The last time we published a DePaul basketball story was October. That’s not an accident; we have many reasons for ignoring DPU Hoops.
1.) If you don’t have anything nice to say…..
2.) DePaul basketball material is usually page views death, and The Sports Bank is a results-oriented, bottom line driven business.
3.) The Oliver Purnell “resignation”/ DePaul basketball head coaching search/Dave Leitao hire was an underwhelming story to begin with, and I was out of the country on vacation when it all went down.
Finding good coverage of DePaul basketball is difficult these days. It’s even a chore trying to locate any legitimate, unbiased coverage of DPU hoops.
Trying to find people interested in discussing DePaul basketball is equally challenging in 2015. So when Maximus and The Bartender invited me on to talk about the recent Dave Leitao hire, as well as the past, present and future of DePaul basketball, I jumped at the chance.
Perhaps some of what I said on the show could have been over-the-line.
Maybe a couple of my jokes were more “studio gangster” than “professional.” You can listen below and decide for yourself.
The Blue Demons segment begins around the 16: 30 mark
However, there are some basic, awful truths that the entire DePaul basketball community likely realizes about the program.
I’ve articulated that below and I stand behind it:
-Attending a DePaul basketball home game is a soul-crushing experience. You have to either
a.) fight miserable O’Hare traffic or
b.) deal with an unreliable, and unnecessarily lengthy CTA journey to sit in an arena with 2,000 fans on a GOOD day.
Last year, more people attended an Ohio State football spring practice in which where the Buckeyes played themselves than the ENTIRE home schedule of DePaul basketball combined.
-More than likely, you attend DePaul games just to see the opponents, and if they’re any good, they’ll likely crush DePaul by 30 points that night.
-Their new arena is nowhere near DePaul’s main campus, and they keep delaying the start of the project, making us wonder what the whole point of the new arena is…unless it’s truly meant to serve as the entertainment venue for the prospective McCormick Place casino Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel supposedly has his sights set on.
(At least that’s the talk among Rahm’s opponents in the local political scene)
-DePaul is a private school, and as such they can be more secretive and reluctant about releasing information than a publicly funded state school. We’ve seen DPU act this way when it comes to releasing news over the years. (Especially so regarding the dismissal of Cleveland Melvin from the program) However, there’s a fine line between keeping your info close to the vest (which it’s in their best interests to do) and insulting the intelligence of your local media. You can do damage control without obviously lying to reporters at the same time.
-The press releases regarding the Leitao hire, the Purnell “resignation,” and the Melvin dismissal were filled with phrases that were essentially unintentional dark comedy.
Here are the words from CBS Chicago’s Chris Emma, a writer who isn’t exactly known for writing overly-critical, take-down pieces:
Lenti Ponsetto reiterated that Leitao was her top candidate during the entire search, which would appear to be a lie, given Leitao confirmed he was contacted a week after Oliver Purnell’s dismissal. Did Ponsetto really take seven days to establish contact with her top candidate?
A better fit would’ve been Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew or Buffalo’s Bobby Hurley, two candidates who interviewed but backed away from the interest, multiple sources said.
After that, Lenti Ponsetto and her hired search firm — the one which was paid to rehire the school’s former coach — would’ve been wise to target then-Wisconsin Green Bay coach Brian Wardle (who was hired to Bradley last week), Kentucky assistant/ace recruiter Kenny Payne or any of the dozens of better-suited candidates that could breathe new life into DePaul’s dormant program.
Much better fits were available for DePaul. Leitao doesn’t have the recent success to justify a hiring now — it’s why he hasn’t been targeted in any job opening since his Virginia firing. His 143-129 overall record isn’t inspiring, either. Lenti Ponsetto could’ve and should’ve picked a coach who brings a new energy and fresh start for DePaul’s problematic program.
Instead, DePaul has a coach that will start with an approval rating that would make George W. Bush blush.
-Everything Craig Williams (@bartenderradio) said about the first Leitao regime, his departure from Lincoln Park in the middle of the night, all the terribly wrong decisions A.D. Ponsetto has made over the years, how the new hire just seems like path of least resistance to someone they had on speed dial already…all that is pretty much true.
It doesn’t feel good to describe DePaul basketball in this manner, but let’s call a spade a spade. In the 1980s, the hot winter sports team in Chicago wasn’t the Blackhawks or the Bulls, it was the Blue Demons.
That’s their legacy; and hence the media should not give them kid gloves treatment. Yes, it feels like a generation ago since DePaul basketball was relevant, but that doesn’t mean Chicago media needs to go soft on them.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. You can read Banks’ feature stories and op-eds in the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper and hear his regular guest spots on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)