Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season Friday
11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Exhibition Game #1
DePaul (0-0) hosts Trinity Christian (0-0)
Friday, November 2, 2007 7:30 p.m.
McGrath Arena Chicago, Ill.
Tonight’s Game
This will be the lone exhibition game for the 2007-08 Blue Demons prior to opening the regular season next Friday at Creighton (7 p.m. CLTV, WIND 560 AM). This is also the first game of the season for Trinity Christian. The Blue Demons are 4-0 all-time in exhibition games under Jerry Wainwright including a 2-0 slate last season, beating both St. Ambrose, 89-73, and Lewis, 77-70.
The Series
DePaul beat Trinity Christian, 91-73, in the only meeting between the two schools on November 12, 2005 at McGrath Arena. The exhibition contest was the second game for Jerry Wainwright at DePaul. Karron Clarke led the Blue Demons with a game-high 26 points while Draelon Burns added 14 and Wilson Chandler had 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Trolls were led by Dean Nauta’s 18 points.
Last Season
The Blue Demons are coming off a 20-14 season (9-7 in the BIG EAST) in which they reached the quarterfinals of the NIT, the program’s deepest postseason run since 1990. It also marked the 37th time in program history that the Blue Demons posted a 20-win campaign. Trinity was 9-18 last season.
Back at McGrath
The last time DePaul played a home game was on March 14 here at McGrath Arena in the first round of the MasterCard NIT. Playing their first non-exhibition game in Lincoln Park since 1999, the Blue Demons beat Hofstra, 83-71.
Home Opener
The home opener is slated for November 17 against Northwestern (1 p.m.) at the Allstate Arena. Five of DePaul’s first seven games are at the Allstate Arena.
What Returns
DePaul welcomes back eight letterwinners and three starters from last season’s 20-14 squad. The Blue Demons return 44.1-percent of its 2006-07 points and 36.3-percent of last season’s rebounds. The leading returning scorer is senior Draelon Burns (11.6 ppg) while the leading returning rebounder is senior Karron Clarke (3.4 rpg). Junior Jabari Currie returns after leading the team in assists in each of the past two seasons.
What Does Not
For the second time since 2001, DePaul had two players drafted in the annual NBA Draft. Wilson Chandler was taken in the first round (23rd pick) by the New York Knicks while Sammy Mejia went in the second round (57th pick) to the Detroit Pistons. Chandler and Mejia are the 45th and 46th DePaul players, respectively, to be drafted by the NBA and Chandler became the ninth to be taken in the first round. The last time the Blue Demons had multiple players taken in the draft was in 2001 when Steve Hunter was picked in the first round and Bobby Simmons in the second. DePaul has had five players taken in the last seven years and five of the last seven Blue Demons picked have been first round selections. Mejia also became the first DePaul senior taken since Stanley Brundy in 1989. DePaul also lost Marcus Heard, Keith Butler and Lorenzo Thompson.
Burns is Back
DePaul returns senior Draelon Burns, who was an honorable mention All-BIG EAST pick last season. The 6-4 guard is the Blue Demons’ leading returning scorer (11.6 ppg) and led the team in scoring during the BIG EAST Conference portion of the season in 2006-07.
Clinkscales Dishes
Senior Cliff Clinkscales returns for his senior season already ranking 21st in school history with 250 assists.
Currie Leads
Junior Jabari Currie has led the Blue Demons in assists in each of the last two seasons, becoming the first DePaul player since Tom Kleinschmidt (1993-95) to lead the team in assists in consecutive seasons. The last Blue Demon to lead the team in assists in three straight seasons was Rod Strickland (1985-88).
Clarke One of Two
Senior Karron Clarke is one of only two players in BIG EAST Conference history to play for two different league schools joining Ray Knight who played for Georgetown in 1981 and Providence from 1983-85. Clarke has played for DePaul and Miami.
Three For 100
DePaul has three players who should reach the 100 game plateau of their collegiate careers in 2007-08. Cliff Clinkscales has seen action in 92 games while Karron Clarke has played in 90 and Draelon Burns 89. This would be the second straight year, and third in the last four, that the Blue Demons would have three players reach 100 appearances in the same season.
New Faces
DePaul will welcome six new faces to the program in 2007-08. Freshmen Dar Tucker, Michael Bizoukas, Mario Stula, Kenechukwu Obi and Mac Koshwal will join junior Matija Poscic as the newcomers in 2007-08. This is the most newcomers on a DePaul roster since the 1998-99 season when Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons, Lance Williams, Rashon Burno, Lamar Butler, Kerry Hartfield and Roman Peoples were all fresh to DePaul.
Walk-Ons
DePaul will have two walk-ons on the 2007-08 roster. Junior Adam Handler is back after playing in 10 games last season while sophomore Joshua Washington returns for his second season. He practiced the entire season and dressed for the regular season home finale against USF.
Foreign Born Blue Demons
DePaul will have four players on its roster who were born outside of the United States, a first for the program. Junior Matia Posiac (Croatia), sophomore Thijin Moses (Sudan) and freshmen Mario Stula (Croatia),Kenechukwu Obi (Nigera) and Nyal “Mac” Koshwal (Sudan) are all foreign born players on the roster.
Let’s Get It Started
DePaul returns seven scholarship letterwinners from last season’s squad and six of the seven have started at least one game in their DePaul careers. The Jerry Wainwright era at DePaul is 61 games old and the veteran head coach has used 26 different starting line-ups with the Blue Demons.
League Games
DePaul will play 18 BIG EAST Conference games in 2007-08, facing every team in the league once and Notre Dame, Providence and Villanova twice each. DePaul will make its first-ever trip to Connecticut and play St. John’s in Carnesecca Arena for the first time since 1985.
Conference Openers
The Blue Demons open the 2007-08 conference portion of the season with three straight home games, the first time in program history that has happened.
Back to the Beach
For the second straight season DePaul will venture off the United States mainland for a tournament. Last year the Blue Demons played in the EA Sports Maui Invitational and this December they travel to the San Juan Shootout.
January Non-Conference Game
The Blue Demons will play Florida Gulf Coast on January 21 at the Allstate Arena. It will be the latest regular season non-conference game for DePaul since February 10, 2001 when UCLA made the trip to Rosemont.
First Time Foes
The Blue Demons will face four teams for the first time ever in 2007-08. Newcomers to the DePaul slate are North Carolina A&T (November 24), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (November 28), Clemson (December 21) and Florida Gulf Coast (January 21).
Local Ties
DePaul will host a pair of local rivals during the 2007-08 season as Northwestern (November 17) and UIC (December 15) will both make trips to Rosemont.
Opening Night on the Road
For the second consecutive year DePaul will open the season away from home (November 9 at Creighton). The last time the Blue Demons had consecutive seasons with road openers was 1942-43 and 1943-44 and both of those games were at Navy Pier, just miles from DePaul’s campus.
MVP Games
DePaul will play three games this season where the Most Valuable Player of the game will receive an award. The MVP of the DePaul-Northwestern game will earn the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award while both Notre Dame games will feature the Wendell Smith Award.
Former Assistant Coaches Face DePaul
The Blue Demons will have a familiar face on the opposing sidelines in at least four games this season. Former DePaul assistant coaches Gene Cross (Notre Dame), Larry Harrison (West Virginia) and Tracy Dildy (UIC) will be on the visiting benches in Rosemont this season.
Nearing 1,000
Senior Draelon Burns enters his senior season needing 198 points to become the 44th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Last season the Milwaukee native scored 394 points.
Take Me Home
DePaul will travel to Detroit on December 29, marking the first trip to the Motor City since the 1993-94 season. The game will be a homecoming for junior Jabari Currie (Detroit) and freshman Dar Tucker (Saginaw).
Up Next
DePaul opens the 2007-08 season a week from tonight when it travels to Creighton. The 7 p.m. (CST) game will be televised locally by CLTV and broadcast on WIND (560 AM).