Chris Holtmann’s First Year at DePaul
March 14, 2024, began the Chris Holtmann era at DePaul. The previous season, the team failed to win a single Big East conference game and ended the year 3-29. The program was in despair and desperately needed rebuilding. DePaul hired an experienced head coach and ended up with Chris Holtmann, who had previously had success at Butler and Ohio St. Holtmann fit precisely what DePaul needed: an experienced coach who could recruit.
Holtmann joined a team without a roster member, and it was up to him to rebuild. He secured several key transfers from the portal, including Conor Enright, Isaiah Rivera, and CJ Gunn. Holtmann immediately became successful as the Blue Demons started the year 7-0. It’s challenging to come into a program having to rebuild the entire roster from ground zero, and it showed that Holtmann was the man for the job. After the hot start, DePaul started to fade due to the schedule becoming more challenging but was still competitive in most games. The last couple of years for DePaul fans were tough, and it looked like the program had no real direction. It was clear Holtmann had already brought an identity to the team that they could build upon. Then, on January 17, 2025, DePaul beat Georgetown 73-68, their first conference win after 39 straight losses. They could not capitalize on the momentum but remained competitive throughout conference play and ended up finishing 4-16 in the Big East, including winning their last two games. The conference tournament started, and there wasn’t much hope as they missed several key players, Conor Enright and forward David Skogman
Holtmann had other ideas, and DePaul won their first game, beating Georgetown for the third time. DePaul was bruised and battered going into their next game at Creighton, but it didn’t matter, and they fought till the end. They ended up losing in double-overtime to the second-seeded Creighton Bluejays after what was an incredibly hard-fought game. Holtmann has turned the program around in one year and has rejuvenated a sleeping fanbase at DePaul. They hope to return some of their key players from this year, but Holtmann will also need financial backing to compete at the top of the Big East. DePaul is a program to buy stock in now, as Chris Holtmann is building something exciting in Chicago.
