DePaul men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann knew when he took over the DePaul program a little more than a year ago, it wasn’t going to be easy.
Holtmann arrived at Lincoln Park in March 2024 when the program was at its lowest point in school history. DePaul went winless in Big East Conference play and accumulated a 3-29 record in the regular season, its lowest win total since the 1996-97 season.
Holtmann and his staff nevertheless put together an entirely new roster that Blue Demons fans could be proud of night in and night out while simultaneously rebuilding every facet of the program from the ground up.
Next season presents a different challenge: trying to build off the success that DePaul closed out the year on. DePaul won three of their final five games, ending with a double-overtime loss to Creighton in Madison Square Garden at the Big East Tournament.
That stumble is still something Holtmann thinks about, saying it showed him “the potential is here.”
Blue Demon fans also think the potential for the program is there because of that loss, not in spite of it.
Those who could not make the trip to the Big Apple descended on Kelly’s Pub, a quintessential DePaul watering hole to take in the game.
DePaul junior Ethan Brock — who watched the game from Kelly’s — said it was refreshing to have people think DePaul could flip the script.
“I’ve never seen Kelly’s that electric and having so many people just believe for once was very refreshing,” Brock said. “I think it was a great launching point for the potential of this program under Holtmann, and honestly with where we’ve been in recent years, you cannot ask for much more than that.”
DePaul class of 2024 alum Tim Anderson was also at Kelly’s the night of the Crieghton game. He thought that loss felt different than recent years.
“The team Chris Holtmann sent out on the court that night to perform at a level that left me and other fans starting to ask the question, ‘Why not us?’” Anderson said. “Several of my friends watching the game from Kelly’s fought back painful memories of a recent loss in round two against Xavier, despite having a lead for much of that game also.”
It was a game that signified more than just one loss, but the start of the process of building the program up from the ground floor.
“The Creighton game will be one that I’ll think about for a while,” Holtmann told The DePaulia. “I didn’t realize that DePaul never made the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. So I would have loved to provide that for our fans.”
Holtmann wanted to do it for the fans, but it also validated the work they put in year one to land players with a blank slate roster that they wanted to leave their mark on.
“It validated my mind that we made good choices with those guys,” Holtmann said. “How do we continue to build it with guys in an era where you have a great deal of transactions happening? How do we continue to invest in guys who want to be and play a part of something that’s bigger than themselves?”
The transactions that Holtmann refers to are the transfer portal and Name, Image, Likeness (NIL). In 2025, nearly 2,700 Division I men’s basketball players hit the transfer portal according to ESPN.
In an era of college athletics where players are playing for three or four schools in a four year span, it is becoming harder and harder for coaches to discern which players will stay and which players will transfer out for better types of opportunities elsewhere.
“It’s hard, there’s a vetting process that has to happen,” Holtmann said. “You have to be willing to walk away from situations where maybe you don’t feel like it’s in the best interest of the program. That can be hard when a player is talented or the player can provide some immediate returns.”
DePaul started putting together their transfer portal list at the beginning of the season to keep tabs on players they thought could transfer. But Holtmann acknowledged that it is a very fluid process because players and situations can change.
Trying to attach a NIL dollar figure to a player is one of the trickiest parts of the transfer portal era. DePaul subscribes to a number of analytical sites that provide data to try and come up with the market value for a given player.
While Holtmann uses analytics, he and his staff also have to do the legwork to try and find out what other schools might be paying or willing to pay players.
“You have to be willing to call another university’s coach and say, ‘Hey, I heard you’re potentially paying him. Would you mind sharing that?’” Holtmann said. “I’ve done that, a lot of coaches have done that. I’ve gotten those calls. You have to be able to trust what you’re hearing on the other line.”
Holtmann has made it clear that they only want to take players who have talent but also value the DePaul basketball program.
“I really believe if we’re going to have the success we want to have as a program, it’s going to be with talented kids, competitive kids, guys with high IQ,” Holtmann said. “But, it is most certainly going to be with guys who value making DePaul relevant.
DePaul retained four scholarship players (NJ Benson, CJ Gunn, Layden Blocker, Theo Pierre-Justin) and one walk-on (Nate Kasher).
DePaul has landed six transfers so far (Kaleb Banks, Jeremy Lorenz, RJ Smith, Brandon Maclin, Khaman Maker, Amsal Delalic) with two incoming freshmen (Kruz McClure, Isaiah Medina) and one preferred walk-on freshman (Jonas Johnson).
Holtmann knew that the Blue Demons needed to get bigger, but “I was not going to sacrifice shooting,” Holtmann said.
DePaul got bigger while adding three-point shooting. But Holtmann wanted to be able to be more diverse with how they play on the interior. He wanted to add size to better compete with other teams in the Big East but also emphasised rebounding.
DePaul finished 14-20 this past season and 4-16 in conference play in Holtmann’s first year. But DePaul is trying to ramp up their schedule and play tougher opponents. Those may not come this year, but could in the next few seasons.
“You have to get good enough where people will come and play you in a home series and it not be viewed as a bad loss for them,” Holtmann said. “So the fact that we finished as a quad two for teams that came here and beat us. That was important. It allows us to continue to schedule a little bit more challenging.”
Holtmann teased on his Instagram story that they will be playing two exhibitions this season. One versus an ACC team, which will be a road game this year, and return to Wintrust in 2026-27. The other one being a “very good program” that will come to Wintrust Arena this year and return to the opponents arena in 2026-27.
Holtmann said that both of those schools reached out to DePaul initially. Holtmann is excited because there’s a local element to both opponents that will appeal to the fan base to start to drive up interest in the coming season.
With a revamped roster, and a fanbase buzzing with renewed hope, Holtmann and the Blue Demons are poised to turn potential into progress, ready to make DePaul relevant again.
Related stories:
Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories,
delivered to your inbox every Monday.
Support Student Journalism!
The DePaulia is DePaul University’s award-winning, editorially independent student newspaper. Since 1923, student journalists have produced high-quality, on-the-ground reporting that informs our campus and city.
As the funding model for journalism changes, we rely on reader support more than ever. Your donation helps us fund the reporting that keeps our community informed. Donations are tax deducible through DePaul’s giving page. Click the button below to donate.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
