Column: Why Chris Holtmann is the right choice to lift DePaul men's basketball out of irrelevance

CHICAGO, Ill. - Chris Holtmann probably should be anywhere else.

He had an idea of where he could possibly be on his mind, which was somewhere warm and not standing in Wintrust Arena on a 30-degree day where snow flurries filled the Chicago air. 

"My intent probably was to take a year off," Holtmann said. "You could just be sitting on a beach somewhere and collecting your check."

No, yeah.

He’s got a point.

Ohio State is paying him $12.8 million to NOT coach the final month of the 2023-2024 season and beyond. Why should DePaul, or any team for that matter, have been on his radar when the alternative is getting $12.8 million to do literally anything else?

At this point, I’m even wondering why he’s not taking his check and checking out.

Holtmann, admirably, still has his ambition intact. His desire to keep coaching is there, and that desire told him he is the guy who can fix DePaul basketball.

"As I got into this thing I said it was really the challenge," Holtmann said. "That was, at the end of the day, probably the deciding factor."

This is why Holtmann is the right guy. 

He’s going to be the guy who finally turns DePaul basketball around, not just because he can, but because he wants to be.

Rarely ever is there a coach as accomplished as Holtmann on the market before the season ends. Ohio State decided they wanted to make a change, instead of giving him one more chance to turn it around.

I personally don’t understand it – Holtmann started his OSU tenure with five-straight 20-win seasons – which should have bought him more time, especially considering the buyout number. 

But, I also don’t make these kinds of decisions. I do understand how sports are a "what have you done for me lately?" type of business, though.

In that same kind of business, DePaul has been swinging and missing for almost two decades. Entrusting Dave Leitao, Jerry Wainwright, Oliver Purnell, Dave Leitao (again) and Tony Stubblefield just dropped the program deeper as it tried its best to find relevance in the Big East.

Fate, or whatever deities exist in the basketball catechism, decided to toss DePaul the easiest pitch to hit. Ohio State’s loss is DePaul’s gain.

When Holtmann speaks, he does so with the conviction and confidence like a coach who has executed turnarounds before and coached in high-stake games. As the old saying in sports goes: "Act like you've been there before." DePaul, looking for a coach who can bring the program back to the Big Dance, now has one that's been there seven times as a head coach and once more as an assistant.

If it weren’t for Holtmann, who would have taken the DePaul job? Director of athletics DeWayne Peevy said he wanted a high-major coach and that he would have waited for a coach that was currently in the NCAA Tournament if he really wanted that coach, but considering where the program is why would a high-major coach take the DePaul job when so many have tried and failed.

DePaul tried to get a coach who made NCAA Tournaments in Purnell, then went for a coach who had success in the past at DePaul in Leitao and finally went for an up-and-coming assistant coach in Stubblefield. None of those choices worked.

I give Peevy credit. He did recognize more investments were needed to get DePaul’s "house in order" to make sure the Blue Demons were an attractive destination. These investments included curating an operating budget, improving salary pool for coaches and building an NIL foundation at DePaul.

Without that, I’m not sure Holtmann would have been convinced. His list of necessities included those investments, as well as the investment in a new practice facility, which Peevy reaffirmed is on schedule for 2025.

Still, Holtmann wants to do what’s seemingly impossible. 

There’s no foundation in place in Chicago to draw the best recruits to Lincoln Park. DePaul has been irrelevant since 2004. Bringing the Blue Demons back to any conversation will be a tall task.

What Holtmann will have is support from leadership that’s been upfront that improvements have been necessary. Peevy said Holtmann was a "perfect hire for DePaul," while Holtmann was "just incredibly impressed throughout the whole process" with how aligned Peevy and DePaul president Rob Manuel were with their expectations for the program.

One of the major criticisms of Holtmann in his OSU tenure was the Buckeyes never made it past the Round of 32 with Holtmann as head coach.

DePaul has not been in a position to be that picky since 1982.

Honestly, if Holtmann takes DePaul to four NCAA Tournaments as he did Ohio State, Peevy might just offer him a life-time contract.

But, if recent history has shown anything, it’s that Chicago can care about college basketball as it does its professional teams. Look no further than Rogers Park.

Loyola Chicago captured the hearts and excitement of Chicagoans with its Final Four run in 2018 and its subsequent Sweet Sixteen run in 2021. Although DePaul might not have its own Sister Jean, the Ramblers proved its possible to shake the professional-sports-related apathy that hangs over college basketball in Chicago.

If Holtmann can win games in five-straight years in the Big Ten, win 20 games at Garner-Webb and recharge Butler after Brad Stevens’ departure, I believe he can be the guy to lift DePaul out of its lowly state.

The one thing he needs is patience from leadership and the time to do things his way.

It seems like DePaul is giving him both based on what Peevy said Monday.

If they let him, Holtmann will get it done. Just as he envisioned that beach he could have been on in his head, he also envisioned the success DePaul could have.

"I've envisioned the excitement and the energy around the place," Holtmann said. "To do it at a place that maybe is craving it in a way is appealing."

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