1977 DePaul Basketball: A Detour On The Road To Glory

The DePaul basketball program came into the 1977 season on a high. They were coming off a Sweet 16 trip in ’76, a run that ended an 11-year NCAA Tournament drought. The key players were mostly back in the fold. But while the program was trending in the right direction, 1977 proved to be one of those hard-luck years—between injuries and tough losses, the Blue Demons return to national prominence was delayed.

Dave Corzine was the foundation, and the junior center rang up big numbers, averaging 19 points/13 rebounds per game. Joe Ponsetto, another junior, joined sophomore Curtis Watkins at the forward spots. Ponsetto averaged a 13/8 line, while Watkins was good for 10/7.

Ron Norwood, the senior leader, was the backcourt, knocking down 12ppg and averaging five assists. Gary Garland, a sophomore who was the cousin to Dionne Warwick and half-brother to Whitney Houston, had a good singing voice himself—and was also a tough young player at the guard position.

THE DIFFICULT START

DePaul had the pieces, and they were ranked #18 to start the season. But the early months didn’t go as planned.

DePaul went to fourth-ranked UCLA on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and lost 76-69. That was expected, but dropping a 68-66 decision to a shaky Wisconsin team was not. After a 3-2 start, the Blue Demons went on the road to play Maryland and Indiana and lost both. While the Terps and Hoosiers were both ranked teams—and Indiana was the defending national champion, we know in retrospect that neither team was very good in 1977.

A soft schedule was needed to build some momentum .DePaul won six of their next seven. This stretch still included the eventual NIT champ in St. Bonaventure and a 20-win Army squad coached by Mike Krzyewski.

The bar for making the NCAA Tournament in this era was high—only 32 teams would qualify—but at 9-5, the Blue Demons still had hope of saving their season when they hosted Marquette on January 29.

MORE WINTER BLUES

A blizzard pummeled the Midwest. Notre Dame had to cancel their game in South Bend because Fordham couldn’t make it in. Marquette was able to make it down I-94 into Chicago. That proved to be DePaul’s misfortunes. The Warriors, ranked ninth in the nation, dropped an 85-65 hammer on the Blue Demons.

Ray Meyer’s team kept spiraling. Injuries to Norwood and Watkins weren’t debilitating, but they had interrupted DePaul’s efforts to build any kind of rhythm. And it showing against good teams. They lost at home to 21-win Creighton. They lost on the road to 16^th-ranked and NCAA-bound Providence. In between, DePaul dumped a road game to mediocre Duquesne.

DePaul finally bounced back with a 94-76 win over crosstown rival Loyola-Illinois. But there was still nothing to suggest what was coming on Valentine’s Day in Milwaukee.

A REDEMPTIVE MOMENT

It was the return trip to play Marquette. The Warriors were coached by Al McGuire, in his final season, and on the way to a national championship in March. This Monday night in Milwaukee turned into Corzine’s showcase. He dropped in 26 points, and the Blue Demons won a 77-72 thriller in double-overtime.

Beating the Warriors wasn’t going to save the season—DePaul won three of their next four, and dropped their home finale to Notre Dame, bound for the Sweet 16, in a 76-68 decision—a result oddly similar to the UCLA loss that had begun this rocky journey. But the Marquette win was at least a proverbial feather in the cap.

TEMPORARY SETBACK

DePaul’s 14–11 finish in 1977 left fans frustrated. After the Sweet 16 breakthrough of the previous year, it was fair to wonder if the Blue Demons had simply caught lightning in a bottle. But with hindsight, the story of ’77 looks different. This season was less a step backward than a pause before the next surge forward.

Corzine had continued his emergence a reliable cornerstone. A roster where Norwood was the only notable departing senior gained experience, even if it was forged through disappointment. And the double-overtime win over Marquette showed DePaul could still punch with the best.

The tough lessons of ’77 were a part of the climb. One year later, DePaul was in the Elite Eight and in 1979 they made the Final Four. The return to prominence was not delayed for long.