BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: DEPAUL

September 23, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Mike Stovall, 6'5 G/F from Mineral Area College

DePaul Lands Mike Stovall of Mineral Area College (Chicago Hoops) as the JUCO guard, formerly of Chicago's Marshall High School, verbally commits to Jerry Wainwright and staff.


Projected 2009-2010 Roster:

Seniors: Will Walker (PG)
Juniors: Darquavis Tucker (SG), Mac Koshwal (PF), Mario Stula (G/F), Mike Stovall (G/F)
Sophomores: Mike Bizoukas (PG), Eric Wallace (F), Jeremiah Kelly (PG), Devin Hill (F), Krys Faber (C), Kene Obi (C)
Freshmen: No Commitments at this date


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DePaul lands their first commitment from the class of 2009 and they make some inroads locally as JUCO standout Mike Stovall is coming back home to finish his college career at DePaul. The 6-foot-5 Stovall originally signed with Oregon State after a high school career at Chicago's Marshall High School.

At Oregon State Stovall played in just seven games last season, scoring six points in 38 total minutes of action. Stovall left the school after one semester as he never felt comfortable that far from home and enrolled at Mineral Area College in a program that usually has several players from the Chicago area. Stovall will compete this season at Mineral Area and then move on to DePaul with two years of eligibility left.

Stovall is an athletic and versatile guard who can shoot it from deep. As a senior he averaged around 20 points and 8 rebounds for the Commandos of Marshall and coach Lamont Bryant.


Another new face on the floor for 2009-2010 at DePaul will be Ohio State transfer Eric Wallace. Wallace visited DePaul last spring and cancelled a visit to LSU last weekend, when he decided that he would make the Blue Demons his future team. After sitting out the 2008-2009 season with DePaul, Wallace will have three years of eligibility remaining, beginning in the 2009-2010 season.

Wallace played just 72 minutes last season in 15 games with the Buckeyes averaging 1.8 PPG. Wallace is a 6’7 forward, originally from North Carolina, who spent an extra prep season at Hargrave Military Academy before signing with Ohio State.

We are still trying to pinpoint exactly where the recruiting priorities for DePaul are in the class of 2009. Currently, two scholarships are open and one target getting a lot of attention is Brewster Academy swingman Givon Crump. Jerry Wainwright has made the trip to Brewster for an in-house visit and Crump will be making an official visit to the DePaul campus in the near future. Crump is an excellent three-point shooter and if your in to March Madness Betting that skill will interest you, the question with Jerry Wainwright remains, however, will he bring in enough horses around players like Crump or the current stars Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal to make it into March Madness at DePaul.

Guards Darius Smith, of Marshall in Chicago and John Taylor of North Lawndale Prep also seem to be on the DePaul radar. As the fall recruiting period continues on, we will try and find more recruiting targets of the Blue Demons.

Other resources for DePaul and midwest recruiting news include ChicagoHoops.com, IllinoisHSbasketball.com and Illinois Prep Bulls-eye who all do a great job covering Midwest recruiting and updates often with news from DePaul on the recruiting trail.

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 15) DEPAUL

September 21, 2008

For the second time in his three years as the head coach of DePaul, Jerry Wainwright failed to lead the Blue Demons into the Big East Tournament. The once proud and powerful DePaul program, which utilized the deep talent pool of the local Chicago-land area, seems to be a shadow of its former self and this upcoming season looks like another challenging year for the Blue Demon faithful.

The 2007-2008 Big East conference schedule started out with some hope, as DePaul won four of its first six contests against Big East teams. However, the team that lost on their home floor in the out of conference schedule to North Carolina A&T and University of Illinois-Chicago returned and the Blue Demons slumped down the home stretch losing 10 of their last 12 games.

Read More of our DePaul 2008-2009 preview...Click Below!


Comings:

New faces on the DePaul roster for 2008-2009 will include point guard Jeremiah Kelly, who played last season at American Christian Academy, Krys Faber, a 6-foot-11 center from the academically challenging Ribet Academy in Los Angeles and New York City native Devin Hill, a 6-foot-8 forward, who attended St. Luke’s School in New England last season. Also available for action this season are three recruits who did not see the floor last year in 6-foot-7 Mario Stula, point guard Mike Bizoukas (limited time before taking a medical redshirt) and 7-foot-2 big man Kene Obi.

Goings:

Graduation took a bit of a toll on DePaul as last year’s leading scorer Draelon Burns moves on as well as Wes Green, Karron Clarke and Cliff Clinkscales. Burns averaged nearly 18 points a game last season, but the other three never were able to live up to the promise they displayed at times in their careers for various reasons.

Net Impact:

While none of the new faces will be impact players, Kelly could play a larger role as the point guard play of the Blue Demons has been VERY inconsistent in Wainwright’s three years as the head coach. Every class brings in a new candidate to run the point for his club, but it always ends up being point guard by committee. Faber’s size is needed, but he and Hill need to add strength before going to battle in this conference. Bizoukas, Stula and Obi benefit from being around the program for a year, but the biggest asset these players provide is depth, which is a plus, but the team needs more impact players if they are going to move up in the standings.


2008-2009 Backcourt Outlook:

In college basketball, guard play dominates the action. Everywhere you look, highly talented guards are leading their teams to thrilling victories and into the NCAA Tournament. When I look over this DePaul roster, I just can not get excited about their perimeter prospects once again this season which will again stack the college basketball odds against them.


The most important position on the floor to have stability is the least-stable position for the Blue Demons, point guard. This year look for senior Jabari Currie to handle the position for the most part with redshirt freshman Mike Bizoukas and incoming freshman Jeremiah Kelly battling for their share of minutes. There is something about the combination of Bizoukas and Kelly I find intriguing as a point guard tandem, but their inexperience will be a detriment this season in the rough and tumble Big East.

Will Walker looks to be ready to step into the shooting guard spot vacated by last year’s leading scorer Draelon Burns. Walker has been selected as a 2008-2009 Potential Break Out Player in the Big East. Walker connected at a very good clip from the field last season (46% overall and 44% from the arc), so with the increase in scoring attempts, look for him to put up good numbers offensively this year.

One of the more electric athletes in the Big East resides at DePaul in the form of Dar Tucker, a 6-foot-4 guard out of Saginaw (MI). Tucker proved to be among the top frosh in the conference last season scoring at a clip of over 13.5 points a game in the conference and overall on the season. Tucker’s game is more athletic than skill to this point as he can attack the basket with anyone in this league and also battle on the boards better than nearly any guard in the conference. Improving his consistency on his three-point shot and trusting his mid-range game could elevate him game towards elite status in the conference, but until then, he remains a top level athlete needing to refine his basketball skill set.

Mario Stula adds depth on the wing for DePaul and provides a very much needed commodity as the 6-foot-7 wing can really shoot the basketball. Being stronger and more aggressive in working to get open is his areas of improvement. If you can’t get open to shoot, it really does not matter how good of a shooter you are.


2008-2009 Frontcourt Outlook:

Along with Dar Tucker, Mac Koshwal was another of the top freshmen performers in the Big East. Koshwal put up some impressive performances, including a 23-point, 10-rebound effort against Notre Dame as well as an 18-point, 9-rebound stat line in an earlier game against ND. He also had a 19-pt, 12-rebound effort at Marquette and accumulated 14 points and 13 rebounds against Georgetown. All in all, the well-built 6-foot-10, 250 lb PF/C had five double-doubles in a rookie campaign that averaged nearly 11 points and just over 8 rebounds a game. The biggest factor holding Koshwal back was the ability of his own guards to deliver him the ball in position to score. Hopefully, this season, they will be better at incorporating big Mac into their attack consistently.

The rest of the DePaul frontcourt is a mystery. Matija Poscic was expected to provide a boost last season, but the JUCO transfer struggled with injuries early and the increased level of competition once he hit the floor.

With Poscic and Koshwal the only returning players with any experience in the frontcourt, expect DePaul to struggle again with the talented and powerful big men of the Big East. Foul trouble will cripple this team and force them to go with players such as Kene Obi, Devin Hill and Krys Faber who are not physically ready for long minutes in the Big East. Faber was a nice recruiting victory for DePaul in the late signing period and should add quality depth as a freshman, the only problem is that DePaul might need him for more. Obi is a project that is worth undertaking because he is 7-foot-2. Reportedly, he has made tremendous progress, but in this day and age of college basketball, you better be ready to move your feet and that is the area he needed improvement the most. The final piece is Hill, the 6-foot-8 forward is painfully thin and is more suited for the wing, so him battling in the paint this year might be a losing proposition.

2008-2009 Team Outlook:

DePaul will be led by the intriguing trio of Mac Koshwal, Dar Tucker and Will Walker. The problem is, who outside of that trio is capable of performing consistently at a level needed to be successful in the Big East? Far too many question marks to expect anything much more from DePaul this season and the teams immediately slotted ahead of them in our previews have more upside for the coming season. They can definitely move up a notch or two with a couple more wins, but I just can not for see them busting out in almost any scenario to challenge for .500 in almost any circumstance. I can make a case for most of the other teams and that lands them in this position in our season preview.


2008-2009 Big East Prediction: 4-14

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JERRY WAINWRIGHT VISITS BREWSTER ACADEMY

September 15, 2008

Last week was the days of the current contact period where college basketball coaches were allowed to make in-home visits and observe prospects working out at their current schools. DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright took advantage of that time and visited Brewster Academy, the defending NEPSAC Class A champions, in Wolfeboro, Maine.

The main attraction for the DePaul head coach was 6-foot-6 small forward Givon Crump.

"Givon did visit Oregon State this past weekend," Brewster head coach Jason Smith informed the NBE Basketball Report. "He had school visits last week with Oregon State, DePaul, South Florida, Rutgers, and Baylor."

It has been reported that Crump will take an official visit to see the DePaul campus this upcoming weekend. While there to see Crump, a current Brewster class of 2010 prospect has also caught the eye of the Blue Demon staff.

"Melvin Ejim, a 6-foot-6 wing, has drawn interest from Providence, Boston College, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, and Virginia," coach Smith says.

Hopefully some good news will be on the horizon for DePaul and their fans on the recruiting trail. It would give their faithful something else to look forward to other than checking the NFL Odds on the Bears or worrying if their beloved Cubs will come up short once again on the diamond.

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