DePaul Basketball and JLP

[dgies9156]

David Haugh interviewed Jean Lenti-Ponsetto in the Chicago Tribune this morning.

Yikes!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-depaul-jean-lenti-ponsetto-haugh-20180420-story.html

Biggest takeaway: DePaul looks to be "in the top half" of the Big East!

Earth to Jean:  You're in Chicago, one of the best basketball recruiting grounds in the nation. You had a tradition with the Meyers that you squandered. Your coaching decisions have been questionable.

Could you imagine what would happen at Marquette if someone said, "our goal is the top half of the Big East and to make the NCAA!" For us, that's a minimally acceptable standard and when we don't get it, we burn the house down, or something close to it. Our Goal is back to the Final Four, Elite 8 etc.

[Coleman]

Eh, you gotta start somewhere without sounding completely insane. If they jumped to Final Four as an immediate goal, someone would be calling Illinois Mental Hospital.

[WarriorDad]

David Haugh interviewed Jean Lenti-Ponsetto in the Chicago Tribune this morning.

Yikes!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-depaul-jean-lenti-ponsetto-haugh-20180420-story.html

Biggest takeaway: DePaul looks to be "in the top half" of the Big East!

Earth to Jean:  You're in Chicago, one of the best basketball recruiting grounds in the nation. You had a tradition with the Meyers that you squandered. Your coaching decisions have been questionable.

Could you imagine what would happen at Marquette if someone said, "our goal is the top half of the Big East and to make the NCAA!" For us, that's a minimally acceptable standard and when we don't get it, we burn the house down, or something close to it. Our Goal is back to the Final Four, Elite 8 etc.

I don't find this unreasonable as a goal.  If you are in the top half of the Big East, that is a virtual guarantee NCAA team each and every year and likely top 25 (or fringes).   In looking at the new Big East, how many teams finished in the top half every year?  Without looking, I'll say three.  If you finish in those levels, the NCAA tournament success will follow as much as it can considering the random nature of the tournament (who you play, where you play, matchups).  You can't get to a Final Four without making the tournament first.

Chicago recruiting talent has always been good, but doesn't seem to be as good from years gone past.  When I was a student at MU in the 70's, Wisconsin talent was considered poor and Chicago talent on par with New York, Baltimore and a few other places.  Wisconsin talent today is miles ahead of what it used to be.  Kids are popping up with talent all over the country and not necessarily in the big urban areas.  Chicago will still churn out great players simply because of our size here, but schools like Gonzaga, Creighton, and so many others show that being good doesn't mean having your school located in a recruiting hotbed.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

This year was a pretty good year for Chicagoland.

Don't think they ever would have been in the running for. Talen Horton-Tucker, but DePaul really missed out on Javon Freeman and Ryan Davis.