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DePaul fires head coach
- Thread starter braves16
- Start date
bradleyfan124
Active member
I lived in Chicago when DePaul had some great teams under Ray Meyer.
BUBraves2006
New member
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.
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.
That article in The Athletic is surprisingly a free article- https://theathletic.com/5151916/2024/01/22/depaul-coaching-candidates-becker-senderoff-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...andidates-to-watch-for-potential-hc-opening/
Stryker
New member
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.
Another article suggesting the "top 3" coaching candidates for DePaul- https://clutchpoints.com/depaul-basketball-best-head-coach-candidates-after-tony-stubblefield-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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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
Active member
I wonder if Chris Riddle will rethink his commitment?
Stryker
New member
Most schools improve by going to bigger conferences. I think there is something else there than a program that over shot.
Bryan Mullins and Josh Schertz, among others, are on one list of potential candidates:
https://twitter.com/aleccr12/status/1749518955734077851/photo/1
https://twitter.com/aleccr12/status/1749518955734077851/photo/1
I don't think there is much evidence of this. They might get more money, but it doesn't mean they have the infrastructure to improve.
BUBraves2006
New member
The thing is, DePaul has competed very well in women's basketball and a lot of other sports, just not men's basketball.
So it isn't inherently just a Big East thing.
So it isn't inherently just a Big East thing.
Men's basketball is their revenue sport.
It's enjoyable reading some of these lists of candidates for the DePaul job.
Some odd names on the list by Tony Patelis. I think the DePaul people are going to want someone with some significant recent NCAA success.
Pete Gillen? He has been out of coaching since 2005, and he hasn't won anything since the early 1990's at Xavier. That's 30 years ago!
Pat Chambers hasn't won anything since winning the American East Tournament in 2011 with Boston University. He is now at Florida Gulf Coast, where he took over a successful program and turned them into a bottom-half ASUN team at 8-12. If I am a DePaul fan, I'd revolt if they hired him.
Steve Lavin? There were reasons he was out of coaching for 7 years and nobody wanted him. Now he's back coaching at San Diego, but they are 21-30 in the 1½ seasons he's been there. Again, if I was a DePaul fan, there's no way I'd settle for this.
Tim Miles? He is still living off the success of one season at Colorado State more than a decade ago. He failed at Nebraska, and now he's got a losing record at San Jose State. In fact, he's got a losing record for his career, and has never won a regular season conference title or an NCAA game.
Tom Crean? A name that keeps resurfacing. He'll probably get another job eventually, but do the DePaul people want to hire someone who took over a winning program at Georgia and went 47-75 in his 4 seasons? His 4th and final season there he appeared to just give up. He went 6-26, one of the worst seasons ever among major schools.
The other list looks a little better, IMO. I think Schertz, Drew, and Mullins wouldn't be bad choices, but Schertz and Mullins haven't won anything yet, and Drew's success has been with lower D1 schools like Valparaiso and Grand Canyon. DePaul needs someone who can recruit Chicago and the Midwest region, and Drew has never been known as a great recruiter. And why would Bobby Hurley even return DePaul's call? He is getting paid $2.6 million per year at Arizona State and he just got an extension.