When Dave Leitao left DePaul for Virginia 10 years ago, he said the school would “always have a special place in my heart.”
On Sunday, Leitao and the Blue Demons rekindled their relationship when the school announced he will return as the Blue Demons’ coach in a move that surprised some in the college basketball community.
Leitao, 54, will take over for Oliver Purnell, who resigned earlier this month after going 54-105 in five seasons.
Sources said Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew and Buffalo’s Bobby Hurley were DePaul’s top targets for the job.
Leitao said he didn’t understand DePaul’s promise when he left in 2005.
“I underestimated what a special place DePaul University and the city of Chicago are,” he said in a statement. “The dedication and support here to the growth of student success is second to none, not only for a basketball program but also for the entire student body.”
A news conference to introduce Leitao is scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday. Leitao was 58-34 overall and 30-18 in Conference USA in three seasons as DePaul’s coach from 2002-05 (DePaul has since joined the Big East). He led the Blue Demons to two NIT appearances and their last NCAA tournament berth in 2004.
One source surprised by the hire told the Tribune that DePaul’s administration runs the athletic department “like a corner family-owned grocery store, not like a Walmart.”
Leitao spent four seasons at Virginia, where he was 63-60, tied for an Atlantic Coast Conference title and led the Cavaliers to one NCAA tournament. His teams didn’t finish better than seventh in the ACC his other three years there.
He was an assistant coach at Tulsa this season and before that spent two years in the same position at Missouri. Leitao is 143-129 in nine seasons as a Division I coach.
DePaul assistant Billy Garrett Sr. is expected to remain on staff, according to a source. Garrett is the father of the team’s best player, point guard Billy Garrett Jr.
DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto said the head coaching position “garnered high-level national interest.”
“His success here speaks for itself ,” Lenti Ponsetto said of Leitao. “When he left in 2005, we recognized that it is the nature of our business that dynamic coaches get recruited away.”
The school hired Parker Executive Search to assist with the search.
Drew and Hurley both were considered front-runners for the job. A source told the Tribune that Leitao wasn’t in the running for any other jobs.
Drew is most remembered for his buzzer-beater that put No. 13 Valparaiso into the 1998 Sweet 16. He has led Valpo to two NCAA tournaments, three regular-season conference titles and two Horizon League tournament titles in four seasons as coach. He’s 94-41 for Valpo and signed a 10-year contract extension in December 2013.
Hurley, who led Buffalo to its first NCAA tournament appearance this season, played in three Final Fours and won two national titles at Duke. He has a contract extension offer from Buffalo that would make him the highest-paid basketball coach in the Mid-American Conference. His teams are 42-20 over two seasons.
Leitao isn’t the first basketball coach to return to the school after leaving. Women’s coach Doug Bruno left DePaul in 1978, only to return in 1988. Since then he has led the program to 20 NCAA tournaments.
“Our men’s basketball program needs to win,” Bruno said in a statement. “Dave Leitao is not only a proven winner, his teams also have won against the best programs and best coaches in the country.”
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