DEPAUL PRACTICE REPORTS - NEWCOMERS

DePaul University hosted an open practice on Saturday afternoon to provide it's fans with a glimpse of the talent the Blue Demons possess for the upcoming season. What was obvious from the beginning was that this squad has shown improvement in their muscle mass almost across the board and this will hopefully show an improvement in their college basketball odds to reach the postseason. Will Walker has done an outstanding job of improving his frame, and looks to be a different player than he was a mere two years ago. Fans were able to watch brief scrimmages, and see how this team performed in game situations.

Although the offensive sets were simple as this was a first practice, Coach Jerry Wainwright would stop the scrimmages to provide guidance to his squad on proper positioning and spacing and failure to do so was cause for some "down and back" runs.

With the loss of four players from last year's squad due to graduation, DePaul fans were curious to see how the "new guys" looked. In addition to true freshmen Krys Faber, Devin Hill, and Jeremiah Kelly, it was also a chance for many to get their first glimpse of 2007 recruits Kene Obi and Mario Stula.

Faber, a late signee out of Ribet Academy in the Los Angeles area, showed his defensively abilities throughout the practice and scrimmages. His offensive game is still coming along, but his game has a nice smooth feel to it. Post play has been a position of concern for the past few years, and Faber may be a player who can calm some of those concerns and provide a valuable asset at the five, thus allowing Mac Koshwal to play the four, where he is better utilized. Chatter at the practice among fans about Faber was that he looked the part of a Big East center and will strongly compete for playing time at the center position, including the starting role.

Devin Hill came in as perhaps the biggest unknown of the true freshmen and if this practice was any indication, he will not be unknown to DePaul fans for long. Hill is still slender in size, and will likely be a face Bryce Karasiak, Director of Strength and Conditioning, will become quite familiar with. However, at 6'9", he will be a mismatch for many teams, as he actually does his best work playing away from the basket, and could potential see some time at the two. Hill showed unexpected range on his shot.

Jeremiah Kelly is back in Chicago after spending this past year prepping out east at American Christian. Kelly's scouting report was that he was a very good shooter, who needed some work on his defensive ability, as well as some questions concerning his point guard abilities. Kelly looked to answer some of those concerns, as his defensive looked much improved, and he showed a nice ability to run the offense and communicate. Work still needs to be done on both fronts, but his learning curve is much shorter than expected.

Both Kene Obi and Mario Stula were 2007 signees, but were not cleared at the start of the 2007 season by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Obi's status was cleared after about the first month of the season, but Mario Stula situation was reviewed and the 6'7" shooter was declared ineligible for his freshman year, along with the first 7 games of the 2008-09 campaign. The situation is still pending I believe. Even though they have been in the program for over a year, this was many fans first opportunity to see these two.

Obi is a sight to see, as he stands 7'2 and 260 pounds and just looks intimidating at that size. Obi's situation has been well-chronicled, as he was unable to get cleared to play High School ball in Virginia for two years, and saw limited time his senior year at South Kent. He is a work in progress, but he had his moments, including a spin move in the post and powerful dunk that got his teammates up. During the segmented portion of the practice (guards, wings, bigs), Obi was getting some good attention from Coach Jerry Wainwright, Coach Gary DeCesare as well as former NBA and DePaul star, Dave Corzine, the Blue Demons new Director of Basketball Operations. He still has that raw component to his game, but once it all begins to click, he could make some valuable contributions done the line.

Stula reputation coming in was that he had range that has not been seen around the Lincoln Park area since Drake Diener moved on. While he is well above-average with his perimeter shot, the practice did not really provide Stula with an opportunity to show his supposed deep range. However, in three on two work, Stula was able to give fans a look at his abilities and no question about it, he will be a threat from three. Another impressive aspect of Stula's performance was that he was not a one trick pony; Mario showed a few times that he can drive to the hoop when needed. The best way to describe the look of Stula's game is one word; smooth.

Reports on returning Blue Demons will be forthcoming.

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