DePaul basketball moves on as Wainwright era ends

Asserting DePaul boasts all of the resources necessary to be successful in the Big East, athletics director Jean Lenti Ponsetto announced Jerry Wainwright's firing on Monday as well as a national search for a proven coach who can recruit Chicago.

"We'd certainly like to have a better foothold in the Chicago area," Ponsetto said. "I don't think there's any question about that. I think we all recognize that that is where we've made our history and our tradition.

"We think that's been really positive for us, so we'd like to go back to that."

But first, DePaul (7-8, 0-3 Big East) still has half a season to play.

Ponsetto, who named top assistant Tracy Webster as the interim head coach, didn't discount the rest of this season's importance when she decided to dismiss the 62-year-old Wainwright (59-80 at DePaul) at this time.

"Obviously, we could've made a change at the end of last year," said Ponsetto, referring to DePaul's 9-24 overall record and 0-18 run in Big East play.

"I was optimistic and I think Coach was optimistic that, as we transitioned some players and we started to move more into a class of student-athletes that were young men that he had recruited, that our success rate would start to increase."

DePaul started quickly with a win over Northern Iowa (14-1) and a 4-point loss to Tennessee (12-2), but junior center Mac Koshwal's leg injuries accelerated the team's December descent.

The Demons lost at home to American University (3-13) on Dec. 16 without Koshwal, then fell at Florida Gulf Coast (5-10) on Dec. 22 in Koshwal's first game back.

DePaul then proceeded to lose its first three Big East games by an average of 19 points. Its 27-point loss at No. 6 Villanova on Wednesday was the final straw for Ponsetto.

"I just felt like I didn't want to repeat the same end of a season that we had last year," she said, "and felt like if we had an opportunity to salvage it and go in a different direction, then that would be the best course for us right now."

Webster, who joined DePaul in the offseason after three years at Illinois and two at Kentucky, never has been a head coach.

The 38-year-old Harvey native, together with assistants David Booth and Billy Garrett, has been given a simple charge.

"My expectation for the rest of the season is that our kids compete," Ponsetto said. "That is not an unrealistic expectation. He's got a task ahead of him that he's got to coach our kids up a bit - and that they would be competitive.

"We saw some glimmers of some positiveness in a couple of our first Big East games, but the fact (is) that we didn't finish and take care of business the way that we should have."

Ponsetto indicated Webster and Garrett have a chance to be the next coach. At the same time, DePaul is better positioned to make a big-money hire than when Ponsetto introduced Wainwright in April 2005.

"We have the financial resources to pay a top-level coach," Ponsetto said. "We're going to look to get someone who has been successful in the profession. That could mean high-profile."

Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery fits the bill as someone who has been successful and boasts a strong Chicago recruiting presence.

Second-year Toledo coach Gene Cross, who was Dave Leitao's top assistant at DePaul during their successful 2002-05 run, has a strong presence on the Chicago recruiting scene as well.

One potential wrinkle in the hiring process Ponsetto would like to keep Webster, Garrett and Booth on the staff after the search shakes out.