The DePaul Blue Demons have found a new coach to lead the men’s basketball team — Chris Holtmann.
At one time, DePaul was a program striving for a National Championship. Under the guidance of the legendary Ray Meyer, DePaul reached the Final Four twice and won 67-percent of its games over 42 years — going 724–354 with Meyer at the helm.
Meyer’s son, Joey, took over the program in 1984 and led DePaul to a 231–158 record and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Unfortunately, the program has cratered over the past two decades.
DePaul hasn’t appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2004 and has finished above .500 just three times since that time. Enter, Holtmann. Holtmann was fired by Ohio State one month ago, but he brings plenty of success to Chicago.
Previously the head coach at Gardner-Webb, Butler and Ohio State, Holtmann has a career record of 251-171 and has led his team to the NCAA Tournament seven times in 13 years. In three years at Butler, Holtmann’s Bulldogs won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament each year — and reached the Sweet 16 in Year 3. At Ohio State, Holtmann’s team reached the Round of 32 on three occasions. While DePaul has been in the dumps for years, Holtmann is confident he can right the ship.
“We’ve got a great opportunity,” Holtmann said. “We came here as a family because we really do believe in what this place can be. We really do.”
Athletic director DeWayne Peevy was keen on Holtmann for quite some time and he is also confident in DePaul’s future.
“I don’t feel any pressure any more than what I put on myself and the opportunity to build a program,” Peevy said. “I came here from Kentucky to win. You take the steps forward, you learn lessons and you push forward. I think if you want to be a true leader, you have to get people around you that can help you accomplish something big.”
Following Holtmann’s dismissal from Ohio State, Peevy jumped at the opportunity to secure one of his top targets.
“When he was let go, I wasn’t looking at it as a deterrent for me,” Peevy said. “OK, this got a lot easier. I gave him some time. I didn’t reach out to him right away, want to be respectful. But I did contact his agent to tell him that this doesn’t matter to me, that I’m very interested.”
Holtmann knows he faces a tough task bringing the Blue Demons back to prominence, but he appears ready to embrace the challenge.
“I always felt like it could be a program that could have real sustained success,” Holtmann said. “And I would ask people maybe who knew the situation better than me, ‘Hey, explain this to me.’ I know there are some challenges. … But I think it’s in a place right now, given their commitments to a practice facility, what they have done with this place, and I think just the passion and the hunger right now — I think it’s the right time for our family to be here.”
