Basketball Preview 2022

The DePaulia 2022-2023 BASKETBALL PREVIEW

Inside

Mens roster page 2

Zion Cruz page 3

State of the program page 4-5 AMBER STOUTENBOROUGH | THE DEPAULIA

2 | Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022

MEN’S Full Court Coverage

Tony Stubblefield

Second season at DePaul

ROSTER PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS

Jalen Terry: Jr. 6’0”, G GP/GS: 27/18 8.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.1 APG

Umoja Gibson: Grad. 6’1”, G Transfer from Oklahoma 13.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 APG

Eral Penn: Grad. 6’6”, F Transfer from Long Island 17.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.9 APG

Javon Johnson: Grad. 6’6”, F GP/GS : 10/27.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.4 APG

Nick Ongenda: Sr. 6’11”, C GP/GS: 30/27 8.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 0.8 APG

DePaul Men’s ‘22-23 schedule Creighton Bluejays

23-12 (12-7)

Nov. 7: Loyola (MD) 6:45 p.m.

Nov. 11: Western Illinois 9 p.m.

Nov. 14: at Minnesota 6 p.m.

Zion Cruz FR-G, #0 6’4”

K.T. Raimey JR-G, #4 6’3”

Philmon Gebrewhit SR-G, #5 6’7”

Nov. 18: Santa Clara 6 p.m.

Xavier Musketeers

23-13 (8-11)

Nov. 20: UCF/Oklahoma State Nov. 25: Texas A&M 12 p.m.

Nov. 30: Samford 8 p.m.

Villanova Wildcats

30-8 (16-4)

Dec. 3: at Loyola Chicago TBA Dec. 7: at St. John’s 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 10: UTEP 5:30 p.m.

UConn Huskies Yor Anei JR-F #10 6’10”

Ahmad Bynum FR-G #12 6’2”

Brendan Favre Grad-G, #20 6’5”

23-10 (13-6)

Dec. 14: at Duquesne 6 p.m.

Dec. 17: at Northwestern 1 p.m.

Dec. 25: at Creighton 3:30 p.m.

Dec. 29: Georgetown 7 p.m.

Providence Friars

27-6 (14-3)

Jan. 1: Providence 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 4: at Butler 8 p.m.

Jan. 10: Villanova 8 p.m.

St. John’s Red Storm

17-15 (8-11)

Jan. 14: Seton Hall 11 a.m.

Jan. 18: Xavier 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21: at Providence 1 p.m.

Seton Hall Da’Sean Nelson JR-F, #21 6’8”

Caleb Murphy JR-G, #23 6’4”

21-11 (11-8)

Jan. 24: at Georgetown 6 p.m.

Jan: 28: Marquette 1 p.m.

Max Williams JR-G, #30 6’2”

Jan 31: Connecticut 7 p.m.

Butler Bulldogs

14-19 (6-14)

Feb. 5: at Seton Hall 11 a.m.

Feb. 8: at Villanova 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14: St. John’s 8/8:30 p.m.

Feb. 18 at Xavier 3 p.m.

Marquette Golden Eagles

19-13 (11-8)

Feb. 22: Butler 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 25: at Marquette 6:30 p.m.

March 1: at Connecticut 6 p.m.

Mo Sall FR-G, #55 6’5”

Georgetown Hoyas

6-25 (0-19)

March 4: Creighton TBD March 8-11: Big East Championship

Records from the 2020-2021 season

DePaul Blue Demons

15-16 (6-14)

Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022 | 3

Cruz shows potential to be DePaul’s next breakout star

By Tom Gorski Sports Editor

Entering his second season, Tony Stubblefield continues to make an impact on the recruiting trail, landing four star recruit Zion Cruz. A player of Cruz’s caliber choosing DePaul shocked plenty, especially since the Blue Demons haven’t landed a recruit with the skillset as special as Cruz in some time.

“He’s probably the biggest freshman recruit we’ve gotten since I’ve been here.” Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy said.

According to 247Sports, Cruz was ranked second nationally for shooting guards and was a consensus top-15. In his senior season at Donda Academy, Cruz averaged 12.6 points per game.

Cruz’s final choices come down to DePaul, Auburn, Oregon, Alabama and Arizona State, with a crystal ball prediction expecting Cruz to commit to Auburn, according to 247Sports.. Fortunately for DePaul, Cruz shocked a lot of experts and chose Tony Stubblefield and the Blue Demons.

“He gave us a heads up a couple days before,” said head coach Tony Stubblefield. “He let us know a couple days before that it was looking good for us… and that this was the route he was leaning on and I’m glad he just followed his word and followed through on it.”

Stubblefield has had his sights set on Cruz for years, going back to the coach’s days as an assistant at Oregon.. The head coach sees Cruz as a guy that fits DePaul’s culture and someone that Stubblefield and the rest of the program believe could be the start of something special.

“First seeing Zion [Cruz] play AAU basketball and even before that, Zion was a guy on my radar when I was at Oregon,” Stubblefield

said. “Watching him early on in his high school career and then watching him over the course of some summers playing AAU basketball, I got the chance to really realize how talented of a young man he was.”

Stubblefield says that what many don’t know about Cruz is his heightened sense of confidence and a high basketball IQ that not many possess as a freshman. The coach thinks Cruz made an immediate impact on coaches and teammates after being on campus for a couple months.

“The thing that attracted me about Zion [Cruz] is his versatility of being able to play multiple positions, his competitiveness of really going out there and competing when I would see him play and his basketball IQ,” Stubblefield said.

“Zion is a man that has been very well coached and has a great feel for the game of basketball and really picks up on things very easily.”

Cruz’s teammates were excited about the news once it broke, and as soon as they did some research and watched his highlights, they could see why Cruz was such a big get for the basketball program.

“I was excited, that’s my young bull,” said senior center Nick Ongenda. “I see a lot of Zach Lavine in his game…He’ll be very good on the offensive end of the floor and I’m excited to see how he’ll adjust to Big East play. He plays some really good defense, so he’ll help us on both sides of the floor.”

The biggest question has and always will be, what type of impact a player like Cruz can bring to the program,

especially in the win column, in his first year? The plan is for Cruz to have a role right away and the expectation is that he’ll have a huge effect on the Blue Demons this upcoming season.

“I think he’s going to be very impactful to our team,” Stubblefield said. “He has the talent, work ethic and the competitiveness in him to do that. We’re looking forward to Zion having an immediate impact for our team right away.”

The 2022-23 season begins tomorrow, and with starting guard Caleb Murphy sidelined for the upcoming month plus,there’s an opening for Cruz to sneak into the lineup on a nightly basis if he impresses on the court.

“When you lose a guy like Caleb for a short period of time, it gives more of an opportunity for Zion [Cruz] to step in and play a bigger role from the start as a freshman,” Peevy said. “I think the

biggest thing it says about this staff is that they’re not afraid to recruit anybody.”

Time will tell if Cruz can be DePaul’s next breakout star, but he has all of the talent to do so. Plenty of coaches and players in the locker room believe Cruz has a high

ceiling and the sky’s the limit.

“I think Zion [Cruz] has a very high ceiling,” Stubblefield said.

“We keep pushing him everyday in practice and he’s done a good job at responding to that. He’s coming in as a really good player, but there’s much more in the tank.”

QUENTIN BLAIS | THE DEPAULIA

Freshman four star recruit Zion Cruz plays defense against a Marian guard in Wintust Arena on Nov. 1.

Despite top teams’ decline, Big East on rise in 2022-23

By Nate Burleyson Online Managing Editor

When the AP Top 25 released in October, Villanova, who hadn’t been ranked outside of the top 10 in any preseason poll since 2015, sat at 16. They dropped below no. 9 Creighton and seemingly lost favor in the Big East in the eyes of voters.

This was the biggest surprise but the cumulation of a trend that had been growing for a few years in the conference. Could the Big East no longer be just Villanova on the national stage? Villanova slipped too far in the rankings, even with the departure of Jay Wright. After reaching the final four last year, they lost two invaluable starters, Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, but they return four of their top six rotation players. They also added five-star Maryland recruit Cameron Whitmore, who will miss the beginning of the season with a thumb injury.

Regardless, the conference has made a jump in the past few years, as it continues to get deeper.

Probably because of football bias, the post-2012 split Big East doesn’t get as much respect or attention on the national stage. The conference has arguably been better top-to-bottom than the Big Ten,

and certainly better than the ACC and PAC 12. Yet, why hasn’t the respect been earned yet?

To u r n a m e n t success.

Last year, the ACC had a rough regular season, yet North Carolina and Duke made it to the Final Four with Miami making a surprise Elite 8 run behind former DePaul guard Charlie Moore. The Big East had a solid regular season with a competitive title race, but Villanova was the only team to outperform their seed, with UConn upset in the first round by New Mexico State.

The Big East needs to perform well in the tournament, but their sustained growth in the regular season is poised to continue in 2022-23. Kenpom.com, one of the leading analytics sites for college basketball has the Big East improved from last year.

The Big East has the 5th low-

Butler, Marquette and last year’s regular season champ Providence all slid.

The Big East is behind the Big Ten in rating, but in a similar situation last year, the Big East beat the favored Big Ten 6-2 in Gavitt Tipoff matchups. Albeit early in the regular season, it’s still a good indicator ALICIA GOLUSZKA | THE DEPAULIA that preseason est rating for 2023 but improved polls can be blown out of proporover their end-of-the-season rating. tion.

The ACC actually jumped the Big St. John’s is one of the most imEast, with the preseason hype for proved teams in the Big East. David Virginia and North Carolina carryJones’ transfer from DePaul raised ing things. The SEC and Big 12 are eyebrows in the spring, but it’s unslightly separated from the pack, deniable that Jones will make waves largely due to teams retaining star in Queens.

The guard was DePaul’s players and impressive tournament second-leading scorer in 2021-22, performances. Big East teams takand made an impact when healthy, ing a jump in KenPom include Deincluding recording the program’ s Paul (103 to 88), Georgetown(175 first-ever triple-double against to 102), St. John’s (55 to 37), Xavier (53 to 38) and Creighton(50 to 22). Georgetown in February.

Where things sit for DePaul

is an important question. Losing Jones was tough, but head coach Tony Stubblefield is in the early days of his tenure and has scraped together a promising squad for the upcoming season. Transfers Caleb Murphy, who is set to miss the beginning of the season, and Oklahoma’s Umoja Gibson are immediately eligible. Four-star recruit Zion Cruz from Donda Academy joins alongside KT Raimey and Da’Sean Nelson. Their transfer portal success was on par with the rest of the Big East, which had plenty of teams active. It all depends on how well they can gel with such a new team.

DePaul’s strength of schedule ranks 71st in the country, behind every Big East team besides Butler and Georgetown. They are a hard team to predict, but their non-conference schedule includes some good tests in Texas A&M, Loyola, Minnesota on the road and potentially Oklahoma State in the Bahamas. Regardless, not much will be known about the Blue Demons this year until they start conference play.

With an early matchup against St. John’s a month from today, we’ll know sooner or later where they fit in the rapidly improving conference.

STATE OF THE PROGRAM

4 | Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022

Do Peevy and Stubblefield have the resources needed to move men’s hoops forward?

By Lawrence Kreymer Editor-in-Chief

E

Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022 | 5

By Patrick Sloan-Turner Online Managing Editor

It has been 6,807 days since the DePaul men’s basketball team has played in an NCAA tournament game.

After enjoying significant success from the late ‘70s through the ‘80s and ‘90s, with 16 NCAA tournament berths between 1976 and 2004, DePaul has undergone a dry spell. It has been 18 seasons since the Blue Demons last reached the big dance in 2004, when current DePaul freshman and highly touted recruit Zion Cruz had yet to be born.

So, what happened?

“The late ‘70s was a magical time for DePaul basketball under Ray Meyer,” said former Chicago Tribune sportswriter and current DePaul professor Fred Mitchell. “The timing was just perfect…

A lot of people felt that DePaul basketball was bigger than the Bulls.”

In the era before ESPN, nationally broadcasted games through a partnership with WGN gave DePaul a rare spotlight. Mitchell says that this enabled the program to regularly attract top talent, both from within Chicago and other parts of the country.

When college basketball became a major product, with games televised nationally through network stations and ESPN, DePaul’s advantage was gone. In the mid ‘90s, they had joined Conference USA, which upped the ante in terms of competition for the Blue Demons. When DePaul joined the Big East in 2005, they began to regularly compete against schools with more resources than they had before.

“DePaul tried to play catch up in terms of recruiting and sustainability and coaching and all of the aspects that play into being a successful program,” Mitchell said. “When you have the Georgetown’s of the world recruiting the same players you are, you’re immediately at a disadvantage.”

Since joining the Big East, DePaul has finished with only two winning seasons, once in 2006-07 and again in 2018-19.

When DeWayne Peevy arrived at DePaul to take on the role of Athletic Director in August of 2020, a tall task stood in front of him. A year later, Peevy brought in Tony Stubblefield to lead the Blue Demons squad through a complete program rebuild. Now entering the duo’s second full season together, what progress has been made? What else must be done?

“I didn’t come in thinking I’m some miracle worker that I’m just going to do a couple of things here and there, and we’re going to just win,” Peevy said. “I really wanted to assess what are the issues… and I found that the budget was a main issue.”

Winning big in collegiate revenue sports demands funding. Peevy says when he came into his current role, the program had the 10th lowest

budget of the 11 teams in the Big East. The athletic director believed that the best way to increase the team’s resources was to first garner non-financial support from the university, fans and alumni.

“Because we haven’t performed at a high level in a [long] time period, it’s been enough for people to be able to not realize what kind of impact basketball could have,” Peevy said.

Peevy began to try and show the DePaul community what a successful athletic program can do for the academics at a university. Throughout his first two years, the director has spoken in press conferences, at faculty council meetings and more on how things like an NCAA tournament berth directly impacts enrollment or immediately raises funds for the university as a whole.

“I talk a lot about athletics being the front porch of a university,” Peevy said. “A lot of people, the first thing they know about a school is its athletics program.”

When Peevy was hired, DePaul bottomed the Big East in terms of the university’s overall budget dedicated to athletics. The director says that around 6% of the school’s budget went to athletics, where the conference’s median was 9%. Since then, Peevy has successfully lobbied for budget increases resulting in tangible strides, like chartering flights for both the men’s and women’s teams to conference games and a regular practice for programs around the country.

While the department’s fundraising efforts are vital to the program’s rebuild, these things take time to translate to the court. In today’s game, coaches are given less time to find success, and fans demand concrete results.

“I think it takes time to build a program,” said head coach Tony Stubblefield, heading into his second season as the team’s architect. “It doesn’t happen overnight, and with that being said, I do realize the fans want instant gratification to keep things going in the right direction.”

Stubblefield’s team hit the court running in his first season with a meteoric 9-1 start last year, only to 6-15 over their remaining games to finish 15-16. Coming into year two, the acquired talent through the transfer portal and a touted freshman class gives Stubblefield an opportunity to build from the season prior and take a foundational step towards sustained success.

“I think you need to have a foundation of some freshman,” Stubblefield said. “You do need to go to a portal to help relieve some of that pressure and heavy lifting off some of the guys, and that’s why we brought in a guy like Mo Gibson and Caleb Murphy.”

Even with the added talent and increasing resources, DePaul’s unique position comes with its own difficulties in achieving success as a perennial power that other programs might not experience. As a private Catholic school in a major city, it exists in the shadow of Chicago’s professional

sports scene. At Peevy’s old stomping grounds, the University of Kentucky, basketball is king. Lexington’s attention focuses on Rupp Arena any time the Wildcats play, a phenomenon that is likely impossible in Chicago.

Still, DePaul needs to assemble fan support best it can, and according to Peevy, filling Wintrust is the first step. Sizable crowds will help the Blue Demons win games.

“It’s hard [for players] mentally to play every game on the road in front of a packed house, and play neutral site games at home,” Peevy said.

Since moving into Wintrust after it opened in 2017, attendance for DePaul men’s basketball games ranks last in the Big East. This season, the athletic department is employing new strategies to get fans in the stands like free student admission, student meal vouchers to be used at concessions and added entertainment. Whether these incentives will bring fans in remains to be seen, but filling the arena is a crucial ingredient in growing DePaul’s national brand.

A successful rebuild is a complicated process with countless moving parts, many of which take years to come to fruition. Perhaps the most important factor, and one that doesn’t demand as much time as growing funds and resources, is winning.

“If you win, then you’re going to attract top talent,” Mitchell said. “And when you attract top talent, you’re going to do better in the conference and nationally, and you’ll just have sustained success, which is what all programs aspire to do.”

Coming into the 2022-23 season, few have picked DePaul to finish above the bottom of the Big East. Both Sports Illustrated and the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll set DePaul to finish last in the league, with CBS Sports predicting the Blue Demons to finish in the second to last spot.

Inside the program, optimism for the upcoming season is high. There is buzz from fans, and for Peevy, the low expectations for the team will have only put a chip on the players’ shoulders, but his goals for the team remain lofty.

“I think this group, their focus, they know that they’ve got to prove that we’re not the worst team in the Big East,” Peevy said. “My goal is to make the NCAA tournament… why am I in this if I don’t think we can finish above the middle of the pack?”

Tonight, DePaul has an opportunity to take an important step forward with an impressive showing in their opener with Loyola (MD). Though a rebuild is a long process and resources will likely continue to trickle in, the best thing Stubblefield and company can do right now is win with what they have.

“We have the tools and resources to be successful,” Stubblefield said. “There’s no excuses on this end… we have enough to get this thing turned around going in the right direction.”

ERIN HENZE | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul freshman forward Kaitlyn Ammons guards a Lewis player during the Blue Demons’ exhibition game on Thursday.

6 | Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022

Morrow sisters bring basketball bond

By Erin Henze Asst. Photo Editor

Growing up, sports were a way of life for Nazlah and Aneesah Morrow.

Today, they still are.

“Sports were kind of something we didn’t really have to think about,” senior forward Nazlah Morrow said. “It was all around us, and before we knew it, we were just drawn to it and it became a part of our life.”

The sisters grew up in a sportsminded household, raised by a Division I linebacker in their father, Edward, and an all-conference forward for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in their mother, Nafeesah.

“Seeing all of that made me feel like I want to be a part of this,” sophomore forward Aneesah Morrow said of her family’s athletic success. “It was a norm for us, and being around it all the time, you eventually fall in love with it.”

Nafeesah coached a local high school basketball team when her daughters were growing up, so the majority of Aneesah and Nazlah’s childhoods were spent in a gym.

“I would always be at all the practices just walking around as the curious little person with all the big clothes on,” Aneesah said. “I was just curious about basketball overall because I was surrounded by it my whole life.”

When the time came for Aneesah to decide where she wanted to continue her athletic career

post high school, she was influenced by her love for the city she calls home.

“A lot of star athletes leave their city or their state to go play somewhere else, and I wanted to be different,” Aneesah said. “I wanted to make a change and be able to stay in my city and win big games.”

Nazlah announced her decision to transfer to DePaul after graduating from Miami Dade Junior College in 2020.

“I kind of wanted to be closer to home,” Nazlah said of her decision to transfer. “And I kind of loved the team chemistry, so it kind of worked out like that and we came back together.”

Unfortunately, she spent her junior year for the Blue Demons sidelined with an injury.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to deal with a serious injury before, so last year was kind of tough for me,” Nazlah said. “I learned that pushing through mental things is just as hard as pushing yourself physically. It was hard, but it was very beneficial.”

Aneesah had a standout freshman season at DePaul, setting records and collecting accolades of all kinds including being named ESPN’s Top Freshman in the Country and to the Associated Press All-American Second Team.

This season, she’s looking to build upon that success.

“I feel like you have to stay ready so you never have to get ready,” Aneesah said of her mindset going into this season. “I know that if I come up here and compete against my teammates on a daily basis, then I can do it against any team or any player.”

Aneesah, who was named Big East Freshman of the Week a record 13 times last season, led the nations in rebounds and was one of the most dominant players in the league.

“All that Aneesah accomplished as a freshman was because she came to practice everyday, she worked hard and she competed hard,” head coach Doug Bruno said. “She’s a naturally and instinctively competitive player. Coaches throw the word competitive around a lot, but Aneesah has a level of competitiveness that is just off the charts, and that’s really what separates her. She’s been a joy to coach and a joy to be around.”

Both Nazlah and Aneesah’s dedicated personalities as athletes and people allows them to succeed on and off the court.

“They have great roots and a great upbringing,” coach Bruno said. “They are on time, they take care of each other, and

they’re great teammates.”

This season, the two sisters will return to the court on the same team for the first time since 2019, when they led Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy to a second place finish in the IHSA State Series.

“I think as we’ve gone on to play basketball together, we kind of knew that we could hold this healthy competition between the two of us and challenge each other in ways that other teammates couldn’t,” Nazlah said. “Because we play against each other so much, it forces us out of our comfort zone to try new skills against each other.”

The Morrow sisters are hopeful that their competitiveness will translate to success on the basketball court this winter.

“I think we have a great team, and I’m looking forward to winning with our team,” Nazlah said. “Everybody is hungry, everybody loves to play, and everybody loves to compete. It’s really great to be a part of a team like that.”

Last year, the Blue Demons boasted an overall record of 22-11 and finished fourth in the Big East, but their postseason run left something to be desired.

“This season, I’m looking forward to going further in the tournament,” Aneesah said. “Last year we had a good year, but I want to play against the best and be in the final for the championship game. Overall, I feel like our team is just molding. We have a lot of newcomers and it takes time to create that chemistry.”

Nazlah and Aneesah’s unique chemistry as both sisters and basketball players will look to make an impact on the Blue Demons this season.

“Sisters do have a sixth sense,” Bruno said. “There’s no question about that.”

ALICIA GOLUSKI | THE DEPAULIA

Basketball Preview. The DePaulia Nov. 7, 2022 | 7

Women’s

Doug Bruno

Full Court Coverage

37th season at DePaul 25 NCAA Tournament appereances

ROSTER PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS

Kierra Collier: Sr. 5’6”, G #11 GP/GS: 24/3 7 PPG, 2 RPG, 1.8 APG

Darrione Rogers: Jr. 5’11”, G #21 GP/GS: 33/32 9.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.7 APG

Jade Edwards: Grad. 5’9” G #12 Transfer from American 12.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.3 APG

Anaya Peoples: Sr. 5’11”, G #22 Transfer from Notre Dame 3.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 APG

Aneesah Morrow: So. 6’1”, F #24 GP/GS: 33/33 21.9 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 1.3 APG

DePaul Women’s ‘22-23 Schedule Records from the 2022-23 season

Tara Daye FR-G, #0 5’10”

Keke.

Rimmer SR-G, #1 5’10”

Madison Wardell FR-G/F, #5 6’0”

UConn Huskies Creighton BlueJays Villanova Wildcats DePaul Blue Demons Seton Hall Pirates

Haley Walker FR-G #10 5’8”

Maeve McErlane FR-G #13 5’10”

Nazlah Morrow SR-F, #15 6’1”

St. John’s Red Storm

Butler Bulldogs

FR-F, #20 5’10”

Jorie Allen SR-F #33 6’0”

Kendall Holmes

JR-G, #35 5’11”

23-10(15-5) 24-9 (15-4) 22-11(14-6

24-13 (12-8)

Marquette Golden Eagles 23-11(13-7)

Providence Friars

Zaria Hurston

30-6 (16-1)

12-19 (7-12)

11-19 (6-14) 1-27 (0-18)

Georgetown Hoyas

10-19 (4-15)

Xavier Musketeers

9-21 (4-16)

Conference records in parentheses. Teams listed in order of preseason coaches’ poll.

Nov. 9: American 7 p.m.

Nov. 12: at Northern Ill. 1 p.m.

Nov. 15: Cleveland State 7 p.m.

Nov. 20: Miami 4 p.m.

Nov. 25: Maryland 10 a.m.* Nov. 26: Pittsburg 1 p.m.* Nov. 27: Towson 1 p.m.* Dec. 4: at Butler 1 p.m.

Dec. 7: at Loyola 6 p.m.

Dec. 10: at Northwestern 2 p.m.

Dec. 12: Howard 11 a.m.

Dec. 18: Georgetown 5 p.m.

Dec. 21: Louisville 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 28: Providence 6 p.m.

Dec. 31: Creighton 3 p.m.

Jan. 4: Marquette 7 p.m.

Jan. 8: at UConn 12:30 p.m.

Jan. 11: Villanova 7 p.m.

Jan. 14: at Xavier 1 p.m.

Jan. 18: at Georgetown 6 p.m.

Jan. 21: St. Johns 4 p.m.

Jan. 28: Seton Hall noon Feb. 1: at Creighton 6 p.m.

Feb. 4: Xavier 3 p.m.

Feb. 8: Butler 7 p.m.

Feb. 11: at St. John’s 3 p.m.

Feb. 15: at Seton Hall 7 p.m.

Feb. 18: at Providence 11 a.m.

Feb. 21: at Villanova 6 p.m.

Feb. 25: UConn 1 p.m.

Feb. 27: at Marquette 8 p.m.

March 3-6: Big East Tournament *: DePaul is playing in the Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-Off

Basketball Preview. The DePaulia. Nov. 7, 2022 | 8

Sustained success Morrow & co. look to exceed expectations

Column: Big East on the rise Page 3

Morrow sisters will play together first time Page 6

Womens roster Page 7 RAFI GOLA | DEPAUL ATHLETICS

DePaul sophomore Aneesah Morrow, coming off her standout freshman season, will look to lead a deep tournament run this upcoming year for the Blue Demons.