100 |
| 2 | 2018-19 | Big East | 19 | 17 | .528 | 7 | 11 | .389 |
| 3 | 2017-18 | Big East | 11 | 20 | .355 | 4 | 14 | .222 |
| 4 | 2016-17 | Big East | 9 | 23 | .281 | 2 | 16 | .111 |
| 5 | 2015-16 | Big East | 9 | 22 | .290 | 3 | 15 | .167 |
| 6 | 2014-15 | Big East | 12 | 20 | .375 | 6 | 12 | .333 |
| 7 | 2013-14 | Big East | 12 | 21 | .364 | 3 | 15 | .167 |
| 8 | 2012-13 | Big East | 11 | 21 | .344 | 2 | 16 | .111 |
| 9 | 2011-12 | Big East | 12 | 19 | .387 | 3 | 15 | .167 |
| 10 | 2010-11 | Big East | 7 | 24 | .226 | 1 | 17 | .056 |
| 11 | 2009-10 | Big East | 8 | 23 | .258 | 1 | 17 | .056 |
| 12 | 2008-09 | Big East | 9 | 24 | .273 | 0 | 18 | .000 |
| 13 | 2007-08 | Big East | 11 | 19 | .367 | 6 | 12 | .333 |
| 14 | 2006-07 | Big East | 20 | 14 | .588 | 9 | 7 | .563 |
| 15 | 2005-06 | Big East | 12 | 15 | .444 | 5 | 11 | .313 |
Congrats DePaul, you have managed to suck for nearly a decade and half. That’s actually kind of impressive. The last time DePaul was any good, I was doing my multiplication tables.
DePaul’s last season (2019) is inflated because they participated in the CBI, a third-tier postseason tournament. As a postseason tournament, the quality of the CBI is well below the NIT and just ever so slightly above the 10U church league final. Plus, you have to pay to take part in the CBI. Paying to say you got into the “postseason” is like paying to have a friend. Because DePaul participated in the CBI, they managed to gain a few wins because they played against teams like Central Michigan and Longwood. Without counting the CBI, DePaul’s overall record would stand at .500, short of a winning season.
Participating in postseason play, even if it is the CBI, would get some fan excitement at least, right? Nope. Out of the five home games DePaul had for the CBI, the most fans that came to a game was 1,876 fans for the final. More people would turn out to watch a couple of fifth graders play dodgeball. At the very least, the level of competition would be higher.
This is another one of DePaul’s major issues. Nobody likes them.
In an effort to boost attendance, DePaul worked with the Illinois state government to build a new basketball arena, with DePaul contributing $82.5 million. Economic projections from the developers said that DePaul would average 9,000 people per game in this new arena, nearly filling the 10,000 seat arena to capacity.
Did that happen? Ha. No, no it did not.
Let’s run down what happened with the arena.
Attendance did not reach the projections of 9,000 per game. The 2019 season, DePaul’s most successful in a while, had an average attendance of 3,806 people per game. The arena is 30 minutes away from campus. DePaul’s athletic director sold the naming rights of the arena to a bank of which her sister-in-law is an executive, without revealing her conflict of interest. I respect the hustle. The 21st century version of “I have a bridge to sell you” is “I have an arena and naming rights to sell you!”
The Big East has its marquee schools, like Villanova, with a storied basketball tradition and sold out arenas. Then there’s DePaul. It is neither storied, nor do the arenas sell out. The only stories about DePaul basketball probably come from some old guy who’s gnawing a Charleston Chew talking about how DePaul used to be good “back in my day” when they had peach baskets for hoops.
DePaul is making an effort to improve their play on the court, however. It might mean that the coaches are trying to drop a bag or two, but so be it. NCAA be damned, it’s about time that DePaul’s three fans saw some watchable basketball!
Rick Pitino (heck of a source, I know) alleged in a text message that DePaul was trying to pay recruit Brian Bowen $200,000 to play for the Blue Demons.
He wrote “DePaul was trying to pay Bowen 200k to come there. Crazy world!” When Rick Pitino is laughing at your alleged attempts to pay recruits, that’s when you know you’ve hit rock bottom.
More seriously, the father of Brian Bowen testified in court that DePaul assistants Tim Anderson and Shane Heirman paid Bowen thousands of dollars to attend a certain high school.
In addition, DePaul’s head coach Dave Leitao was suspended for several games earlier this season, and a former associate head coach was given a three year “show cause” order for a recruiting violation that consisted of having the assistant director of basketball operations live with a recruit to make sure they did their schoolwork. Even when DePaul tries to cheat the system, they stink at it.
You’d think that surely after all this money dumped into the program in the form of a new stadium (and possibly to recruits) and a decades-long rebuilding process, DePaul would have something to show for it. Yet they don’t. Their team stinks, their coach stinks, and the program stinks.
I hate going to the DePaul home game. The atmosphere is dead and it takes away a scheduling spot that could perhaps be used for students to see actual basketball being played. Last year, we had to watch the Hoyas take on Seton Hall over our TVs, while lovely DePaul was the last regular season game that many of the seniors got to see in person. Imagine your last game as a student is against DePaul. What a total buzzkill. Now imagine how many students across the eight other non-DePaul schools feel about having two games against DePaul on the schedule. These lucky people will get to watch “transcendent” talents like… uh… Paul Reed? Or perhaps Dave Leitao’s ability to completely eff up any sort of lead? .
In other sports, DePaul stinks too.
The only good sport that DePaul has is women’s basketball, and even then with the soon-to-be addition of UConn’s women’s basketball program, the loss of DePaul’s women’s basketball team would more than be made up by Geno Auriemma’s squad.
We have an actual athletic department in UConn joining the Big East next year, so the timing is perfect to kick out this circus. Actually, it’s not even a circus, because I at least have fun watching Ringling Brothers.
The sole argument DePaul has in its favor is that it’s in a major television market (Chicago) that isn’t covered otherwise. That’s great, but first, you have to get people to tune in to watch DePaul sports. That’s a tall task, unless you enjoy hating sports.
A league like the Missouri Valley Conference might be more DePaul’s style. For now, please relieve us of our long national nightmare and mercifully take DePaul (and the Big East) out of this misery. I can’t watch that wretched team drag down the conference any longer.