2025-26 Season Recap:
- 16-16 record, 8-12 in conference play
- Finished in 6th place in the Big East
- Lost to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament (Opening Round)
Head Coach: Chris Holtmann returns for his third season at the helm.
Departing players:
CJ Gunn – Graduation (13.1 PPG)
NJ Benson – Graduation (11.7 PPG)
Brandon Maclin – Graduation (10.5 PPG)
RJ Smith – Transfer Portal (6.6 PPG)
Kaleb Banks – Graduation (5.6 PPG)
Jeremy Lorenz – St. Thomas (2.2 PPG)
Ilija Milijasevic – Wright State (2.1 PPG)
Khaman Maker – Marshall (1.3 PPG)
Isaiah Medina – Missouri State (redshirt freshman)
Returning Players:
Layden Blocker – 6’2” senior who averaged 11.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Kruz McClure – 6’6” sophomore who averaged 5 points per game.
Theo Pierre-Justin – 6’10” junior who averaged 4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on 39.7% from three.
Fabian Flores – 7’2” junior who averaged 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Amsal Delalic – 6’8” junior who redshirted this past season due to a knee injury. Delalic averaged 3.8 points and 2 rebounds per game in the 2024-25 season, shooting 35.3% from three.
Nate Kasher – 6’1 redshirt sophomore who appeared in five games.
Jonas Johnson – 6’7” freshman who redshirted this past season as a preferred walk-on.
New Players:
Magoon Gwath – 7’ redshirt junior transfer from San Diego State who averaged 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Gwath also shot 43.5% from three.
Kahmare Holmes – 6’3” junior transfer from Wofford who averaged 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2 steals per game on 48.3% from the field and 35.2% from three.
Koree Cotton – 6’6” senior transfer from UT Rio Grande Valley who averaged 13.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1 steal per game on 40.3% from three.
Noah Meeusen – 6’5” junior transfer from Arizona State who averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals on 31% from three.
Ade Popoola – 6’5” senior transfer from Tulsa who averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game on 40.9% from three.
Wilson Jacques – 7’ senior transfer from Fresno State who averaged 8.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Noah Smith – 6’8” freshman who is a three-star recruit on 247Sports (25th ranked PF).
Mason Lockett IV – 6’5” freshman from Oswego, IL who is unranked on 247Sports.
Andrew Jensen – 6’10” freshman from Kaukauna, WI who is unranked on 247Sports.
Overall thoughts:
DePaul was a surprise this past year, finishing sixth in the conference (the highest finish since joining the Big East in 2005). While the overall record was still unimpressive, it served as a noticeable improvement in Holtmann’s second season. The Blue Demons will now look to take the next step, which would be ending a 22-year NCAA tournament drought.
DePaul returns four of its top nine scorers from a year ago, while also bringing in a surprisingly good transfer class. Layden Blocker projects to be a starter once again, but past that I would expect the other four starters to be transfers. The crown jewel of DePaul’s recruiting class is Magoon Gwath, who will likely make the Big East All-Defensive Team. The trio of newcomer Wilson Jacques, along with returnees Theo Pierre-Justin and Fabian Flores, allow for Holtmann to go big or play Gwath at the five.
The scoring load will be placed upon Blocker, along with newcomers Koree Cotton, Kahmare Holmes and Ade Popoola. It’s always hard to project how successful players will be when transferring up, but at least with Popoola you have a player who scored in double-figures in all five of his NIT games for Tulsa. Adding shooting was also clearly a priority.
The roster has undoubtedly improved from a talent standpoint compared to last season, but so has the Big East as a whole. DePaul’s out-of-conference schedule, which recently got announced, does not have many marquee opportunities on it. But if they can have a performance like Seton Hall did a year ago, combined with a .500 or better Big East record, the Blue Demons should be right there for a bid come March. The coaches will likely slot them in anywhere from 6-8 in the preseason poll.
