Chris Holtmann era begins as DePaul hosts Southern Indiana

Chris Holtmann has a chance to revive the DePaul program -- and his own coaching career -- at the same time.

The new-look Blue Demons will tip off the season trying to keep visiting Southern Indiana from pulling off an upset Monday night in Chicago.

Following a brutal 3-29 season, DePaul hired Holtmann, who led Butler and Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament a combined seven straight seasons in which the tourney was held. However, his Buckeyes went 16-19 in 2022-23 and 14-11 in 2023-24 before he was fired on Feb. 14.

Now, Holtmann's guides a Blue Demons' program that hasn't had a winning season since 2018-19. Adding more intrigue, DePaul doesn't return a single player from last season's squad, with more than 10 coming in via the transfer portal.

"Target a specific style of play that we want to play and recruit to that," said Holtmann, who wants his team to shoot a high 3-point percentage and push the pace.

"We've also really tried to target guys who can rally around the idea of making DePaul relevant again."

Jacob Meyer (15.7 ppg at Coastal Carolina in 2023-24), Isaiah Rivera (15.4 at UIC), David Skogman (13.3 ppg at Davidson) and Conor Enright (started 33 games at Drake) could be DePaul's core this season.

Holtmann could get a good look at his roster versus Southern Indiana, which looks to improve on an 8-24 campaign. Entering their third season at the Division I level, the Screaming Eagles were picked eighth in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference.

Chicago-area product Jack Mielke returns after averaging 8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds while starting all but two games for Southern Indiana last season. Meanwhile, VMI transfer Stephen Olowoniyi (7.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg in 2023-24) is expected to be an immediate contributor for the Eagles.

"Just excited to push the reset button," Southern Indiana coach Stan Gouard said.

"Just give ourselves a chance to compete. ... Just being competitive night in, night out."

--Field Level Media