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Posted: Thursday October 31, 2002 5:33 PM Updated: Thursday October 31, 2002 5:54 PM DePaul Blue Deamons
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
After DePaul and former coach Pat Kennedy parted ways last spring, it took the school a while to find a replacement. The once-proud program had fallen several notches in Conference USA, and prospective coaches weren’t in a rush to jump in and do battle with the likes of Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville, Charlotte and some of the league’s other emerging teams. Some candidates questioned the commitment of DePaul’s administration to the program. After several coaches passed on the job, DePaul was finally able to find a hardy soul willing to try and return the program to respectability. Dave Leitao figured it was time to try the head-coaching thing again, after a two-year stint at Northeastern in the mid-1990s during which he won 18 games his first season and four his second. Sandwiched around that job were two stints on Jim Calhoun’s staff at Connecticut. During his second tour of duty with the Huskies, Leitao was instrumental in recruiting many of the players who helped the Huskies win the 1999 national championship.
Suffice to say Leitao’s time with Calhoun (he also played for Calhoun at Northeastern) was invaluable as he jumps into the competitive Conference USA. "The good thing about coming from UConn was that this is a difficult job in a difficult league, but the same held true at UConn," Leitao said. "It’s been made into a very good job now, but it always wasn’t like that. Being around that situation, learning, going through the trials and tribulations, building, and all the things we had to do to make the thing work was a tremendous experience. There aren’t too many situations that can arise that I haven’t been the middle of before." Leitao, known as a solid recruiter, is in the perfect city to use that particular skill. He’ll try to mine Chicago’s talent, just as Kennedy did. But he plans on being selective, as he learned from Calhoun. "You could very easily build and maintain a program if you take an average of three kids a year [from Chicago]," Leitao said. "But the thing I’m trying to be very careful about, whether they come from Chicago or somewhere else around the world is that they are the right fit. That’s what I learned at UConn. We had great kids that fit. "We’ll recruit Chicago hard, but I think it’s extremely important to maintain my ties nationally that helped get things going at Connecticut. We’ve got a lot of advantages here. The city of Chicago sells itself. And DePaul has always had that name recognition. You can walk in anywhere and be recognized as a school or as a city. We’re presenting a great package." On the court, look for the Blue Demons to take on the look of Calhoun’s Huskies, but perhaps not this season. That means DePaul will adapt UConn’s attacking style, offensively and defensively. "It’s what I know and what I came from," Leitao said. "It’s the fabric of what I’ve learned as a coach. You can always tweak it a little bit, but the foundations, the attacking and forcing pressure and creating turnovers, that stays the same, provided we have the personnel and bodies to execute it right away. We might not have all of that this season." True enough, while Kennedy left behind some size, Leitao might not have an overabundance of the kind of athletes UConn could put on the floor. There are no Rip Hamiltons or Caron Butlers on the roster. That hasn’t dampened Leitao’s enthusiasm one bit. Just as he engineered a quick turnaround in his first year as a head coach at Northeastern, he would like to do the same at DePaul. "We have some glaring holes and lack depth in a lot of positions," Leitao said. "But we have some experience coming back; we’ve got some guys who have done some things in Conference USA. I’d like to try and maximize what we’ve got and not wait two or three years. We want to make some noise this year." There’s one commodity Leitao inherits that he plans to put to good use -- size. In 6-foot-9, 230-pound junior Andre Brown (14.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and 6-9, 245-pound senior Sam Hoskin (10.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg), DePaul can trot out two monsters who have already proven themselves. If Leitao decides to play them together, few teams can match that size, strength and inside scoring ability. A year ago, Brown became the first DePaul player since Stanley Brundy in 1988-89 to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots. He ranked among Conference USA leaders in rebounding (second), scoring (13th) and field goal percentage (14th) and set a C-USA single-game record with 27 rebounds in a game at TCU. The 27 boards were the second-best single-game total in DePaul history. Brown had some big scoring nights, too. He scored a career-high 24 points against Fairfield, and tossed in 21 against East Carolina, Cincinnati and Memphis. He’s tremendously athletic," Leitao said. "He’s got a lot of energy and he’s big and strong. He really gets up off the floor. Just watching film, he’s one of the best natural rebounders I’ve seen. His instincts that way are tremendous. It’s his goal and our goal to expand his game and make him more productive offensively." Hoskins proved himself at the Division I level for the second time last season. He began his career at Eastern Kentucky, where he led the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) as a freshman. He also shot .518 from the field and came up with career highs of 31 points (against Tennessee State) and 18 rebounds (American). Hoskin left EKU and transferred to Schoolcraft (Mich.) Junior College before joining the Blue Demons a year ago. The Sporting News chose him as the top junior college import in C-USA in 2001-2002. Hoskin proved he could play against better competition, scoring 26 points against Fordham and 20 against Tulane. He had consecutive games of 16 points and 12 boards against Chicago State and Long Island. Hoskin’s tip with 2.1 seconds left was the game-winner at Temple. As much damage as he can do inside, Hoskin comes with an added bonus -- he was DePaul’s second-leading 3-point shooter last season after making 18-of-46 shots from behind the arc (.391). Hoskin is looking for bigger things in his final season. "He’s made a true commitment and wants to make his senior year memorable," Leitao said. "He finished last season at 280 pounds. Right now, he’s 245. Sam is really try to zero in on being the best he can be." Also returning in the frontcourt is 6-7, 220-pound sophomore Quemont Greer (6.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg), who as a freshman put together some early season performances that grabbed Leitao’s attention as he watched film. Greer scored a season-high 25 points (on five-of-seven 3-point shooting) against Temple and led the Blue Demons with 22 points against Murray State. "He’s really skilled," Leitao said. "He’s big, but can play a little inside or a little outside. He’s got terrific touch. He rattled off a couple of 20-point games in the first eight or nine games of the season and then kind of tailed off. It’s our goal to keep him focused and consistent." One of the glaring holes Leitao mentioned is at point guard. Knowing he couldn’t count on the talented but troubled Imari Sawyer, who eventually left the program, Leitao went out and found an experienced point man in 6-2 junior Chris Exilus. The Toronto native began his career at Virginia Tech, where he played in all 27 games and started 14 in 2000-2001, averaging 4.1 points and 1.9 assists. He was second among the Hokies with 50 assists and also made 16 steals. Exilus played last season at Butler County (Kan.) Community College. "He’s very heady, almost like a coach," Leitao said. "He walked in the office and started leading guys without getting on the floor. I would anticipate he’s going to play a lot of minutes." If not, Leitao is prepared to go with a point-guard-by-committee approach. Marlon Brooks (5.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.7 apg), a 6-1 senior, Marlon London (4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg), a 6-5 senior, and 6-5 sophomore Drake Deiner (5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg) have all played the point during their careers. "Marlon Brooks played some point here last year," Leitao said. "Marlon London played point guard in high school and was the backup point guard at Kansas before he transferred here. And Drake Deiner had a terrific trip to Australia [in August with the People to People All-Star team]. [Lamar coach] Mike Deane [who coached the All-Stars] and I talked about it before the trip, and he purposely played Drake at the point. He did a good job there." Any of those three could also start at the two-guard spot. Brooks earned 11 starts a year ago, London nine. Neither shot well from 3-point range, nor did Diener, who hoisted a team-high 105 treys and made just 29 (.276). But Diener was impressive in Australia, averaging 16.4 points while shooting .588 (40-of-68) from the field and .577 (26-of-45) from behind the arc. The job could also fall to 6-2 senior Joe Tulley (5.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg), who started five times last year and led the team with 33 3-pointers. He shot .317 from 3-point range. "Tulley is one of those guys who is not afraid of anything," Leitao said. "He’s going to take big shots and make big shots. He’s also been around and seen some highs and lows. He’ll help from an experience factor, and he’ll also give us some warrior attitude." Other backcourt returnees are 6-4 sophomore LeVar Seals (2.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg) and a pair of walk-ons, 6-4 sophomore Sean Farrell (1.0 ppg) and 6-1 junior Randy Ramsey. Ramsey redshirted a year ago. Two other newcomers will join the program. In addition to Exilus, Leitao also signed 6-9, 230-pound Marlon Brumfeld, who played for Collins High in Chicago. Brumfeld averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots and was rated among the state’s top 25 players by hoopconnect.com. "He’s got very big hands and a big body at 230," Leitao said. "He’s a good low post player. As the only freshman in the class, we’re trying to get him caught up from an experience standpoint." Last November, Kennedy and his staff signed 6-7 junior Delonte Holland from Vincennes (Ind.) University. A third-team junior college All-America pick, Holland averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists a year ago. Twenty times he scored more than 20 points. "I remember him from high school [Roosevelt High in Greenbelt, Md.]," Leitao said. "He’s a very talented guy. He jumps and dunks and gets a lot of tip-in points and scores off breaks. He’s a decent jump shooter, but that’s not his forte." After several other candidates took a pass, DePaul was lucky to find such an experienced coach when it hired Leitao to succeed the departed Kennedy. Having seen how a top-level Division I program is run during his many years serving as an assistant to Calhoun, Leitao is prepared to take over his own program for the second time, after a brief stint at Northeastern. Leitao, a good recruiter, will in time stock the DePaul roster with talent. Kennedy left him with a few players, notably Brown and Hoskin, but there isn’t much depth and Leitao will have to find a point guard. If the Blue Demons do come up with a lead guard and the one-two inside punch of Brown and Hoskin delivers, this could be a surprise team in the league. Just as easily, DePaul could be derailed with an injury or two. It’s a fine line between success and failure in Leitao’s first season, but if he can recruit nearly as well as he did at UConn, he can put the program back on a solid foundation.
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