2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: DePaul Blue Demons

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.

Let’s continue with the Big East, home of the two-time defending national champion Connecticut Huskies. This 11-team conference plays its conference tournament in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden in New York City. While UConn has won two straight NCAA Championships, there has been a new regular-season conference champion in each of the past four seasons. The Big East is one of the few conferences that did not expand or contract, relying on its rich history and elite level of basketball that started 45 years ago.

Let’s continue with our betting preview for the DePaul Blue Demons.

2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: DePaul Blue Demons

Conference: Big East
Head Coach: Chris Holtmann (1st season)
2021-2022 Record: 3-29 (0-20)
ATS: 11-20-1
O/U: 17-15
Projected Starters: G Conor Enright; G Jacob Meyer; F Isaiah Rivera; F N.J. Benson; F David Skogman

Chris Holtmann is rolling up his sleeves and taking on one of the biggest challenges in college basketball. DePaul was a woeful 3-29 last year, including 0-20 in conference play. Their conference wins over the past five seasons: 3, 2, 6, 3 and 0. Holtmann was very successful at Gardner Webb and Butler, before seven straight seasons at Ohio State. While the Buckeyes made four NCAA Tournaments during that time, they never advanced out of the second round, and Holtmann was dismissed after two lackluster seasons. Holtmann attacked the transfer portal with vigor, bringing in 11 new players overall. That means the Blue Devils lost every single player from their entire roster, which isn’t a bad thing.

Holtmann’s transfer class is filled with solid contributors looking for a larger role with the Blue Devils. Isaiah Rivera comes from Illinois-Chicago, where he averaged a respectable 15.4 PPG while shooting 41.6% from 3P range. Conor Enright averaged just 6.9 PPG at Drake but shot 43.9% from deep with over one steal per contest. C.J. Gunn was a quality defender at Indiana, and JJ Traynor posted double-digits scoring (10.1 PPG) at Louisville with 4.6 RPG. Throw in NJ Benson (Missouri State) 8.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG and there are enough players to find success in Holtmann’s first season.

Key Player: Isaiah Rivera

Rivera projects to be the leading scorer for DePaul and has a winning pedigree with three years at Colorado State as well. He posted big scoring performances last season, including 28 points in an OT MVC win over Southern Illinois, and 27 points in a tough loss at Bradley. Rivera had nine games of 23 points or more and is the probable go-to player for the rebuilding DePaul program.

Projection