Over the last two weeks, DePaul officially added graduate transfer Femi Olujobi and freshman Darious Hall, who moved on from North Carolina A&T and Arkansas, respectively. Blue Demons’ coach Dave Leitao spoke with WeAreDePaul about what they each bring to the floor.

WeAreDePaul: How did you expect to replace Marin Marin and Tre’Darius McCallum in the transfer market?

Dave Leitao: The dynamics of the process of recruiting have changed so much. Big guys are hard to come by, and good ones are even harder. I try not to panic because there’s more people to look at in different situations [with graduate and JUCO transfers]. Because Marin [Maric] had worked out so well as a fifth-year [player] and Tre’[Darius McCallum] after junior college, it gave me the confidence that if you’re patient, something can happen. Sometimes, you can get a guy with some size, and he has offensive ability. It’s rare. We had that with Marin.

We got fortunate on a couple of different fronts. One, to get a guy particularly from the offensive end with Femi [Olujobi]. Then, Jaylen Butz has been tremendous this spring, and Paul Reed [has too]. Knowing that they’ve gotten a little bit older and better would help fill the void that both Tre’ and Marin have left.

WeAreDePaul: Maric was great at running the floor in transition. What stands out with Olujobi?

DL: Both [of them] with the ball in their hands can do something with it. Femi runs it [the floor] as well. With Femi, what we’d like to do is run it a lot more than we did last year. Having him do that [and] trail on the break...You can pick-and-roll with him. You can pick-and-pop with him. He’s also an accomplished low-post player. It’s just a matter of getting him comfortable as quickly as he can.

He’s an aggressive battler [on the glass] and a competitor. That’s his calling card, and at the end of the day, when you put the ball in his hands, he can put it in the basket.

WeAreDePaul: How did you evaluate Olujobi during the recruiting process?

DL: He was hurt [and recovering] in his two years at Oakland. He had broken his [left] leg [in high school]. There wasn’t physical or mental comfort for him [there]. When he left Oakland and went to [North Carolina] A&T, that got him healthy and his mind healthy...His first full year there back on the court, it was his coming out party and his proving ground. Since high school, he’s always been a guy that can score the basketball. Having gone to two schools, it was part of the balance that he learned from to get to this point where he’s really confident in himself.