Imagine that before your senior year of college, the men’s basketball team has only won 15% (nine of 60) of their conference games in your college career. That’s me. I’m that senior. I started college in 2021 and I graduate this spring. Things have been quite rough, to say the least.
Before the 2024-25 basketball season, the men’s basketball team had a complete rebuild. They got a completely new roster and completely new coaches — only one assistant coach from last year’s team stayed.
So far this season, the men’s basketball team has gone 9-2 in non-conference play. While that is a great record, that record does not matter for some people once conference play starts.
Nine games into the Big East conference, the Blue Demons have gone 1-8.
So, should we be excited? Should we be mad? How should we feel?
On Jan. 14, the men’s team played against AP-ranked No. 10 Marquette, and they lost by two points in overtime. At the time, Marquette had only lost two of their 17 games, so to see DePaul almost beat them was madness.
If you didn’t experience that game, you missed out on a spark coming back into the DePaul men’s team — and some enthusiasm trickling back into the DePaul fanbase.
Ten days before that game, the Blue Demons had suffered a brutal loss against Villanova where they lost by 44 points. To say fans were disappointed is a big understatement.
Holtmann promised that a day would come where the men’s team would have a turnaround. You can see and hear the dedication that Holtmann has to this team, which is refreshing to see.
On Jan. 17, the Blue Demons beat the Georgetown Hoyas 73-68. This was the first time they’d beaten a Big East opponent since Jan. 18, 2023. That was 730 days ago. On that date, I was a sophomore in college.
Now don’t think I forgot about the women’s basketball team. They went 5-8 in non-conference play, but they have gone 6-3 against Big East opponents.
With head coach Doug Bruno away from the team due to health complications, interim head coach Jill Pizzotti has taken the lead and she’s done quite well.
The head coach job is nothing new for her; she was the head coach for the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team from 1995-2005. She has been the associate head coach for DePaul for 11 years, so she has absorbed a lot from Bruno and his coaching.
Something that has been a roadblock for the Blue Demons is injuries. Junior guard Maeve McErlane and freshman guards Alayna West and Ally Timm have been out all season. Sophomore guard Grace Carstensen is a newcomer to the injury bench — she has played 15 games this season and has sat out since Jan. 2.
On the bright side, junior guard Kate Clarke returned for her first game on Jan. 15 against Villanova. She also started in her first game this season against Xavier on Jan. 22.
Watching these two teams go through trials and tribulations has been hard, but seeing them come out of it strong has been great for my anxiety.
Should we be excited? Should we be mad? How should we feel?
We should feel happy that there are coaches who are dedicated to DePaul basketball. Both Holtmann and Pizzotti are fantastic leaders who are doing their best with relatively new teams. It is unfair to set expectations too high for Holtmann and Pizzotti’s first year as head coaches. Nothing completely changes within four and a half months. There needs to be time to grow and time to learn what works and what doesn’t work.
It is halfway through Big East conference play for both teams, and there are plenty more unpredictable games coming up. Even though most games I am reporting and cannot be a fan, deep down I will always bleed Blue Demon blood.
Related Stories:
- DePaul women’s basketball ends skid with win against Xavier
- Creighton ends DePaul’s positive momentum
- DePaul Hall of Famers inducted with Bruno in attendance
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