The 2017-18 season will be a season of fresh starts for the DePaul Blue Demons. Gone are veterans such as Billy Garrett Jr. and Levi Cook and coming in are top recruits (Justin Roberts) and impact transfers (Marin Maric). With Eli Cain, who is the their best player and leader, still there, it feels like things could be looking up for the Blue Demons. It will also help that they will be playing in a new arena this season. Finally gone are the days of DePaul students commuting out to Rosemont’s Allstate Arena to catch the basketball game. The Blue Demons will be playing at Wintrust Arena on the Chicago lakefront, a stadium that is much closer to their campus and hopefully for the program, it could mean a much-needed increase in attendance. From the pictures of the court, it looks pretty good and here is a time-lapse video of how the court was installed via a press release by the school itself.

A new home could be a good sign for the Blue Demons and it will all begin with an exhibition game on November 5th. But the real welcoming party to the new arena will be when DePaul takes on Notre Dame a week after on Saturday, November 11th.

With a new home and a lot of new faces, there is some optimism surrounding Dave Leitao’s squad. While it may take a while for DePaul to be even competitive in the Big East, they certainly have a chance to climb out of the cellar that they’ve occupied for the past couple of years. The program is trying to rebuild and let’s see if they take a step in the right direction next season.