DePaul Review

[OmahaGuy]

I'm back!! It's that time of the year again. Every time a team of ours ends their season. We'll take a look at what happened this season and give them an early look at next season.

OUT
*Tre'Darius McCallum
*Marin Maric

STAY
*Eli Cain
*Max Strus
*Devin Gage
*Austin Grandstaff
*Jaylen Butz
*Paul Reed

IN
*Jalen Coleman-Lands (Transfer from Illinois)
*John Diener
*George Maslennikov

THOUGHTS
Welp, just more DePaul being themselves. To their credit, they did give many good teams a game such as Creighton and Xavier but it's still another losing season for them. I hoped that Dave Leitao would right the ship the last couple of years but I guess he just isn't it. He's officially entered the hot seat zone. If he doesn't get it together and show even a little improvement, he'll be out of a job. As far as players go, I liked what I saw out of Maric and DePaul will miss him. Strus was pretty good too as well as Cain and Reed showed some flashes of hope as well.

They could prove me wrong but I'm not convinced these incoming DePaul players are any good except maybe for JCL who averaged 8 points at Illinois. I hate saying it because I want to see DePaul relevant and it'd be huge for our conference to have a good team in Chicago but even if DL were to be fired, I have no faith in their pathetic AD. She's the reason why DePaul has been so bad for so long. #FireJLP

[BEhomer]

they also get pg Flynn Cameron who I think played for NewZealand national team.

[stever20]

1 thing about DePaul about the progress this year.... Right now in KP, they're ranked #99. If they finish better than 114, they would have had their best season since 2007. They've had their best defensive team by rating ever in the KP era. If they can make improvement offensively next year, they're going to be a threat to go NIT at least.

[kayako]

Just looking at the numbers, it looks like Eli Cain had a horrendous season. What's going on with him?

[Demon22]

My view...

Out:

Marin Maric - Best center DePaul has had in probably a decade. They don't have anyone who can replace him offensively.

TreDarius McCallum - They'll miss his athleticism, and the fact that he could occassionally have a big scoring night. But as the season went along, he started to lose playing time to Paul Reed.

Joe Hanel and Peter Ryckbosch - Clearly not the most talented players in the league, but they both had roles to play. Hanel especially was a pretty decent post defender. At the moment, DePaul is looking very thin in the frontcourt next year.


Returning:

Max Strus - Thought he had a good, not great season. At times he looked like a big-time player, other times he tended to force bad shots and made some poor decisions with the basketball. Not sure there's much growth left in his game until his decision-making improves.

Eli Cain - Weird season for Eli. Spent much of the year not being able to throw the ball in the ocean from the dock. Was forced to do a lot of ball-handling/creating once Devin Gage went down with an injury, and he honestly didn't respond well. I think the added responsibility wore on him both mentally and physically. Somehow, he forced even more bad shots than Strus. He shouldn't have to do as much ball-handling next season, and the hope is he reverts back to something close to the form of his freshman season.

Brandon Cyrus - Showed modest improvement from his freshman year. Like a lot of DePaul players, he had some games where he flashed potential (Xavier, Georgetown, @Villanova), but was pretty inconsistent all year long. Needs to show the same kind of improvement next year that he showed this year.

Devin Gage - I thought they really missed him when he went down after eight games. Would have taken a ton of pressure of Cain, and Gage is the kind of tough, fearless, energetic kid that coaches love. If he had been healthy, there's no way DePaul's record in close games would have been as bad as it was.

Justin Roberts - When Roberts was playing well, DePaul typically played well. Another player who would show flashes of talent (@Illinois, @Xavier, @Seton Hall), but the coaching staff seemed reluctant to hand him the reigns due to mental errors and general inconsistency. The hope is a lot of that starts to go away with experience.

Paul Reed - Only one of the freshmen who earned more playing time as the season went along. Long, athletic, and skilled, but almost looks malnourished. Played well against Georgetown, Creighton, and Butler. Leitao needs to lock Reed in the weight room this summer and lose the key.

Jaylen Butz - Probably the starting center next year by default. Not nearly as good offensively as Maric, but a good defender, rebounder, and shot blocker. Thought he showed some real potential before he started getting hurt, then didn't look himself once he came back.

Austin Grandstaff - Oof. Lots of hype - we were told he was a terrific shooter. He wasn't. And on top of not being a good shooter, he did literally nothing else well. Honestly don't remember one time where he looked like a Big East caliber player. Wouldn't surprise me if he moved on after the season.


In:

Jalen Coleman-Lands - Transfer from Illinois. Averaged about nine points/game over his first two seasons as a SG. Should be an asset as a perimeter shooter.

Flynn Cameron - PG from New Zealand enrolled in January and was eligible right away, but the staff chose not to use up a year of his eligibility... which is not a good sign considering how desperately DePaul needed ball-handlers. Still, there are "experts" who have seen him play who like him.

John Diener - SG from Wisconsin. Prolific High School shooter and scorer. Set the Wisconsin State Tournament record for points in a game in the State Semifinals last year and went shot-for-shot with Wisconsin's Kobe King in the Finals last year. Has a sweet-looking jump shot and looks like he's got a real feel for the game, but he also doesn't look terribly athletic, and you wonder if he'll be able to get good looks against D1 athletes.

George Maslennikov - Stretch 4 from Ukraine via High School in Georgia. Kind of this year's version of Paul Reed in that he wasn't recruited heavily, but he's got length and skill. Looks like he's a pretty tough kid, but like Reed, he'll need to pack on weight.


DePaul's got one scholarship left. They're a finalist with Washington for Top 100 center Bryan Penn-Johnson, but I'm not sure many DePaul fans are holding our breath. They need at least one big, if not two. Penn-Johnson's not exactly known for his scoring, so, I'm sure they'd like to find someone else who can be their version of Maric for next season.

If Leitao goes, my guess is Diener never steps foot on campus. Pretty good chance Grandstaff moves on, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cameron moves on as well if Shane Heirmann doesn't stay.

[novahoops11]

Status of this guy?

[HoosierPal]

Can we talk relegation?

[Demon22]

Sophomore guard Brandon Cyrus has decided to transfer rather than return for his Junior season.

Status of this guy?

Legend.

[GoldenWarrior11]

If you believe local experts, Cyrus won't be the last transfer out of DePaul this spring...

[Jet915]

Please JLP and Leitao must go!