Jerry Wainwright Out At DePaul, Coaching Carousel Begins

It is never too early to get the coaching carousel spinning.  Especially if you are the DePaul Blue Demons.

According to a report from ESPN's Andy Katz, DePaul has called for an 11 a.m. news conference with men's basketball coach Jerry Wainwright and Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto


Wainwright, who took over my mother's alma mater in 2005 after Dave Leitao left for Virginia after suckering overseeing DePaul's move from Conference USA to the Big East, is as good as gone.

Chicago sports figure David Kaplan chimes in via his Twitter account and announces that assistant Tracy Webster will take over the head coaching duties on an interim basis.

This is where we begin to connect the dots.  Pay close attention, you might get lost along the way.

Let's start here and reference something we wrote back in April.

Sources told WSCR afternoon host Dan Bernstein DePaul had been trying to push Wainwright and his entire staff out the door in an effort to help lure SIU head coach Chris Lowery away from his alma mater. And when Wainwright declined to resign and accept the partial buy-out, heads started to roll.

It was not the first time Lowery has been linked to a power conference gig, nor was it the first time Lowery was linked to the DePaul gig.  In a piece with the Daily Herald, Lindsey Willhite nutted up and asked a damn good question.

(Willhite): OK, I have to ask this only because I see this on the DePaul message boards: They seem to think (Jerry) Wainwright's on his way out and they think somebody like you could come in and save them. You're not going anywhere to save people, are you?

(Note: Lowery's in the second year of a seven-year extension that pays him $750K per year).


(Lowery): The biggest thing for me is, I want to win. That's No. 1. The only way I would leave Southern is if I thought I could go and win somewhere. I make great money. So I don't have to take a job where I feel is going to be detrimental to my career. I don't think I'm going to go anywhere that's detrimental to winning. And that's the thing: I've always been a part of winning, from high school to college to assistant (coach). Every step of the way, I've had some success. At this point, I don't need to go anywhere just for money.

Pay close attention to the language Lowery uses.  He doesn't sound like a man ready to leave.  However, DePaul could be an attractive spot.  It would put Lowery in Chicago, where he has been successful recruiting at times, having brought in players such as Bryan Mullins, Kevin Dillard, Ryan Hare and Tony Freeman.  Lowery also could take advantage of some of the great health benefits Chicago has to offer, including one of the best children's hospitals right in Lincoln Park.

Then again, DePaul has some not-so-good qualities.  It has no true home stadium.  They got rid of its home court advantage years ago to make a little bit more money playing in the Rosemont Horizon Allstate Arena.  The Blue Demons also compete in a stacked Big East conference that features seven schools with RPI rankings of 22 or better.

Not necessarily the kind of place where Lowery could win big and win fast.

And while I know there are many people (just read SalukiTalk and you'll find 'em) that would not mind seeing Lowery take a trip up I-57 and stay there, I just don't think it's happening unless the Blue Demons give him an unbeatable offer he could not pass up.  Still, the DePaul job could shuffle the Saluki coaching staff.

Still with us?  Hope so.

Let's reference another blog we wrote back in late March.

Lance Irvin, who is in his second year as a Saluki assistant and first year with the Associate Head Coach mantra, had his name thrown into the DePaul ring late last year.  Sources confirmed a Chicago Sun-Times noting the Blue Demons' interest in adding Irvin.

So, here we are a year later and I would not be surprised if the Blue Demons come calling again.

Note this passage from the Sun-Times link (now broken):

"[T]his job as an assistant coach at DePaul all comes down to one thing: the Class of 2011. If the head coach at DePaul isn't connected, then the assistant coach has to be ultra-connected to both the Chicago Public League and the AAU scene in the city and suburbs ... With that in mind, it's obvious the new assistant coach absolutely has to have some tie to the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program."



(snip)



The first name is obvious. Southern Illinois assistant coach Lance Irvin is already rumored to be a target. There is no assistant coach more tied into the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team than Lance Irvin, who comes straight from the family tree.

Irvin has already had one go-around with DePaul when he was on Joey Meyer's staff.  I know a lot of people are down on Irvin, especially Saluki fans who expected high-profile recruits from the Mac Irvin fire to come rolling in by the busload.  However, nationally, people love Lance Irvin.  He's a great interview and an intriguing basketball mind.  Granted, I've got insight because I've actually had the opportunity to sit down and have lengthy conversations with the coach, so consider me privileged.

When I last checked in with my DePaul-connected peeps, I was told the Blue Demons would prefer a coach with with strong Chicago ties, just as the Sun-Times story suggested.

Irvin's coaching stock skyrocketed over the summer after attending a black coaches conference.  And in our one-on-one interview back in December, Coach Irvin said his ultimate goal would to be a head coach. 

At this stage, I'll assume there is some buyout involved and DePaul will still be on the hook for some of Wainwright's paycheck.  To me, that means the Blue Demons will be looking for a relatively cheap hire rather than a bank-breaking candidate.

So, what better place for a first job than back in Irvin's home town?

It's January, and we're being completely speculative at this stage of the game.  However, we base this speculation off of written reports from last season, sources we have gathered and connecting some dots along the way.  No coach leaves mid-season to take another job in college basketball.  It just doesn't happen.

And while I'm not 100 percent sure what the future holds for any of the coaches I have named in this blog, I do know an interesting situation when I see one.  Be sure to keep an eye on this one as it develops.  This could be a doozy.

Discuss amongst yourselves, we stayed up way past our bed time to deliver this post.  Time for some shut-eye.