DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball

DePaul Blue Demons
DePaul Blue Demons
	2015–16 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team
University	DePaul University
Head coach	Dave Leitao (4th season)
Conference	Big East Conference
Arena	Allstate Arena ; (capacity: 17,500)
Nickname	Blue Demons
Colors	Royal blue and Scarlet;
Uniforms
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1943, 1979
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1943, 1978, 1979
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1953, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987
NCAA tournament appearances
	1943, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2004; *vacated by NCAA
Conference regular season champions
	1992, 2004

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. Ray Meyer coached at DePaul for over 40 years, from 1942 to 1984. After going to the Final Four of the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Meyer's team was the No. 1 seed in its regional three years in a row in 1980, 1981 and 1982. Success continued with multiple NCAA appearances under his 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. The Blue Demons advanced to the final 32 of the 2004 NCAA tournament before being eliminated by eventual national champion Connecticut. DePaul left for the Big East Conference for the 2005–2006 season, and joined the "new" Big East in 2013.^[1]

The most recent men's basketball coach was Oliver Purnell, with Dave Leitao returning for the 2015-16 season in his second tenure as the Demons' coach. The coach prior to Purnell 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. In the 2006–2007 season, the Blue Demons beat powerhouse #5 Kansas 64-57, 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 52-51.

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. DePaul, however, has not had a winning record in any season since 2006-07.

Seasons

Statistics overview
Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Independent (1923–1991)
1923–24	Robert L. Stevenson	8–6
1924–25	Harry Adams	6–13
1925–26	Eddie Anderson	11–5
1926–27	Eddie Anderson	7–7
1927–28	Eddie Anderson	2–7
1928–29	Eddie Anderson	5–4
1929–30	Jim Kelly	15–5
1930–31	Jim Kelly	13–3
1931–32	Jim Kelly	9–6
1932–33	Jim Kelly	12–3
1933–34	Jim Kelly	17–0
1934–35	Jim Kelly	15–1
1935–36	Jim Kelly	18–4
1936–37	Tom Haggerty	15–6
1937–38	Tom Haggerty	12–10
1938–39	Tom Haggerty	15–7
1939–40	Tom Haggerty	22–6			NIT Semifinals
1940–41	Bill Wendt	13–8
1941–42	Bill Wendt	10–12
1942–43	Ray Meyer	19–5			NCAA Final Four
1943–44	Ray Meyer	22–4			NIT Runner Up
1944–45	Ray Meyer	21–3			NIT Champions
1945–46	Ray Meyer	19–5
1946–47	Ray Meyer	16–9
1947–48	Ray Meyer	22–8			NIT Semifinals
1948–49	Ray Meyer	16–9
1949–50	Ray Meyer	12–13
1950–51	Ray Meyer	13–12
1951–52	Ray Meyer	19–8
1952–53	Ray Meyer	19–9			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1953–54	Ray Meyer	11–10
1954–55	Ray Meyer	16–6
1955–56	Ray Meyer	16–8			NCAA First Round
1956–57	Ray Meyer	8–14
1957–58	Ray Meyer	8–12
1958–59	Ray Meyer	13–11			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1959–60	Ray Meyer	17–7			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1960–61	Ray Meyer	17–8			NIT Quarterfinals
1961–62	Ray Meyer	13–10
1962–63	Ray Meyer	15–8			NIT Quarterfinals
1963–64	Ray Meyer	21–4			NIT Quarterfinals
1964–65	Ray Meyer	17–10			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1965–66	Ray Meyer	18–8			NIT First Round
1966–67	Ray Meyer	17–8
1967–68	Ray Meyer	13–12
1968–69	Ray Meyer	14–11
1969–70	Ray Meyer	12–13
1970–71	Ray Meyer	8–17
1971–72	Ray Meyer	12–11
1972–73	Ray Meyer	14–11
1973–74	Ray Meyer	16–9
1974–75	Ray Meyer	15–10
1975–76	Ray Meyer	20–9			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1976–77	Ray Meyer	15–12
1977–78	Ray Meyer	27–3			NCAA Elite Eight
1978–79	Ray Meyer	26–6			NCAA Final Four
1979–80	Ray Meyer	26–2			NCAA Second Round
1980–81	Ray Meyer	27–2			NCAA Second Round
1981–82	Ray Meyer	26–2			NCAA Second Round
1982–83	Ray Meyer	21–12			NIT Runner Up
1983–84	Ray Meyer	27–3			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1984–85	Joey Meyer	19–10			NCAA First Round
1985–86	Joey Meyer	18–13			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1986–87	Joey Meyer	28–3			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1987–88	Joey Meyer	22–8			NCAA Second Round
1988–89	Joey Meyer	21–12			NCAA Second Round
1989–90	Joey Meyer	20–15			NIT Quarterfinals
1990–91	Joey Meyer	20–9			NCAA First Round
Great Midwest Conference (1991–1995)
1991–92	Joey Meyer	20–9	8-2	1st	NCAA First Round
1992–93	Joey Meyer	16–15	3-7	5th
1993–94	Joey Meyer	16–12	4-8	5th	NIT First Round
1994–95	Joey Meyer	17–11	6-6	5th	NIT First Round
Conference USA (1995–2005)
1995–96	Joey Meyer	11–18	2-12	4th (Blue)
1996–97	Joey Meyer	3–23	1-13	4th (Blue)
1997–98	Pat Kennedy	7–23	3-13	6th (American)
1998–99	Pat Kennedy	18–13	10-6	4th (American)	NIT Second Round
1999–00	Pat Kennedy	21–12	9-7	3rd (American)	NCAA First Round
2000–01	Pat Kennedy	12–18	4-12	6th (American)
2001–02	Pat Kennedy	9–19	2-14	7th (American)
2002–03	Dave Leitao	16–13	8-8	T-6th	NIT First Round
2003–04	Dave Leitao	22–10	12-4	1st	NCAA Second Round
2004–05	Dave Leitao	20–11	10-6	T-4th	NIT Second Round
Big East Conference (2005–2013)
2005–06	Jerry Wainwright	12–15	5-11	13th
2006–07	Jerry Wainwright	20–14	9-7	8th	NIT Quarterfinals
2007–08	Jerry Wainwright	11–19	6-12	13th
2008–09	Jerry Wainwright	9–24	0-18	16th
2009–10	Jerry Wainwright Tracy Webster	8–23	1-17	16th
2010–11	Oliver Purnell	7–24	1-17	16th
2011–12	Oliver Purnell	12–19	3-15	16th
2012–13	Oliver Purnell	11–21	2-16	15th
Big East Conference (2013–present)
2013–14	Oliver Purnell	12–21	3-15	10th
2014–15	Oliver Purnell	12–20	6-12	T-7th
2015–16	Dave Leitao	0–0	0-0
Total:		1,419–942
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

^[2]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Blue Demons have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 22 times. Their combined record is 21–25. Their appearances in the tournament from 1986–1989 have been vacated by the NCAA thus their official record is 15–21.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1943		Elite Eight Final Four	Dartmouth Georgetown	W 46–35 L 49–53
1953		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Miami(OH) Indiana Pennsylvania	W 74–72 L 82–80 L 90-70
1956		First Round	Wayne State	L 63–72
1959		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Portland Kansas State TCU	W 57–56 L 70–102 L 65–71
1960		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Air Force Cincinnati Texas	W 69–63 L 59–99 W 67–61
1965		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Eastern Kentucky Vanderbilt Dayton	W 99–52 L 78–83 ^OT L 69–75
1976		First Round Sweet Sixteen	Virginia VMI	W 69–60 L 66–71 ^OT
1978		First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Creighton Louisville Notre Dame	W 80–76 W 90–89 ^OT L 64–84
1979	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game	#7 USC #3 Marquette #1 UCLA #1 Indiana State #9 Penn	W 89–78 W 62–56 W 95–91 L 74–76 W 96–93
1980	#1	Second Round	#8 UCLA	L 71–77
1981	#1	Second Round	#9 Saint Joseph's	L 48–49
1982	#1	Second Round	#8 Boston College	L 75–82
1984	#1	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#8 Illinois State #4 Wake Forest	W 75–61 L 71–73 ^OT
1985	#10	First Round	#7 Syracuse	L 65–70
1986*	#12	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#5 Virginia #4 Oklahoma #1 Duke	W 72–68 W 74–69 L 67–74
1987*	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Louisiana Tech #6 St. John's #10 LSU	W 76–62 W 83–75 ^OT L 58–63
1988*	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Wichita State #4 Kansas State	W 83–62 L 58–66
1989*	#12	First Round Second Round	#5 Memphis State #4 UNLV	W 66–63 L 70–85
1991	#9	First Round	#8 Georgia Tech	L 70–87
1992	#5	First Round	#12 New Mexico State	L 73–81
2000	#9	First Round	#8 Kansas	L 77–81 ^OT
2004	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Dayton #2 Connecticut	W 76–69 ^OT L 55–72

* Vacated by the NCAA

NIT results

The Blue Demons have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 16 times. Their combined record is 17–17. They were NIT Champions in 1945.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1940	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Long Island Colorado Oklahoma A&M	W 45–38 L 37–52 L 22–23
1944	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Muhlenberg Oklahoma A&M St. John's	W 68–45 W 41–38 L 39–47
1945	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	West Virginia Rhode Island Bowling Green	W 76–52 W 97–53 W 71–54
1948	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	NC State NYU WKU	W 75–64 L 59–72 L 59–61
1961	Quarterfinals	Providence	L 67–73
1963	Quarterfinals	Villanova	L 51–63
1964	Quarterfinals	NYU	L 66–79
1966	First Round	NYU	L 65–68
1983	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Minnesota Northwestern Ole Miss Nebraska Fresno State	W 76–73 W 65–63 W 75–67 W 68–58 L 60–69
1990	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Creighton Cincinnati Saint Louis	W 89–72 W 61–59 L 47–54
1994	First Round	Northwestern	L 68–69
1995	First Round	Iowa	L 87–96
1999	First Round Second Round	Northwestern California	W 69–64 L 57–58
2003	First Round	North Carolina	L 72–83
2005	First Round Second Round	Missouri Texas A&M	W 75–70 L 72–75
2007	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Hofstra Kansas State Air Force	W 83–71 W 70–65 L 51–52

Honors

Retired jerseys

24 – Mark Aguirre
99 – George Mikan

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 (1978, 1979, 1980, 1984)
Joey Meyer (1987)

^[3]

Professional players

The following former DePaul Blue Demons have played in the NBA or original ABA:^[4]

References

^ "DePaul Men's Basketball History". Retrieved 2009-03-03.
^ DePaul men's basketball year-by-year results. Retrieved 2013-Oct-01.
^ DePaul Basketball Record Book: All-Time Honors| accessdate=2009-03-03
^ NBA & ABA Players Who Attended DePaul University

External links

Official Site of DePaul Blue Demons Basketball

[1] "DePaul Men's Basketball History". Retrieved 2009-03-03.

[2] DePaul men's basketball year-by-year results. Retrieved 2013-Oct-01.

[3] DePaul Basketball Record Book: All-Time Honors| accessdate=2009-03-03

[4] NBA & ABA Players Who Attended DePaul University

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
Venues	University Auditorium (1923–1956) Alumni Hall (1956–1980) Allstate Arena (1980–2017) Wintrust Arena (2017–present) McGrath-Phillips Arena (practice/alternate 2000–2017)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e DePaul University
Academics	College of Computing and Digital Media College of Law Kellstadt Graduate School of Business The Theatre School
Athletics	Sports: DePaul Blue Demons Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's soccer Big East Conference Venues: McGrath-Phillips Arena Wintrust Arena
Campus	Merle Reskin Theatre
Student life	The DePaulia
History	Allstate Arena Alumni Hall Barat College Congregation of the Mission McCormick Theological Seminary University Auditorium Vincent de Paul
People	Alumni Dennis H. Holtschneider

v t e Big East Conference men's basketball
Teams	Butler Bulldogs Creighton Bluejays DePaul Blue Demons Georgetown Hoyas Marquette Golden Eagles Providence Friars St. John's Red Storm Seton Hall Pirates UConn Huskies Villanova Wildcats Xavier Musketeers
Championships & awards	Tournament Regular season champions Coach of the Year Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Most Improved Player Freshman of the Year All-Big East
Conference challenges	Big East–Big 12 Battle (2019–2024) Gavitt Tipoff Games (2015–2023) SEC–Big East Challenge (2007–2012)
Seasons	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25