2020–21 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

The 2020–21 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team represents DePaul University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They are led by sixth-year (ninth overall with DePaul) head coach Dave Leitao and play their home games at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Big East Conference.

2020–21 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
2020–21 record	3–5 (1–5 Big East)
Head coach	Dave Leitao (6th straight, 9th overall season)
Assistant coaches	Tim Anderson (4th season) Shane Heirman (4th season) Marc Hsu (2nd season)
Home arena	Wintrust Arena

2020–21 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Villanova	6	–	1		.857			11	–	2		.846
No. 15 Creighton	10	–	4		.714			14	–	5		.737
Xavier	4	–	2		.667			11	–	2		.846
Seton Hall	8	–	5		.615			11	–	8		.579
UConn	5	–	4		.556			8	–	4		.667
St. John's	7	–	6		.538			13	–	7		.650
Providence	5	–	8		.385			9	–	10		.474
Marquette	5	–	8		.385			9	–	10		.474
Butler	5	–	8		.385			6	–	10		.375
Georgetown	3	–	5		.375			5	–	8		.385
DePaul	1	–	8		.111			3	–	8		.273
† 2021 Big East Tournament winner As of February 6, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Blue Demons finished the 2019–20 season 16–16, 3–15 in Big East play to finish in last place. They defeated Xavier in the first round of the Big East Tournament[1] before the remaining tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Offseason

Departures

DePaul Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Flynn Cameron	21	G	6'3"	198	Junior	Auckland, New Zealand	Transferred to UC Riverside
Jalen Coleman-Lands	5	G	6'4"	185	Senior	Indianapolis, IN	Transferred to Iowa State
Devin Gage	3	G	6'2"	205	Junior	Chicago, IL	Transferred to Fresno State
Paul Reed	4	F	6'9"	220	Junior	Orlando, FL	Declared for 2020 NBA draft; selected 58th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers[3]
Lyrik Shreiner	10	G	6'3"	195	Senior	Phoenix, AZ	Graduated
D.J. Williams	32	F	6'7"	215	Senior	Chicago, IL	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Javon Freeman-Liberty	4	G	6'4	180	Junior	Chicago, IL	Valparaiso
Courvoisier McCauley	23	G	6'5	180	Junior	Indianapolis, IN	Lincoln Memorial
Pauly Paulicap	33	F	6'8	225	Senior	Elmont, NY	Manhattan
Ray Salnave	10	G	6'3	205	Senior	Elmont, NY	Monmouth

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kobe Elvis PG	Brampton, ON	Bill Crothers Secondary School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Nov 24, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Max Williams G	Chicago, IL	IMG Academy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jun 15, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 DePaul Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30. "2020 DePaul Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30.

Roster

2020–21 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Markese Jacobs 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Uplift Community Chicago, IL F 1 Romeo Weems 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So New Haven Detroit, MI F 2 Jaylen Butz 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Sr North Side Fort Wayne, IN G 3 Kobe Elvis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Bill Crothers Secondary School Brampton, ON G 4 Javon Freeman-Liberty 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Whitney Young (Valparaiso) Chicago, IL G 10 Ray Salnave 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Benjamin Cardozo (Monmouth) Elmont, NY G 11 Charlie Moore 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Sr Morgan Park (Kansas/California) Chicago, IL G 12 Jason Malonga (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Benet Academy Bolingbrook, IL F 13 Darious Hall 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Mills University Studies (Arkansas) Little Rock, AR C 14 Nick Ongenda 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Southwest Christian Academy (AR) Mississauga, Ontario G 15 Oscar Lopez Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hillcrest Prep Academy (AZ) Cypress, CA G 20 Brendan Favre (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr IMG Academy (FL) Vevey, Switzerland G 23 Courvoisier McCauley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 211 lb (96 kg) RS Jr Emmerich Manual (Lincoln Memorial) Indianapolis, IN G 30 Williams Max (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr IMG Academy (FL) Chicago, IL F 33 Pauly Paulicap 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Elmont Memorial (Manhattan) Elmont, NY G 35 Pantelis Xidias (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr La Lumiere Michigan City, IN	Head coach Dave Leitao (Northeastern) Assistant coach(es) Tim Anderson (Oklahoma Panhandle State) Shane Heirman (Tulsa) Marc Hsu (Cabrini College) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2020-11-26

Schedule and results

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the start of the season was pushed back from the scheduled start of November 10.[4] On September 16, 2020, the NCAA announced that November 25 would be the new start date.[5]

On November 19, the school announced that it was pausing all men's basketball activities due to positive COVID-19 test results and canceled the first three games of the season.[6][7] On January 2, 2021, the game against St. John's was postponed due to COVID-19 issues at St. John's.[8] On January 4, the January 5 game against Villanova was postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Villanova.[9]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 8:00 pm, FS2		Western Illinois	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to December 23rd.[7]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
November 28, 2020* 12:00 pm, FS2		Chicago State	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 1, 2020* 8:00 pm, FS2		Alcorn State	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 3, 2020* 8:00 pm, FS1		Northern Illinois	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 6, 2020* 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at Iowa State Big East/Big 12 Battle	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Hilton Coliseum  Ames, IA
December 11, 2020 3:30 pm, CBSSN		at Seton Hall	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to February 17th.[10]					Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
December 14, 2020 6:00 pm, FS1		at Villanova	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to February 9th.[11]					Finneran Pavilion  Villanova, PA
December 17, 2020 6:00 pm, FS1		at Providence	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to December 27th.[12]					Alumni Hall  Providence, RI
December 18, 2020 1:00 pm, FS1		Xavier	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to February 3, 2021.[13]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 21, 2020 4:30 pm, FS1		at Butler	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to February 6th.[14]					Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
December 23, 2020 8:00 pm, FS1		UConn	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to January 11, 2021.[15]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 23, 2020* 8:00 pm, FS1		Western Illinois	W 91–72	1–0	22 – Moore	8 – Freeman-Liberty	6 – Freeman-Liberty	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
December 27, 2020 3:30 pm, FS1		at Providence	L 90–95 ^2OT	1–1 (0–1)	21 – Weems	8 – Hall	8 – Moore	Alumni Hall  Providence, RI
December 30, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at UConn	L 61–82	1–2 (0–2)	14 – Hall	8 – Tied	4 – Moore	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, CT
January 2, 2021 11:00 am, FS1		at St. John's	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Rescheduled to February 20, 2021.[16]					Carnesecca Arena  Queens, NY
January 5, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1		No. 3 Villanova	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues [17]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 9, 2021 1:00 pm, FS1		Seton Hall	L 68–76	1–3 (0–3)	22 – Freeman-Liberty	8 – Weems	5 – Moore	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 11, 2021 5:00 pm, FS1		No. 25 UConn	L 53–60	1–4 (0–4)	10 – Hall	7 – Tied	4 – Elvis	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 13, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1		at Georgetown	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues [18]					McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, D.C.
January 16, 2021* 3:00 pm, FS1		Valparaiso	W 77–58	2–4	20 – Weems	10 – Hall	5 – Moore	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Butler	L 53–67	2–5 (0–5)	12 – Elvis	8 – Paulicap	2 – 5 Tied	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 23, 2021 5:00 pm, FS1		at Marquette	W 68–61	3–5 (1–5)	21 – Moore	7 – Hall	3 – Tied	Fiserv Forum  Milwaukee, WI
January 27, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1		St. John's	L 68–81	3–6 (1–6)	21 – Moore	16 – Paulicap	4 – Moore	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 30, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN		No. 17 Creighton	L 62–69	3–7 (1–7)	21 – Salnave	8 – Freeman-Liberty	5 – Freeman-Liberty	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
February 3, 2021 4:00 pm, FS1		Xavier	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues [19]					Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
February 6, 2020 11:00 am, FS1		at Butler	L 58–68	3–8 (1–8)	26 – Freeman-Liberty	8 – Freeman-Liberty	4 – Salnave	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
February 9, 2020		at No. 3 Villanova	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues					Finneran Pavilion  Villanova, PA
February 11, 2021 2:30 pm, FS1		at Xavier						Cintas Center  Cincinnati, OH
February 13, 2021 7:00 pm, FS1		Providence						Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
February 17, 2020 7:30 pm, FS1		at Seton Hall						Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
February 20, 2021 6:30 pm, FS1		at St. John's						Carnesecca Arena  Queens, NY
February 24, 2021  CBSSN		at No. 15 Creighton						CHI Health Center Omaha  Omaha, NE
February 27, 2021  FOX/FS1		Georgetown						Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
March 2, 2021  FS1		Marquette						Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source[20]

References

1. "DePaul vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 11, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
2. West, Jenna. "Big East Cancels Tournament Over Coronavirus". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
3. Tribune Staff, Chicago. "DePaul's Paul Reed Drafted by Philadelphia 76ers". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
4. "NCAA committees pushing for Nov. 25 as the start date for the 2020-21 college basketball season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
5. "NCAA: Men's, women's hoops can start Nov. 25". ESPN.com. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
6. staff, Sun-Times (2020-11-19). "DePaul cancels first three games of basketball season after positive coronavirus tests". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
7. "DePaul cancels 3 games after COVID positives". ESPN.com. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
8. Rose, Norman (2021-01-02). "St. John's vs DePaul postponed due to COVID". Rumble In The Garden. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
9. "DePaul-Villanova Game Postponed Due to COVID-19 Protocols". DePaul University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
10. "2020-21 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
11. "2020-21 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
12. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
13. "2020-21 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
14. "2020-21 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
15. "DePaul's Game Against Connecticut Postponed, Western Illinois Rescheduled to Wednesday". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
16. "DePaul-St. John's Game Postponed Due to COVID-19 Protocols". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
17. "DePaul-Villanova Game Postponed Due to COVID-19 Protocols". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
18. "DePaul-Georgetown Game Postponed Due to COVID-19 Protocols". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
19. "BIG EAST Announces Basketball Schedule Update Including DePaul-Xavier Game Postponed on Wednesday". DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
20. "2020-21 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-20.