Big East Roundup: DePaul Blue Demons Continuing Rebuild

This is one in a series of stories covering roster changes around the Big East heading into the 2025-26 college basketball season.

After going winless in Big East play during the 2023-24 season, DePaul managed to scrape together a 4-16 record during their first season under head coach Chris Holtmann.

The Blue Demons lost four of their five initial starters from last season, bringing back just Layden Blocker, a junior guard who managed 9.5 points and 3.1 assists per game, the latter leading the team.

However, they also managed to retain seniors N.J. Benson and CJ Gunn, often thrust into the starting lineup as a result of injuries. Gunn, a 6-foot-7 guard, led the Blue Demons in scoring with 12.9 points and four rebounds per game, while Benson, a 6-foot-8 forward, put up nine points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 21.9 minutes per night. 

Other returning Blue Devils include redshirt freshman Nate Kasher and sophomore Théo Pierre-Justin, who appeared in 17 games despite not making it onto campus from his native France until September.

Major portal losses include Conor Enright and Jacob Meyer, both of whom spent time in the starting lineup; departing transfers Chris Riddle and David Thomas played sparingly, while Sekou Konneh didn’t play at all.

Two four-stars headline the Blue Demons’ recruiting class, 6-foot-6 guard Kris McClure, who averaged 23.9 points per game as a junior in high school, and seven foot tall forward Isaiah Medina, who On3 ranked among the Top 75 in his class. 

The Blue Demons also brought in preferred walk-on Jonas Johnson, a 6-foot-7 forward, and 6-foot-3 Serbian guard Ilija Milijaševic, who averaged 12.4 points and 3.7 assists on the European circuit last season, making 44.3 percent of his three-point shots.

Blue Demons Transfer Class

Headlining the Blue Demons’ transfer class is four-star power forward Kaleb Banks, a senior who put up 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks with Tulane last year.

DePaul suffered brutal injury news in recent weeks, with 6-foot-8 transfer guard Amsal Delalić going down with a torn ACL. A medical redshirt should give the rising sophomore, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, three more years of eligibility.

The Blue Demons managed to bring in 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maker, poaching him from Big East champion St. John’s. Another international player, Maker, a rising sophomore, hails from South Sudan and played just two minutes last season.

RJ Smith, a 6-foot-3 guard with three seasons of eligibility remaining, transferred in from Colorado after putting up 6.2 points in an average of 21.8 minutes per game. 6-foot-8 junior forward Jeremy Lorenz averaged eight points and 3.8 rebounds off the bench for Wofford last season, while Brandon Maclin, a 6-foot-5 guard, netted ten points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists at Radford in his first taste of Division I basketball. 

Maclin, a senior, began his college career with two years at the JUCO level. He could potentially obtain another year or two in college thanks to a recent NCAA rule change that doesn’t count JUCO seasons against eligibility.