Wichita State agrees to future men’s basketball series with Big East opponent DePaul
Wichita State and DePaul have agreed to a future home-and-home men’s basketball series, according to a release from WSU on Tuesday afternoon.
The Shockers will play in Chicago at Wintrust Arena during the 2024-25 season, while DePaul will make the return trip to Wichita at Koch Arena during the 2025-26 season. Game dates will be determined by July 1 of each respective year.
WSU has two other non-conference opponents booked for its 2024-25 schedule, including a road trip to Western Kentucky and a home date against Kansas State. DePaul’s visit to Koch Arena is the first announced matchup for the 2025-26 season.
The origin of this series can be traced to the relationship between each school’s athletic director, as WSU’s Kevin Saal and DePaul’s DeWayne Peevy worked together for a decade in Kentucky’s athletic department from 2008-19.
WSU and DePaul have split eight previous meetings with the most recent game coming in the 2013 CBE Classic semifinals in Kansas City; the Shockers won that game 90-72. WSU also won 72-62 over the Blue Demons in the 2012 Cancun Challenge, the only other meeting between the two programs in the past three decades.
Tony Stubblefield just completed his second season at DePaul with a 10-23 record and 3-17 record in Big East play, which translated to a No. 155 ranking in the final NET. WSU is entering the first season under new head coach Paul Mills.
A lot can change with a full season still to play before the two programs square off, but the Shockers will be hoping DePaul can finish in the top-135 of the NET for the 2024-25 season to ensure the road trip to Chicago will qualify as a Quad 2 opportunity for WSU. Road games against top-75 opponents count as Quad 1.
This story was originally published April 25, 2023 at 5:05 PM.
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