DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Host Columbia to Open 2009-10 Campaign
11/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - DePaul opens the 2009-10 season at Allstate Arena against the Columbia Lions. The game also begins the 30th season at Allstate Arena (formerly Rosemont Horizon) for DePaul and is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.
The opener for both teams can be seen locally in Chicago on Lakeshore Public Television (LPTV) with Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Stephen Howard (analyst) handling the television duties. It's also available in New York on SportsNet New York (SNY), ESPN Full Court and ESPN360.com. On the radio, the game can be found on WSCR (670 AM) in Chicago with Laurence Holmes (play-by-play) and Steve Olken (analyst) taking care of the radio description. Live audio and live stats are also available at www.depaulbluedemons.com while scoring updates and in-game notes can be found at www.twitter.com/depaulsid.
Following the Columbia game, the Blue Demons board a flight on Wednesday morning for St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and the 2009 Paradise Jam. DePaul is one of eight teams in the four-day tournament. The Blue Demons open play against Northern Iowa on Friday, Nov. 20 at Noon CT and face either East Carolina or Tennessee in the second game. Boston College, Purdue, Saint Joseph's and South Dakota State round out the Paradise Jam field.
Season-Opening Notes: Tuesday night serves as the start of the 87th season of DePaul basketball... the Blue Demons are 75-11 all-time in the first game... last season's 75-64 win over Albany at McGrath Arena snapped a three-game losing streak in the season-opening game... DePaul is opening the season on Nov. 17 for the second straight year... the Nov. 17 start also matches the earliest Allstate Arena game since an 87-80 win over Lewis in Rosemont on Nov. 17, 2000.
Home-Opener Notes: DePaul is 79-7 all-time in the first home game of the season... the Blue Demons have won 20 of the last 21 and 68 of their last 70 home openers... the last loss in the home-opening game of the season was a 75-60 defeat against Bradley on Nov. 19, 2005... last season, the Blue Demons defeated Albany at McGrath Arena, 75-64, on Nov. 17... DePaul is playing its first home game of the season on Nov. 17 for the fourth straight year.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,357-814 (.625) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 491 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... in the last seven games of the 2008-09 season, the Blue Demons totaled 58 three-pointers (8.3 3pt. FG/game)... in three of Jerry Wainwright's four seasons at DePaul, the Blue Demons have defeated at least one top 25 opponent.
Opponent No. 1 - Columbia Lions: Columbia opens the 2009-10 season at DePaul after posting a 12-16 record a year ago... the Lions return 11 players and three starters from last season's squad that finished in a tie for fourth in the Ivy League with a 7-7 conference mark... Columbia allowed 62.1 points per game last season to rank among the Ivy League's top defensive teams... Jason Foley is the top returning scorer after leading the Lions last season with 10.9 points per game... Noruwa Agho added 9. 1 points per game and totaled 30 three-pointers... head coach Joe Jones is in his seventh season at Columbia... he holds a 75-91 record with the Lions... DePaul is one of two BIG EAST teams on the schedule for the Lions... Columbia travels to Syracuse on Nov. 27.
The Series: Tuesday is the first meeting between the two programs.
Against the Ivy League: The Lions are the first Ivy League opponent for the Blue Demons since a 56-42 win against Princeton in East Rutherford, N.J. on Jan. 29, 1985... the program is 7-2 all-time against the Ivy League... the Blue Demons have faced Princeton three times, Pennsylvania twice and Brown, Dartmouth and Yale once each.
It Could Happen: A win would be DePaul's second straight in season-openers... a win will also end an 18-game losing streak in regular-season games... Will Walker needs six three-point attempts to move into a tie for ninth all-time with Joe Tulley (1999-03, 346 3FGA)... he also needs one steal to move into a tie for 23rd with Kevin Holland (1986-91, 105 stls.) and two for a tie for 22nd with Bernard Randolph (1980-83, 106 stls.)... Walker will be starting his 34th straight game after starting every game last season.
Three Decades in Rosemont: DePaul begins its 30th season in 2009-10 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Blue Demons are 296-113 (.724) all-time in Rosemont. DePaul University played its first season in 1980-81 at the then-named Rosemont Horizon. The Blue Demons debuted in Rosemont with a 74-56 win over Gonzaga and John Stockton on Dec. 1, 1980.
What's Back: DePaul returns eight players and two starters from last season's 9-24 squad. Mac Koshwal and Will Walker are the top returners from a year ago with Walker back as the top returning scorer last season with 14.6 points per game. Koshwal nearly averaged a double-double with 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest.
Walker, a senior guard, has played in 92 career games entering his senior season with 50 starts. He ranks among DePaul's all-time leaders in all three-point field goal categories. The Bolingbrook, Ill. native is sixth with 124 career three's, eighth with a .365 three-point field goal percentage and 10th with 340 three-point attempts. Walker is also tied for 24th all-time with 104 steals. During the 2008-09 season, he was the only player to start every game and dropped in a career-high 31 points in games at West Virginia and against Providence.
Koshwal tested the NBA Draft waters last Spring following his sophomore season and elected to return to DePaul for his junior campaign. The 6-10 power forward/center notched 11 double-doubles last year and returns as one of the top post players in the BIG EAST. In his 62 career games, he has grabbed at least 10 boards on 25 occasions and his career rebounding average of 9.0 is 12th in DePaul history.
Other returners include sophomores Michael Bizoukas, Krys Faber, Devin Hill, Jeremiah Kelly and Kene Obi along with junior Mario Stula. Bizoukas started six games last season and totaled 58 assists in 15.0 minutes per game. Faber will provide added depth at the post position this season after a rookie campaign that saw him play in 28 games for the Blue Demons. Hill led the Blue Demons with 38 blocked shots last year and started nine times while Kelly made eight starts - including six in the last eight games. As a starter, Kelly averaged 6.1 points per game with a 2.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Obi, a 7-2 center, played in 18 games last season off the bench and Stula showed a glimpse of his range late last season with three straight three-pointers in the second round of the BIG EAST Championship against Providence. Stula made four starts in 2008-09 and totaled 37 three-pointers.
What's New: A total of seven newcomers join the roster this season led by transfer Eric Wallace and junior college transfer Mike Stovall. Wallace sat out the 2008-09 season after transferring from Ohio State. He will have three seasons of eligibility after seeing action in 15 games for the Buckeyes as a freshman in 2007-08. Stovall played last season at Mineral Area CC and earned NJCAA All-Region honors. He started his collegiate career at Oregon State during the 2007-08 campaign in which he played seven games for the Beavers.
DePaul also adds four freshmen to the roster in Joe Belcaster, Tony Freeland, Nate Rogers and Ryan Siggins. Freeland heads east from Los Angeles after averaging 21.1 points and 12.1 rebounds during his senior season at Fremont High School. Belcaster, Rogers and Siggins joined the program as walk-ons in September. Belcaster and Rogers prepped in suburban Chicago at Morton High School and St. Joseph High School. Siggins heads to Chicago from Kettering, Ohio after a high school career at Archbishop Alter.
The seventh newcomer will sit out the 2009-10 season as a transfer. Jimmy Drew played his freshman and sophomore campaigns at Southeast Missouri State and is also a walk-on with the Blue Demons. In his two collegiate seasons, he has played in 51 games.
Starting Where He Left Off: One of the keys to the 2009-10 season for the DePaul basketball team in the continued production of Will Walker. The senior guard closed the 2008-09 campaign strong by averaging 24.8 points per game over the final four games. He shot .463 (38-82) from the field and .405 (15-37) from behind the arc in the final two regular-season games at West Virginia and Georgetown and in BIG EAST Championship games against Cincinnati and Providence.
In BIG EAST play, he averaged 16.4 points per game while ranking second with a .443 (54-122) percentage from three-point range. He was also ranked among league leaders in conference games only in three-point field goals per game (t3rd - 3.00/game), steals (t8th - 1.78 spg) and scoring (t11th - 16.4 ppg).
He posted a career-high 30 points against Marquette only to top that with 31 points at West Virginia and against Providence in the BIG EAST Championship second round. Walker reached double-figures in 15 league games and in addition to the 30-point outings, he's also registered a pair of 23-point games at Rutgers and against Villanova. In eight conference contests, Walker has knocked down at least four three-pointers including a the career-high six trifectas against Villanova on Feb. 25 before a bettering that effort with seven trifectas at West Virginia on Mar. 4.
On the Rebound: Junior forward/center Mac Koshwal became just one of 14 players in DePaul history to grab at least 300 rebounds when he totaled 308 boards last season. His sophomore-year totals put him in a tie for 12th on DePaul season list and he is on pace to enter DePaul's top 10 in career rebounds this season after totaling 559 rebounds.
He put together one of the top rebounding performances in program history with a career-high 22 boards against Creighton on Dec. 23 in the championship game of the Las Vegas Classic. He nearly outrebounded the Bluejays individually as Creighton managed just a combined 28 total rebounds. Koshwal has racked up 15 games last season with double-figure rebounds, including four games of at least 15 boards.
Talking About Practice: Sophomore guard/forward Eric Wallace is set to hit the floor for game action this season after sitting out the 2008-09 campaign under NCAA transfer guidelines. Wallace practiced with the Blue Demons throughout the season a year ago following his freshman year at Ohio State.
DePaul Greats Return: A third former player joined the staff this season after Tom Kleinschmidt and Dave Corzine worked with the men's basketball program last year. David Booth was hired in May 2009 as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Booth is the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1,933 points and ranks in the top 20 in eight career categories.
Corzine moved into an administrative role during the offseason as Assistant to the Athletics Director for Community Outreach after serving as Director of Basketball Operations last season.
Kleinschmidt finished up his degree from DePaul in June 2009 and is now the program's Director of Basketball Operations after a year as an intern with the program in 2008-09. He is the fifth-leading scorer and first player in school history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 100 steals and 100 three-point field goals at DePaul.
Foreign Born Blue Demons: For the third straight season DePaul has multiple players on its roster who were born outside of the United States in Mario Stula (Croatia), Kene Obi (Nigeria) and Mac Koshwal (Sudan). Koshwal was born in Sudan, but grew up in Chicago and considers the Windy City as his hometown.
Ranked Opponents: The Blue Demons are scheduled to take on some of the nation's top programs this season. Entering the opener against Columbia, the preseason top 25's feature seven opponents on the 2009-10 schedule with a pair of potential opponents in Tennessee and Purdue at next week's Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. DePaul could face Tennessee in the second game and Purdue in the third game. Northern Iowa is one of four opponents picking up votes for each of the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. Another potential opponent in the Paradise Jam is Boston College that is also receiving votes. A total of 14 possible opponents are either ranked or receiving votes in the two preseason polls.
BIG EAST Preseason Picks: DePaul was picked to finish 16th in the BIG EAST Conference in a vote conducted by league coaches and released at the conference's annual Media Day in New York in October. Villanova edged West Virginia by just three points as the preseason favorite to win the BIG EAST regular-season crown. Notre Dame's Luke Harangody was tabbed as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season while Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson was the Preseason Rookie of the Year selection.
