DePaul University Athletics
DePaul and Stephens Family an Unbeatable Combination
3/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
(DePaulBlueDemons.com will be posting feature stories this week that have appeared this season in the men's basketball game programs looking back at great moments in Rosemont. DePaul's final game at Allstate Arena is Saturday, March 4 against Xavier.)
Wednesday, Jan. 18 - Rosemont's Finest: Kleinschmidt's 4-Point Play Beats Louisville
Tuesday, Feb. 28 - Stellar Broadcaster Swirsky Called the First Game in Rosemont
Wednesday, March 1 - Joey Meyer Maintained the Family Legacy
Thursday, March 2 - "Q" Remembers Knocking off No. 3 Cincinnati at Allstate Arena as Freshman
Friday, March 3 - Mejia-Led DePaul Stuns No. 5 KansasCHICAGO - Thirty years ago, a great partnership began with the DePaul men's basketball program and the suburb of Rosemont when mayor Donald Stephens first connected with DePaul in 1980. His son, Brad Stephens, succeeded him in the mayor's office when Donald Stephens passed away in 2007 after holding office for a remarkable 51 years.
Brad Stephens has since maintained the partnership and enjoyed keeping the Blue Demons as part of the Stephens family. As DePaul prepares for the move out of Rosemont to a new arena in the South Loop, the Blue Demons know they will be leaving behind an unforgettable legacy.
Brad Stephens used to work at the Rosemont Horizon when the Blue Demons were coached by the legendary Ray Meyer. He worked on the operations team inside of the arena and was in charge of changing over from basketball to other events. In the early days of the arena, there was no hockey being played but instead there was indoor soccer. Although he was just graduating high school when the partnership evolved, Brad has some fond memories of the Rosemont Horizon that was later renamed Allstate Arena.
"There were some pretty memorable games there, and they've had some pretty solid teams throughout the years," Brad Stephens said. "Coach Ray and coach Joey Meyer brought in some great players with the local kids that they recruited and kept them in the city while giving them the opportunity to play Division I basketball. It was quite amazing."
"It was neat seeing the place packed with screaming fans and the rivalry games like Notre Dame. Several years later, I took my kids to a Final Four game at the arena and Coach Ray was still alive and we had the opportunity to run into him in the lobby."
Donald Stephens and Coach Ray had a special bond, according to mayor Stephens.
"They had a very unique friendship, so when I saw him in the lobby, I went up and introduced myself and he knew all about us. He was quite a guy," Brad Stephens said.
"Those guys were a couple of old-timers who were trying to do good things for what they both had passions for---Coach Ray for the DePaul basketball program and my dad for the village and the arena. There was a very unique kinship there. The program was growing, they wanted to sell more tickets and there was this perfect timing with the arena being built and a great opportunity for both sides.
"My dad thought the world of Coach Ray and he loved to venture over for a game here and there. It was great to see the team excel. For kids who might not have had that opportunity elsewhere, Coach took those kids in and brought them to his home where his wife Marge used to make them meals and things along those lines. That was just unheard of and why he had the success he had."
The Stephens family also has a personal connection to DePaul athletics. The current mayor's son, also named Brad Stephens, played golf as a Blue Demon.
"I have to say that the athletic end of things kept him in school and took a shy kid and turned him into a pretty outgoing, fine young man," mayor Stephens said. "Not that it wouldn't have happened anyway, but when he originally went to college, he went to Arizona State and didn't like it or being away from home. When he came home, he met with golf coach Betty Kaufmann and Jeanne (athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto) and was able to secure a spot on the team playing all four years. It was a great experience for him. I loved going out and watching him. I never went to college so it was all new to me.
"I truly appreciate what goes into being an athlete at DePaul and the dedication that they command which I think is great. I think it helped my son become the man he is today. He is actually engaged to a student-athlete alumnus now, Brittany Boesel, who was a DePaul softball player."
Those two DePaul alumni are getting married in September of 2018. Stephens has a running joke with his son about the softball and golf relationship.
"I joked with him that the softball player and golfer combination could make the family like the movie 'Bull Durham' where they held up the bats. At Brad's wedding, he and Brittany could walk through a combination of bats and golf clubs."
When Mayor Stephens' son competed at DePaul, the team was a three-time academic national award winner and led the country with the highest team GPA in Division I golf for three years.
"A lot of what happens in college athletics today is kind of behind the scenes, and I can appreciate that DePaul doesn't do that kind of stuff," Stephens said. "It is about being a student-athlete and working hard to excel whether in academics or athletics, and we don't find that everywhere today. I think that is a great thing and I think that the university has to be proud of that. They emphasize creating an academic plan set up for the athletic program and then excelling at that.
"It meant a lot for me when he brought those academic award certificates home. It was great when he brought home All-BIG EAST awards, but the academic awards meant a lot more because I knew they were studying and doing the right thing and that was important.
"We all need to understand they are student-athletes and the student needs to come first. Education is important."
As the season winds down, Stephens was able to reflect on the DePaul basketball program's success after all he has seen and experienced at Allstate Arena.
"DePaul has been a great partner with the village through both the good and bad years," he said. "Hopefully the program is to a point where it is on an uptick and they can secure more of these talented local kids who can somewhere close to home and play."
Stephens compared the buzz about Rosemont Horizon/Allstate Arena to the same excitement surrounding the Blue Demons' new home next season, Wintrust Arena.
"I am sure Jeanne is excited about it," he said. "Jeanne and I have become good friends. It is just bittersweet. We understand that it is best for them, but we are losing a longtime friend and a longtime tenant. We hope for the best for everybody."
The DePaul Blue Demons are closing one chapter and opening another as the 2016-17 season comes to an end. After 30 years at Allstate Arena, it has become a place DePaul will cherish forever.
All of the wins and losses, the capacity crowds and the players who stepped onto the court will not be forgotten. The Blue Demons are extremely thankful for the years spent in Rosemont and appreciate everything the Stephens family and the village of Rosemont have done for them.