Why college basketball in Chicago could be on the rise this season
There seemed to be a theme to this year's Chicago college basketball luncheon, something along the lines of, “The buzz is back.”
“The arrow is going up in Chicago basketball,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said, to give one example.
That's easy for Collins to say, since his Wildcats finally ended the inglorious distinction of never playing in the NCAA Tournament. Northwestern has higher hopes for this campaign, with six of its top seven scorers are back.
The banquet room at Maggiano's in River North was packed with people and loaded with optimism last week. Then again, the event was pushed to earlier in the day to avoid conflicting with a Cubs playoff game.
So it's worth asking, is the buzz really back?
There's a rich history to Chicago college basketball, but it's becoming more distant by the year. Fans need to be well into their 40s to remember DePaul's run as a national powerhouse or its 1979 Final Four appearance.
DePaul and Illinois-Chicago haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2004. The absence is even longer for Northern Illinois and Loyola. Needless to say, there's work to be done to produce any sort of legitimate buzz, and Loyola coach Porter Moser feels qualified for the task.
“I did grow up here. I used to go to Ray Meyer's basketball camp,” said Moser, a graduate of Benet Academy in Lisle. “I lived through the Mark Aguirre years. It was awesome.
“I know how this town is one of the greatest sports towns. You watch what Chris (Collins) did last season and how the city got behind it.”
A search did provide several reasons to believe the coming season will at least be interesting when it comes to local college basketball. Here are a few:
Building blocks
The biggest local news this year is DePaul moving back into the city full time after three decades at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. The Blue Demons officially will open the new Wintrust Arena in the South Loop on Nov. 11 against Notre Dame.
“(It will help) a lot,” DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. “It's not going to get us any more points, obviously. But that kind of buzz and energy really sets a tone, and can create a bond, a love affair between a team and a city.”
In other arena news, Northwestern will play its home games at the Allstate Arena this season while Welsh-Ryan Arena undergoes a gut rehab.
The timing is a bit unfortunate, but anyone who has tried sitting in the bleachers to watch a Wildcats game will surely welcome the results when the building reopens.
Shifting rivals
Moser believes Loyola can be a serious contender to win the Missouri Valley Conference this year and fully admits the Ramblers' cause will be aided by the departure of Wichita State for the American Athletic Conference.
Loyola lost top scorer Milton Doyle but returns the next four leading scorers, all of whom shot at least 42 percent from 3-point range last season. The Ramblers also have a couple of suburban freshmen in 6-foot-9 Cameron Krutwig from Jacobs and 6-7 Christian Negron from Larkin.
“We feel like we're in a different place mentally,” Moser said. “(Four years ago), we were just happy to get into the Missouri Valley Conference. Now our conversation is, we're going to be in the mix to win the Missouri Valley Conference.”
Shifting rivals, Part 2
To replace Wichita State, the Missouri Valley snared Valparaiso, the three-time defending regular-season champion of the Horizon League.
That switch could help UIC, which finished 17-19 last year with a freshman-dominated lineup. Coach Steve McClain brings back his top six scorers, including 6-7 forward Dikembe Dixson, the Horizon League freshman of the year in 2015-16, who was lost to a knee injury in the 10th game of last season.
Help accepted
All of the city schools made interesting additions with assistant coaches.
UIC hired former Illinois star Dee Brown, one of the heroes of the 2005 national runner-up. Loyola added Drew Valentine, older brother of Bulls forward Denzel. Collins and Northwestern pulled former Glenbrook North star Billy Donlon away from Michigan.
DePaul, meanwhile, turned some heads by adding Shane Heirman to the coaching staff. Heirman is a McHenry native who attended Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock.
He's best known for heading northern Indiana basketball powerhouse La Lumiere School the past three years. La Lumiere was USA Today's top-ranked team in the country last season.
The Blue Demons bring back two of their top three scorers, but their roster is filled with 11 newcomers. One is 6-4 Austin Grandstaff, who was rated the 50th-best player by ESPN in the Class of 2015.
He made stops at Ohio State and Oklahoma before sitting out at DePaul last year. Jalen Coleman-Lands, the No. 34-ranked player on that 2015 list, is sitting out this season after transferring from Illinois.
DePaul has five former La Lumiere players on the roster, including Coleman-Lands.