Eli Cain has seen his share of hard times in his brief career at DePaul.
In his first two seasons in Chicago, Cain has been part of a Blue Demons team that has posted an overall record of 18-45 along with a humbling 5-31 mark in BIG EAST play. That’s not to mention seeing his Demons regularly playing in front of sparse home crowds at the Allstate Arena, a facility which is a good distance from the DePaul campus.
But Cain is optimistic about this season. Heck, you might even say he’s bordering on ebullient, as he discussed the Blue Demons’ upcoming season. Why the positive vibes? It’s a combination of moving into a brand new home -- Wintrust Arena -- combined with an influx of offensive talent that Cain thinks will finally help the Demons turn the corner as a program.
“It was tough times the last two years,” Cain said. “But coach (Dave) Leitao always says you have to go through something to get to something. So the last two years we went through some hard times and now this year it’s like fresh air. I’m excited.
Excited because now Cain shouldn’t be shackled with having to carry the offense all by his lonesome this season. Cain led the Blue Demons in scoring last season at 15.6 points a game, but Billy Garrett Jr. graduated and took his 14.9 points a game out the door with him.
So who is on hand to play wingman for Cain? He is most excited about a trio of newcomers -- transfers Max Strus and Austin Grandstaff along with grad student Marin Maric -- who are expected to land starting jobs or at least play major minutes this season.
“Our two transfers that sat out last year are really going to help us,” Cain said. “Max Strus and Austin Grandstaff are really going to be a big help. I think they both bring something individually to the game. Max is one of the more athletic guys I’ve been around, a real confident guy who knows what he wants to get done. And Austin is one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen. And the big guy, Marin, comes in and he has a crazy high (basketball) IQ. He can pass the ball and at 7-0 can step out and shoot the three. I think we have a really good group. If we can put it together, we can do something special this year.”
With the new faces now on board, it will be up to Leitao and his staff to make the puzzle pieces fit in hopes of bringing a promising season to Chicago.
“We hope we got some new pieces that will add more scoring opportunities and more depth like a successful basketball team should have,” Leitao said. “Now we have to try and put those new pieces together with Eli and (sophomore guard) Brandon (Cyrus) and guys who played a lot of minutes for us and gained that experience in wins and losses that you need. Now it’s my job to put the pieces together to create chemistry that is sorely needed and necessary because the difference between winning and losing is minute. Being around this league in different capacities, it’s been a very hard league to win in, especially on the road. So now we have to put the pieces together which is the hardest part of our job right now, to make them understand what it takes to win.”
Cain said the roster is full of the right people to allow the Blue Demons to play a more uptempo style this season.
“The way coach Leitao wants us to play is a high pace, get up and down the floor,” Cain said. “We have a lot of versatile guys like Tre’ (Tre’Darius McCallum, a 6-7 senior), me, Max, guys that can play two, three, four different positions. The offensive talent we have this year is way, way better than what we had last year. We have guys that can shoot the ball and we have an inside presence now. Offensively we’re going to be phenomenal.”
A newly-refurbished team now ready to unveil its new home to a DePaul fan base that has been waiting for something good to come down the pike for a while now. And Leitao thinks the new Wintrust Arena will be another vital piece to turning around the program.
“It’s been monumental to say the least,” Leitao said. “It’s something people in Chicago have talked about for a long, long time. Everyone in Chicago knows the challenge of being at the airport and not being in the city has taken away the essence of being a city school. So first and foremost, coming back to the city is a great thing for our fan base because the convenience of getting to games to support us is there. Our families, our boosters, our fan base, it makes it so much more convenient and more entertaining for them to be there. It’s a game-changer and it’s a beautiful arena.”
Cain said the new area, just minutes from campus, will lead to larger crowds and a genuine “home court” advantage. Something the Blue Demons have not enjoyed in quite some time.
“When I would talk to fans and the students, they would always say how far away the Allstate Arena was and that’s why they weren’t coming to the games,” Cain said. “But now the Wintrust Arena is only a 15-minute ride from campus. It’s right in the city so I think that will play a huge role in getting fans out to our games now.”
And when they do arrive on gameday, what can Demons’ fans expect to see from the home team?
“It’s perfect timing. We got the new arena and this is the year people are expecting us to make the turn as a program and we also expect that,” Cain said. “We have the new arena, new players, it’s just a whole change. We’re going to shock a lot of people this year. We’re going to prove a lot of people wrong.”