Local Talent Strus Leads A Streaking DePaul
By Sean Brennan
Special to BIGEAST.com
Max Strus was not what you’d call a hot commodity on the college basketball recruiting circuit after a stellar career at Stagg High School in Hickory Hills, Illinois, about a half hour outside the Chicago city limits.
After averaging 19 points and nine rebounds in his senior season, just one Division I school came calling with a scholarship offer and Strus’ dream of playing big-time Division I basketball was, for at least awhile, on hold.
“I had one Division I offer from Chicago State but the rest were from Division II schools,” said Strus, DePaul’s superlative junior guard. “So I chose to go to Lewis (University), a very high-quality Division II school that my brother (Marty) went to and it was a school that I loved. It was a good program that could compete with lower Division I programs. I wanted to go Division I, but at the end of the day it didn’t work out. But I got a chance to go play at a good Division II school.”
Strus went on to enjoy a memorable two seasons at Lewis where he earned Division II All-American honors and was named a finalist for the Bevo Francis Award as one of the top players in small college basketball.
All of a sudden, there was lots of Division I interest
“After I had two really good years at Lewis I decided I wanted to challenge myself at the next level,” said the Blue Demons’ 6-6 sharpshooter. “Once I got my release I decided I wanted to go to a Big Ten, BIG EAST or ACC school and if I didn’t get any of those I was going to go back to Lewis. But I ended up getting a couple of BIG EAST offers and DePaul was a great fit for me. It’s a family environment, my mom (Debra) went here. (Debra Strus, who played both basketball and volleyball at DePaul, was inducted into school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000).
And if Strus keeps up what he’s started at DePaul, he may one day be joining his mom in DePaul’s Hall. So far this season, his first with the Blue Demons after sitting out last season as a transfer, Strus is leading the team in scoring (15.3 ppg.), three-pointers made (24), field goals made (50), steals (15) and minutes played (333). But perhaps the biggest numbers for DePaul involves wins as the Blue Demons currently stand at 6-4 after winning their last five straight going into Saturday’s Northwestern game.
So are we finally witnessing the beginning of the long-awaited basketball renaissance at DePaul?
“It’s a great program and I think we’re leading it in the right direction,” said Strus, who was also wooed by BIG EAST schools Butler and Xavier. “We’re getting better every day.
Strus said an added bonus of choosing DePaul was it made his mother happy as she and the family can now go see Max play Division I close to home.
“She was surprised actually. She was happy overall but she didn’t think I was going to pick DePaul,” Strus said. “I really liked my visit and I liked the coaches and everything and I built good relationships. So I liked everything about it. She’s happy now because she can watch me play because they only live about 30 minutes away.”
So with talented players like Eli Cain and Tre’Darius McCallum already on the DePaul roster, is Strus surprised he has become such a leader and vital cog in the Demons’ machine in just a handful of games?
“I knew what I was getting myself into,” Strus said. “I knew the role that I was going to have. I want to say I expected this but I work on my game every day to make sure that I’m the best I can be, so things seem to be going good so far. We’re 6-4 and we’d like to have a couple of those losses back (like the OT loss to Oregon in Portland). But we’re making strides and each and every one of us is getting better every day.”
As Strus prepared to hit the court for practice Thursday afternoon, he said there were some fans in the stands and news media on hand to preview the Blue Demons game against Northwestern on Saturday. Fans watching a DePaul practice? Now if that isn’t a sign of the tide turning at DePaul....
“Yeah there’s definitely more of a buzz about us now,” Strus said. “People are talking about us now in the city. We have a five-game winning streak and hopefully we keep that going with a win against Northwestern on Saturday. People are talking about us, they’re coming to our games and our new stadium is beautiful. A lot of people are just hyped about it so hopefully we can keep up the winning and more people will jump on the bandwagon.”
Strus helped Lewis win its first Great Lakes Valley Conference title in 14 seasons during his sophomore season and now he has his sights set on improving DePaul in the BIG EAST standings this season and beyond.
“Yeah that’s the plan,” Strus said. “We’re just trying to be better every day and get this program back to where it was before. We’re going to try and make the NCAA Tournament this year and just build a winning environment and change the culture around here.”
One thing that would be a huge boost to the program would be a strong showing on Dec. 27 when Villanova, the No. 1 team in the land, invades the Wintrust Arena to open BIG EAST play. So is that contest already circled on the Demons’ calendar?
“We’re taking things one game at a time,” Strus said. “We’re not good enough yet to be looking past anyone to Villanova right now. All of our focus is on the Northwestern game right now but that Villanova game, hopefully we’ll all be ready for it by then. They’re No. 1 in the country so hopefully there will be a lot of people here and can help us win that game. That will be a big one.”