DePaul University Athletics
New Arena Will Be Booth's Family Legacy
11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | DEPAUL ATHLETICS FUND
More Information: Event Center at McCormick Square | Supporting DePaul Athletics
CHICAGO - Even in the midst of his landmark career that left him as the No. 2 all-time scorer in DePaul basketball history, David Booth always encouraged those around him to get involved.
Whether that was teammates, coaches, other student-athletes and classmates, Booth wanted everyone to be all-in about the Blue Demons and everything that nickname represented.
And today, more than ever, he is a staunch advocate building momentum among alumni to help finance DePaul's new basketball arena that will usher in the 2017-18 season.
Booth, who is the director of player personnel for the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, has combined with former teammate Stephen Howard in making a contribution to the Event Center at McCormick Square.
"What DePaul has done for me and my family, even after I left DePaul---it's the least I can do," said Booth who finished in 1992 with 1,933 career points. "It's great to be a part of the new arena, and the contribution is a way of showing our appreciation.
"To me, DePaul is about family and a sense of loyalty. I've known Jeanne (athletics director Jean Lenti Ponsetto) for a long time, and my kids knew her growing up. What's important to me is how DePaul continued to be a big part of my life after I finished.
"How I feel about life, how I act towards people, even my job---it comes from what DePaul has instilled inside of me. There were the relationships I built with players and coaches. I still talk to my coach Joey Meyer. These are things you can't put a price on."
And Booth knows there are many others who share the same sense of gratitude and a lasting bond with DePaul.
"My message for other alumni is this: What is important to you in life can be seen by where you put your finances toward," Booth said. "DePaul has helped them in the past and perhaps even to this day, and this is a way to show your appreciation.
"Somebody invested in us when we were coming up, someone made it possible for me to have the wonderful memories from my DePaul experience. Now is our chance to help the next generation of Blue Demons. It's like passing the torch and paying it forward for those who are coming next."
Hopefully, what's coming next is another David Booth. In his four seasons (1988-92), Booth led the Blue Demons to the second round of the 1989 NCAA tournament with teammates Stanley Brundy, Terence Greene and Howard.
Booth helped DePaul advance to the third round of the NIT as a sophomore and back to the Big Dance as a junior and senior. The 6-foot, 7-inch forward trails only Mark Aguirre on the all-time scoring list and finished his career in the program's top 10 in seven statistical categories.
There was a game in December of his junior year that still brings a smile to his face.
"That game against UCLA, there must have been around 18,000 in the Rosemont Horizon stands and I remember the tremendous atmosphere and how the student body and crowd carried us," Booth said about scoring a career-high 40 points. "It's something I'll never forget.
"Everything I did worked that day. Everyone has a day like that when the rim seems as big as the ocean, you throw up a shot with your eyes closed and the ball goes in. I remember running down the court thinking how in the world did I make that shot?
"You wish you could bottle that feeling. What did I eat for breakfast that day? What kind of socks did I wear? What time did I go to bed the night before?
Even though we lost 92-90, it was a great game for DePaul. My mom and dad still have a videotape of that game."
It wasn't long before Booth was taking a stroll down memory lane.
"I remember that as a time when the campus was so intimate," Booth said. "It was easy to make friends with the student body. Our dorm had various student-athletes living there and we had some soccer players on our floor.
"It was a community of student-athletes who enjoyed sharing our common experience. We'd go watch coach Doug Bruno and his women's basketball team. There was this sense of pride in all of us for DePaul and the city of Chicago."
He was a highly sought recruit who came to Lincoln Park by way of Peoria Manual and narrowed his college choices to Michigan, Iowa, Purdue, Marquette and DePaul.
"I knew Rod Strickland and Kevin Edwards," Booth said about the Blue Demon stars who preceded him. "I knew all about the Meyer family and grew up watching DePaul on WGN-TV. The school was close enough that I could go home for the holidays. DePaul was like an NBA team. It was a no-brainer to me."
After graduating from DePaul, Booth played professionally overseas for 14 years in places like Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Japan and South America.
"I was able to take my family with me, and they got the chance to see different countries and cultures and to know other ways of life," Booth said. "They are better people because of that."
He was a Memphis Grizzlies scout for four years and worked one season as an assistant coach at DePaul. He is in his seventh season with the Pelicans, rising to his current position working as a scout and director of scouting.
"My successful career in the NBA is a direct result of playing at DePaul," Booth said. "My life changed coming from Peoria and going to DePaul. That's why it's easy for me to make a contribution to the new arena after everything DePaul has done for me and my family.
"People talk about DePaul when I'm in New Orleans. People come up to me in airports and still recognize me from playing at DePaul. I feel a sense of pride thinking about so many great people who came before and after me. Being a part of what coach Ray Meyer started is invaluable."
Like everyone else in the DePaul community, there is a growing sense of anticipation as the Event Center rises up in the South Loop.
"There is so much excitement for the new arena, and it will be a great recruiting pitch for the kids," Booth said. "A lot of kids want to get a top-notch education and attend a great university. And now, they'll get to play in a state-of-the-art facility.
"For the players at DePaul right now, there's going to be a sense of a new start. This is a new chapter in the rich history of Blue Demon basketball."
Booth paused to reflect on what's coming a year from now.
"The first time I walk into the new arena and see what my contribution helped to build, I'll think about my family and especially my kids," Booth said. "After I'm long gone, my kids can still come to the arena and say that this is a part of dad. I'm now part of a family legacy."
