# 2018–19 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

The 2018–19 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team represented DePaul University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by fourth-year (seventh overall with DePaul) head coach Dave Leitao and played their home games at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 19–17, 7–11 in Big East play to finish in a three-way tie for last place. As the No. 10 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost in the first round to St. John's. They received a bid to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Central Michigan, Longwood, and Coastal Carolina to advance to the championship series against South Florida. There, in a best-of-three series, they lost to South Florida two games to one.

## Previous season

The Blue Demons finished the 2017–18 season 11–20, 4–14 in Big East play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Big East tournament to Marquette.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Justin Roberts | 0 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Freshman | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred to Georgia State |
| Austin Grandstaff | 1 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Sophomore | Rockwall, TX | Transferred to Texas A&M–Commerce |
| Brandon Cyrus | 4 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Sophomore | Toronto, ON | Transferred to UC Santa Barbara |
| Tre'Darius McCallum | 10 | F | 6'7" | 220 | RS Senior | Myrtle Beach, SC | Graduated |
| Tobias Dwimaah | 22 | F | 6'5" | 220 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Peter Ryckbosch | 30 | F | 6'10" | 230 | RS Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Joe Hanel | 33 | F | 6'7" | 218 | Senior | Savage, MN | Graduated |
| Marin Maric | 34 | C | 6'11" | 240 | RS Senior | Split, Croatia | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Lyrik Shreiner | 0 | G | 6'3 | 190 | Junior | Phoenix, AZ | Cal State Northridge |
| Darious Hall | 13 | F | 6'6 | 210 | Sophomore | Little Rock, AR | Arkansas |
| Femi Olujobi | 25 | F | 6'8" | 233 | RS Senior | Long Island, NY | North Carolina A&T |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| John Diener SG | Cedarburg, WI | Cedarburg High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | May 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| George Maslennikov PF | Ukraine | Holy Spirit Preparatory School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | May 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| 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: "2018 DePaul Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "2018 DePaul Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Romeo Weems G/F | New Haven, MI | New Haven High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 23, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 89 |||||||
| 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: "2019 DePaul Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "2019 DePaul Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Rockhurst | W 72–65 | – | 19 – Cain | 11 – Reed | 5 – Tied | Wintrust Arena (3,624) Chicago, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Bethune–Cookman | W 80–58 | 1–0 | 25 – Strus | 8 – Reed | 8 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (3,710) Chicago, IL |
| November 12, 2018* 7:30 pm, FS1 | | Morgan State | W 91–63 | 2–0 | 25 – Strus | 9 – Tied | 9 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (3,664) Chicago, IL |
| November 15, 2018* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Penn State Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 72–70 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | 21 – Strus | 15 – Butz | 6 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (3,926) Chicago, IL |
| November 24, 2018* 11:00 am, ACCN Extra | | at Notre Dame | L 70–95 | 3–1 | 15 – Strus | 6 – Tied | 4 – Cain | Edmund P. Joyce Center (6,751) South Bend, IN |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | Cleveland State | W 83–73 | 4–1 | 26 – Cain | 8 – Tied | 7 – Strus | Wintrust Arena (3,741) Chicago, IL |
| December 3, 2018* 7:30 pm, FS1 | | Florida A&M | W 65–50 | 5–1 | 16 – Olujobi | 14 – Reed | 4 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (3,763) Chicago, IL |
| December 8, 2018* 11:00 am, BTN | | at Northwestern | L 68–75 | 5–2 | 22 – Olujobi | 9 – Strus | 4 – Tied | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,039) Evanston, IL |
| December 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Chicago State | W 104–70 | 6–2 | 27 – Strus | 8 – Strus | 11 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (3,729) Chicago, IL |
| December 14, 2018* 6:00 pm, FS1 | | UIC | W 90–70 | 7–2 | 34 – Strus | 13 – Strus | 5 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (4,136) Chicago, IL |
| December 19, 2018* 7:30 pm, FS2 | | Incarnate Word | W 81–71 | 8–2 | 20 – Cain | 6 – Reed | 6 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (3,705) Chicago, IL |
| December 22, 2018* 2:30 pm, FS1 | | Boston College | L 62–65 | 8–3 | 16 – Strus | 11 – Reed | 4 – Tied | Wintrust Arena (4,741) Chicago, IL |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2018 1:00 pm, FS1 | | Xavier | L 65–74 | 8–4 (0–1) | 17 – Reed | 9 – Reed | 3 – Shreiner | Wintrust Arena (5,632) Chicago, IL |
| January 2, 2019 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at Villanova | L 68–73 | 8–5 (0–2) | 16 – Tied | 8 – Strus | 5 – Gage | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 6, 2019 12:00 pm, FS1 | | Seton Hall | W 75–74 | 9–5 (1–2) | 21 – Strus | 9 – Tied | 6 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (4,068) Chicago, IL |
| January 12, 2019 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 24 St. John's | W 79–71 | 10–5 (2–2) | 27 – Olujobi | 12 – Strus | 4 – Gage | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| January 16, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Butler | L 69–87 | 10–6 (2–3) | 23 – Olujobi | 12 – Reed | 4 – Tied | Wintrust Arena (4,616) Chicago, IL |
| January 19, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Seton Hall | W 97–93 | 11–6 (3–3) | 22 – Tied | 14 – Reed | 3 – Tied | Prudential Center (9,023) Newark, NJ |
| January 23, 2019 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 12 Marquette | L 69–79 | 11–7 (3–4) | 18 – Reed | 11 – Olujobi | 5 – Tied | Fiserv Forum (14,283) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 27, 2019 11:00 am, FS1 | | at Providence | L 67–70 | 11–8 (3–5) | 20 – Reed | 9 – Reed | 5 – Gage | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,009) Providence, RI |
| January 30, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 14 Villanova | L 74–86 | 11–9 (3–6) | 20 – Olujobi | 8 – Olujobi | 6 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (5,002) Chicago, IL |
| February 2, 2019 1:30 pm, FS1 | | Providence | W 67–55 | 12–9 (4–6) | 18 – Reed | 15 – Reed | 4 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (5,173) Chicago, IL |
| February 9, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Xavier | W 74–62 | 13–9 (5–6) | 17 – Strus | 9 – Olujobi | 4 – Gage | Cintas Center (10,242) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 12, 2019 7:30 pm, FSN | | No. 10 Marquette | L 73–92 | 13–10 (5–7) | 16 – Strus | 11 – Reed | 4 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (6,836) Chicago, IL |
| February 16, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Butler | L 78–91 | 13–11 (5–8) | 23 – Strus | 8 – Butz | 4 – Cain | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,100) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 20, 2019 8:00 pm, FSN | | Creighton | L 67–79 | 13–12 (5–9) | 18 – Strus | 8 – Strus | 4 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (4,238) Chicago, IL |
| February 27, 2019 6:05 pm, CBSSN | | at Georgetown | L 73–82 | 13–13 (5–10) | 25 – Strus | 12 – Reed | 5 – Gage | Capital One Arena (5,176) Washington, D.C. |
| March 3, 2019 11:00 am, FS1 | | St. John's | W 92–83 | 14–13 (6–10) | 43 – Strus | 10 – Olujobi | 5 – Cain | Wintrust Arena (5,376) Chicago, IL |
| March 6, 2019 7:45 pm, FS1 | | Georgetown | W 101–69 | 15–13 (7–10) | 30 – Strus | 10 – Reed | 10 – Gage | Wintrust Arena (4,756) Chicago, IL |
| March 9, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton | L 78–91 | 15–14 (7–11) | 19 – Tied | 10 – Reed | 10 – Gage | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,083) Omaha, NE |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | (10) | vs. (7) St. John’s First Round | L 74–82 | 15–15 | 23 – Cain | 14 – Butz | 5 – Butz | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| College Basketball Invitational |||||||||
| March 20, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Central Michigan First round | W 100–86 | 16–15 | 33 – Strus | 12 – Butz | 7 – Cain | McGrath–Phillips Arena (1,173) Chicago, IL |
| March 25, 2019* 7:00 pm, NBCSC+ | | Longwood Quarterfinals | W 97–89 | 17–15 | 38 – Strus | 12 – Reed | 2 – Tied | McGrath–Phillips Arena (1,040) Chicago, IL |
| March 27, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Coastal Carolina Semifinals | W 92–87 | 18–15 | 24 – Tied | 8 – Olujobi | 6 – Shreiner | McGrath–Phillips Arena (939) Chicago, IL |
| April 1, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at South Florida Finals – Game 1 | L 61–63 | 18–16 | 19 – Cain | 12 – Reed | 3 – Tied | Yuengling Center (2,375) Tampa, FL |
| April 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | South Florida Finals – Game 2 | W 100–96 $^{OT}$ | 19–16 | 32 – Strus | 16 – Reed | 7 – Shreiner | McGrath–Phillips Arena (1,704) Chicago, IL |
| April 5, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | South Florida Finals – Game 3 | L 65–77 | 19–17 | 19 – Gage | 10 – Olujobi | 3 – Cameron | McGrath–Phillips Arena (1,876) Chicago, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||