Depaul Blue Demons Mens Basketball Tickets
The DePaul Blue Demons men’s basketball team is a Division I program for DePaul University. The team is located in Chicago, Illinois and plays their home games at the Allstate Arena. The Allstate Arena has a capacity of 17,500 people and opened in 1980. The team plays in the Big East Conference. The team is currently coached by Oliver Purnell. During Purnell’s tenure, the team has not played particularly well, finishing 16th out of 16 in both of his years as coach, compiling a 19-42 record over that timespan.
DePaul in their early history were one of the national powerhouses. With George Mikan, two-time National Player of the Year, the team flourished. In 1943, the team made it to the Final Four in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, followed by Mikan’s National Player of the Year campaigns in 1944 and 1945. Under legendary coach Ray Meyer, the team compiled an astounding record of 724-354 from 1942 to 1984, including 21 post-season appearances. In 1984, the elder Meyer stepped down, and his son, Joey Meyer, took over. Under Joey, the team made NCAA Tournament appearances in seven of his first eight seasons including back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances. Since the departure of the Meyer’s, DePaul has only made it to two NCAA Tournaments, in 2000 and 2004.
Throughout their history, the team has featured two different players winning the National Player of the Year award, George Mikan in 1944 and 1945, and Mark Aguirre in 1980. The team has also featured two people that have gone on to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Mikan and Ray Meyer. In total, 33 players have gone on to the NBA after playing at DePaul, most recently, Wilson Chandler who was drafted in the 2007 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.
DePaul’s biggest rival is the Marquette Golden Eagles. The teams have faced off more than 100 times since their inaugural game in 1923. Marquette has dominated the series in recent vintage; however, in the 1980s, DePaul defeated the Golden Eagles twelve out of their sixteen matchups.
