DePaul fires head coach

[braves16]

https://depaulbluedemons.com/news/2024/1/22/mens-basketball-depaul-announces-change-in-leadership-of-mens-basketball-program.aspx

[Da Coach]

Not surprised. Stubblefield didn't even last 3 seasons. DePaul has gotten worse each year under him, and this year they are one of the worst teams in D1 at 3-15.
Who will DePaul go after? I will not be surprised if a couple MVC head coaches are considered.

[bradleyfan124]

I lived in Chicago when DePaul had some great teams under Ray Meyer.

[BUBraves2006]

The Athletic wrote a story about possible replacements and Wardle was on the list. I have to think there is 0.0% chance he'd be interested.

Here is the snippet since the whole thing requires a subscription:

Brian Wardle, Bradley head coach. He’s built winners from the bottom up at both Green Bay and now Bradley, where the Braves won five games in Wardle’s first season and now have two Missouri Valley Conference tournament championships and one regular season title in the last five seasons. He’s an Illinois native and a Midwest lifer and, at 44, should have the patience and energy for a prolonged build.

[Da Coach]

The Athletic wrote a story about possible replacements and Wardle was on the list. I have to think there is 0.0% chance he'd be interested.

Here is the snippet since the whole thing requires a subscription:

Brian Wardle, Bradley head coach. He’s built winners from the bottom up at both Green Bay and now Bradley, where the Braves won five games in Wardle’s first season and now have two Missouri Valley Conference tournament championships and one regular season title in the last five seasons. He’s an Illinois native and a Midwest lifer and, at 44, should have the patience and energy for a prolonged build.

Not surprised. Stubblefield didn't even last 3 seasons. DePaul has gotten worse each year under him, and this year they are one of the worst teams in D1 at 3-15.
Who will DePaul go after? I will not be surprised if a couple MVC head coaches are considered.

That article in The Athletic is surprisingly a free article- https://theathletic.com/5151916/2024...deroff-wardle/

It not only lists Brian Wardle, but also lists Indiana State's Josh Schertz. Those two were ones I expected. I also think DePaul would be smart to consider Darian DeVries.
Here is another coaching candidate article that contains a couple familiar names, including Brian Wardle- https://bustingbrackets.com/2023/11/...pening/

[Stryker]

DePaul seems like a cursed program at this point. You would think they could retain some Chicago talent at some point, but it never happens. I think any candidate for that job would think long and hard about it...and an assistant level individual might be the only type that could be recruited to that school given how hard the rebuild would seemingly be.

[Da Coach]

Another article suggesting the "top 3" coaching candidates for DePaul- https://clutchpoints.com/depaul-bask...lefield-firing

This one doesn't list Coach Wardle, but does name Josh Schertz (Indiana State), Will Wade (McNeese State), and Bryce Drew (Grand Canyon U.).
Will Wade still reeks of his involvement in the FBI "pay for play" recruiting scandal when he was at LSU. And Bryce Drew was successful at Valparaiso (thanks to Alec Peters) and now at Grand Canyon, but was a failure at Vanderbilt.

[egib52]

DePaul seems like a cursed program at this point. You would think they could retain some Chicago talent at some point, but it never happens. I think any candidate for that job would think long and hard about it...and an assistant level individual might be the only type that could be recruited to that school given how hard the rebuild would seemingly be.

It isn't cursed, they over shot going to the Big East. They are a MM pretending to be a P5. If they were smart they would go to the MVC or A10, a league that their Athletic Department can compete in.

[molar50]

The taxpayers of Chicago are stuck paying for a relatively new stadium called Wintrust Arena, near McCormick Place. It seats 10.300 approx. Students get free tickets and transportation. They state that approximately fans 4.000 attend home games. It would be nice for DePaul to play Bradley.

[yoda]

The Athletic wrote a story about possible replacements and Wardle was on the list. I have to think there is 0.0% chance he'd be interested.

Here is the snippet since the whole thing requires a subscription:

Brian Wardle, Bradley head coach. He’s built winners from the bottom up at both Green Bay and now Bradley, where the Braves won five games in Wardle’s first season and now have two Missouri Valley Conference tournament championships and one regular season title in the last five seasons. He’s an Illinois native and a Midwest lifer and, at 44, should have the patience and energy for a prolonged build.

Speculation- Stubblefield was one of the highest paid assistants in college basketball at Oregon but left to take the head coaching job
at DePaul, then bought a $1.6 million home in Chicago hoping to be there a while.
DePaul is a private university so his full salary is uncertain, but former HC Dave Leiato was making over $1 and I suspect Stubblefield was well above that.
They will probably go for a big name to try to get some NIL money fast - Tom Crean, Tim Miles, maybe Tubby Smith?
... .. but if they want an up-and-comer, Alan Huss at High Point is doing pretty well there with a former Bradley assistant on his staff & Bryce Drew at Grand Canyon, maybe former Marquette assistant and South Carolina & WKU head coach Darrin Horn, who won 42 games the past two seasons at NKU. Maybe Orlando Antigua or Jerrance Howard could get another shot?

[Da Coach]

Bradley played DePaul quite a few times in past years. Between 1940 and 1956, they played each other 20 times. Then after a 20 period without playing, they played 18 more times between 1976 and 2006. But November 11, 2006 was the last time they played.
Bradley won the last 3 games between the 2 schools, and 5 of the last 7. After Jim Les' Bradley teams beat DePaul three straight years in 2004, 2005, and 2006, DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright got tired of losing and refused to play Bradley again, and they have never played since.
Link to Bradley Basketball record Book - scroll to page 90

[LongTimeFan]

I wonder if Chris Riddle will rethink his commitment?

[Da Coach]

Hope so.

[Stryker]

It isn't cursed, they over shot going to the Big East. They are a MM pretending to be a P5. If they were smart they would go to the MVC or A10, a league that their Athletic Department can compete in.

Most schools improve by going to bigger conferences. I think there is something else there than a program that over shot.

[64NIT]

Bryan Mullins and Josh Schertz, among others, are on one list of potential candidates:

https://twitter.com/aleccr12/status/1749518955734077851/photo/1