DePaul Blue Demons
Encyclopedia
The DePaul Blue Demons are the intercollegiate athletic teams of DePaul University
, located in Chicago Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA
Division I and is a member of the Big East Conference
.
In 1900, when the first athletic team to represent DePaul University was organized, the monogram "D" was selected for the uniforms. From this originated the nickname "D-men" which evolved into "Demons." The blue, which combines with Demons, signifies loyalty and was chosen in 1901 by a vote of the student body. The university's official school colors are royal blue
(PMS 287) and scarlet
(PMS 185).
Men's Intercollegiate Sports
Women's intercollegiate athletic teams
who led the team to the NCAA Division I basketball Final Four
in the 1978–1979 season. The school's only national championship came in 1945 after winning the NIT tournament. The team has played at the Allstate Arena
since 1980.
The men's basketball coach, Jerry Wainwright
, was fired on January 11, 2010. Assistant coach Tracy Webster will be the interim coach for the remainder of the current season. Wainwright still had two years remaining on his contract at the time of his firing. Wainwright's first season with his young team was erratic, beating No. 16 Wake Forest
84-81 before falling to Old Dominion by a score of 87–43 (the worst defeat in the team's history), and then beating future Big East Champion, Syracuse
, 108–69 on March 2, 2006. In the 2006–2007 season, the Blue Demons beat powerhouse #5 Kansas, pulling off one of the greatest upsets in school history. They also beat 2006 NCAA tournament teams California
, Northwestern State, Marquette
, Connecticut
, and Villanova
. The team made it to the NIT and lost in the bracket final to Air Force.
The Demons opened up the 2008 season with two of their star players gone to the NBA. But freshman Dar Tucker
and Mac Koshwal look to fill in those spots and senior Draelon Burns is already a star. Four games into the 2007-2008 season, Wainwright logged his 200th career win as a head coach. He has made six post-season appearances in his previous 12 years as head coach. The 2007–08 season saw the Demons with a 10–19 record, but there were high points in the year. DePaul had upsets over Villanova University
, then ranked #15 nationally and ultimately a member of the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and Northwestern
. However, things took a turn for the worse during the 2008-2009 season. DePaul went 0-18 in regular season Big East play, setting a school-record for longest losing streak, before winning their first Big East Conference
tournament
game against Cincinnati. During the 2009-10 season, head coach Jerry Wainwright was fired and replaced by Oliver Purnell
of Clemson University
after the season ended.
is entering his 22nd year as head coach of the team. He recently completed a two-year term as president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
.
since 1999. It finished the 2006-07 season ranked sixth in the final USA Today/NFCA Poll. The women's softball team has participated in the NCAA World Series several times in recent years. Head coach Eugene Lenti and his staff were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Mideast Region Staff of the Year.
Division II. The team plays a 25-30 game schedule against regional opponents from the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States
, including: Indiana University
, University of Illinois, Illinois State University
, and Northern Illinois University
. Home games are played at the Northshore Ice Arena. In 2009 the team made the ACHA Division II National Championship Tournament for the first time in the team's history.
Division II level in the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference
in the GRLC Northeast Division. DePaul Lacrosse rivals include: Augustana College
, St. Louis University, Palmer College of Chiropractic
and Wheaton College
as well as other MCLA opponents. They play their home games at Diversey Harbor (Chicago Park District) and Techny Field in Glenbrook, IL.
They promote 'epic flow' hair-styles and 'top cheese' shot-locations.
'Neath your banner,
'Neath the scarlet and the blue,
While in song we
Tell your praises
Praises for old DePaul U
Let the battle
wage and threaten
Yours the victory to claim;
As we fight beneath your standard: Proud!
Exulting in your name.
D - E - M - O - N S
(repeat first verse and conclude with "D-E-P-A-U-L")
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
, located in Chicago Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I and is a member of the Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
.
In 1900, when the first athletic team to represent DePaul University was organized, the monogram "D" was selected for the uniforms. From this originated the nickname "D-men" which evolved into "Demons." The blue, which combines with Demons, signifies loyalty and was chosen in 1901 by a vote of the student body. The university's official school colors are royal blue
Royal blue
Royal blue describes both a bright shade and a dark shade of azure blue. It is said to have been invented by millers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of which won a competition to make a dress for the British queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz....
(PMS 287) and scarlet
Scarlet (color)
Scarlet is a bright red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange. It is redder than vermilion. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel one-fourth of the way between red and orange. Scarlet is sometimes used as the color of flame...
(PMS 185).
Sports
DePaul University fields 13 sports, 6 men's and 7 women's:Men's Intercollegiate Sports
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- Soccer
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Track & Field
Women's intercollegiate athletic teams
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- Soccer
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Track & Field
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
Men's basketball
The school is well known for its basketball program which gained prominence under Ray MeyerRay Meyer
Raymond Joseph Meyer was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well-known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record...
who led the team to the NCAA Division I basketball Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
in the 1978–1979 season. The school's only national championship came in 1945 after winning the NIT tournament. The team has played at the Allstate Arena
Allstate Arena
Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in Rosemont, Illinois.It is home to the Chicago Rush, of the Arena Football League, DePaul University's men's basketball team, the Chicago Wolves, of the AHL, and the Chicago Sky, of the WNBA.It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and...
since 1980.
The men's basketball coach, Jerry Wainwright
Jerry Wainwright
Jerry Wainwright is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at Fresno State University, he was most recently the head coach of the DePaul University Blue Demons. Following his mid-season firing in 2010, Wainwright left college basketball to promote charity causes in North...
, was fired on January 11, 2010. Assistant coach Tracy Webster will be the interim coach for the remainder of the current season. Wainwright still had two years remaining on his contract at the time of his firing. Wainwright's first season with his young team was erratic, beating No. 16 Wake Forest
Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their homecourt is the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Their only Final Four appearance was in 1962 and through the years they have produced several NBA players. The Demon Deacons have...
84-81 before falling to Old Dominion by a score of 87–43 (the worst defeat in the team's history), and then beating future Big East Champion, Syracuse
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, 108–69 on March 2, 2006. In the 2006–2007 season, the Blue Demons beat powerhouse #5 Kansas, pulling off one of the greatest upsets in school history. They also beat 2006 NCAA tournament teams California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Northwestern State, Marquette
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and Villanova
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
. The team made it to the NIT and lost in the bracket final to Air Force.
The Demons opened up the 2008 season with two of their star players gone to the NBA. But freshman Dar Tucker
Dar Tucker
Dar Tucker is a professional basketball player. In both 2010 and 2011, he won the D-League Slam Dunk Contest. During his DePaul University years, he averaged 18.5 points per game as a sophomore.-References:*-External links:*...
and Mac Koshwal look to fill in those spots and senior Draelon Burns is already a star. Four games into the 2007-2008 season, Wainwright logged his 200th career win as a head coach. He has made six post-season appearances in his previous 12 years as head coach. The 2007–08 season saw the Demons with a 10–19 record, but there were high points in the year. DePaul had upsets over Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
, then ranked #15 nationally and ultimately a member of the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and Northwestern
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. However, things took a turn for the worse during the 2008-2009 season. DePaul went 0-18 in regular season Big East play, setting a school-record for longest losing streak, before winning their first Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
tournament
Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
The Big East Men's Basketball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Big East Conference. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Since 1983, the tournament has been held in Madison Square...
game against Cincinnati. During the 2009-10 season, head coach Jerry Wainwright was fired and replaced by Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the head coach at DePaul University. Purnell previously served as the head coach for Clemson University, the University of Dayton, Old Dominion University, and Radford University.-Early years:Purnell was born in Berlin,...
of Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
after the season ended.
Women's basketball
DePaul's NCAA women's basketball reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in the program's history in 2006. Head Coach Doug BrunoDoug Bruno
Doug Bruno is the head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team. In 2008–09, he completed his 23rd season as head coach. In 2007, Bruno completed a two-year term as President of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, a position to which he was elected by his peers...
is entering his 22nd year as head coach of the team. He recently completed a two-year term as president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
Women's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels.The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches.The mission of the WBCA is:...
.
Softball
The DePaul women's softball team has participated four times in the Women's College World SeriesWomen's College World Series
The Women's College World Series is the final portion of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for college softball in the United States. The tournament format consists of two four-team double-elimination brackets. The winners of each bracket then compete in a best-of-three title game series...
since 1999. It finished the 2006-07 season ranked sixth in the final USA Today/NFCA Poll. The women's softball team has participated in the NCAA World Series several times in recent years. Head coach Eugene Lenti and his staff were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Mideast Region Staff of the Year.
Club sports
DePaul offers a number of other intercollegiate club athletic teams under the Department of Recreational Sports.Ice hockey
DePaul University has an ice hockey club team called the DePaul University Hockey Club that competes as an Independent team in the Central Division of ACHAAcha
Acha is a HINDI word for OK.Acha is also an Ewokese word for OK. Ewokese is a language used in the Star Wars Ewok Adventures: Caravan Of Courage / The Battle For Endor* Acha, Argyll and Bute, Scotland...
Division II. The team plays a 25-30 game schedule against regional opponents from the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including: Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, University of Illinois, Illinois State University
Illinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
, and Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
. Home games are played at the Northshore Ice Arena. In 2009 the team made the ACHA Division II National Championship Tournament for the first time in the team's history.
Lacrosse
DePaul University fields Men's Lacrosse at the non-varsity club level at the MCLAMen's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association is a national organization of non-NCAA, men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United States and Canada...
Division II level in the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference
Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference
The Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference is a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association . The GRLC incorporates teams in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin and is divided into two divisions, Division I and Division...
in the GRLC Northeast Division. DePaul Lacrosse rivals include: Augustana College
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...
, St. Louis University, Palmer College of Chiropractic
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Palmer College of Chiropractic is a chiropractic school located in Davenport, Iowa. It was established in 1897 by Daniel David Palmer and is considered "The Fountainhead" as it was the first school of chiropractic in the world. For many years, Palmer College of Chiropractic was the world's largest...
and Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
as well as other MCLA opponents. They play their home games at Diversey Harbor (Chicago Park District) and Techny Field in Glenbrook, IL.
They promote 'epic flow' hair-styles and 'top cheese' shot-locations.
Volleyball
DePaul University's Men's Volleyball Club competes at the division 1AA level, hosts and travels to several tournaments per year, competing against clubs from across the nation. The Blue Demons practice and play their home matches at the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center. In 2011, the Blue Demons finished 3rd at the NCVF National Championships in Houston, Tx, their best finish in club history.Facilities
- Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IllinoisRosemont, IllinoisRosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States located immediately northwest of Chicago. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that...
has been the home of Blue Demons men's basketball since 1980. - Cacciatore Stadium is the 1000-seat softball field for Blue Demons Softball.
- McGrath-Phillips Arena is a 3,000 seat indoor arena located in the Sullivan Athletic Center. It is the home of women's basketball and volleyball.
- Wish Field is the home of Blue Demons men’s and women’s soccer programs.
Mascot
DePaul's mascot is DIBS which stands for Demon In a Blue Suit. DIBS is present at every Blue Demons basketball game and makes frequent appearances at DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus and charity appearances around the Chicago metropolitan area. While the Blue Demon nickname has been around for many years, the Blue Demon mascot took the game floor for the first time in 1968 with a papier-mache head and old warm-up suit. Through the years, the Blue Demon has taken on many forms in its evolution and was dubbed DIBS in 1999.Blue Demons fight song
We will gather'Neath your banner,
'Neath the scarlet and the blue,
While in song we
Tell your praises
Praises for old DePaul U
Let the battle
wage and threaten
Yours the victory to claim;
As we fight beneath your standard: Proud!
Exulting in your name.
D - E - M - O - N S
(repeat first verse and conclude with "D-E-P-A-U-L")