Against all odds, Naughton still on court for DePaul

Precedent wasn't on Deirdre Naughton's side.

By the end of last season, the DePaul guard had used up her five years of athletic eligibility. But she had played only three years of basketball.

As a freshman, she played a full season at Wake Forest. Then she transferred to DePaul prior to her sophomore year and was forced to sit out the season because of NCAA transfer rules.

The next two seasons went as expected, but last year a week into her final season she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in a game at Northwestern.

Naughton was sidelined for the entire season, and was technically done.

Without getting to play that fourth and final year, she knew that her collegiate career would never feel complete.

So Naughton, with the backing of DePaul's athletic department, went on the offensive.

She appealed the NCAA for a rare sixth year of eligibility.

And we mean rare.

In fact, DePaul knows first-hand just how rarely those sixth years are handed out by the NCAA.

A few years ago, former DePaul standout Charlene Smith found herself in the exact same position Naughton was in. She got only three years of court time after a transfer and a medical redshirt year and appealed the NCAA for a sixth year.

Smith was rejected.

Over the summer, Naughton found out that she had been rejected, too.

And yet, just last week, Naughton entered a DePaul game for the first time this season, cleared by her doctors after finally finishing the last stages of her knee rehab.

She will be a major weapon for the Blue Demons, who have opened the season with an 8-1 record.

“We appealed the first decision,” Naughton said. “You get one appeal and if they say no again, that's it.”

The second time around, the NCAA said yes. And now, Naughton is finally getting her fourth season of basketball, six years into her college career.

Having already graduated with a degree in education, she is now working on her masters.

“We just asked (the NCAA) to look closer at my circumstances and we gave them more information to help with their decision,” Naughton said. “I think the key in my case was that each time I missed a season it was due to circumstances beyond my control.”

Yep, even Naughton's transfer was not a choice made freely.

Naughton, who was a high school star at New Trier, was doing just fine at Wake Forest when she learned that her father John had become very ill.

“I needed to be closer to home for my dad,” said Naughton, whose family still lives in the North suburbs. “He still has a lot of health issues and I need to be nearby for my family. That is a situation that's really not in my control, just like the knee injury.

“I asked the NCAA to see that, so I wrote a pretty detailed personal statement to explain the situation and my feelings more. I went deeper into my reasons for asking.”

Naughton's heartfelt letter compelled the NCAA to show its heart.

Four months after she sent in her original appeal, Naughton found out in August that her wish had finally been granted.

“It was a really hard summer not knowing and then being denied the first time and then having to wait some more,” Naughton said. “I was so happy when I found out that I got the sixth year.

“It was so devastating when I got hurt last year because I had put so much work into having a good senior year. I'm glad I get to try again for that.”

If Naughton's senior year ends up being anything like her sophomore and junior seasons, DePaul will be in good shape.

As a sophomore, Naughton was named honorable mention all-Big East after leading the Blue Demons with 67 three-pointers. She averaged 12 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game as a starter.

As a junior, Naughton upped the ante and was named an honorable mention all-American by the Associated Press. She led DePaul in scoring (15.5 ppg), 3-pointers (54) and assists (4.6 apg).

“When you lose a player of Deirdre's caliber, you feel empathy for her, but as a coach, as a team, you have to move on and try not to think too much about what you're missing,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. “But now that we have her back, it just hits you between the eyes about what we did miss.

“We were missing a go-to player when Deirdre went down. She can score, she can get the ball to her teammates, she's an all-around player and we were so thrilled to find out that she got that sixth year.”

But Bruno, always an optimist, admits that even he had severe doubts he would ever see Naughton in a DePaul uniform again.

“I wasn't overly confident, I'll be honest, because Charlene didn't get it,” Bruno said of the sixth year. “But God knows, we're not questioning it.”