1982 DePaul Basketball: Deja Vu Heartbreak
DePaul basketball was on a high coming into the 1982 season, yet also a program with a lot to prove. They had made the Elite Eight in 1978, the Final Four in 1979, and went to both the 1980 and 1981 NCAA Tournament ranked #1 in the country. But those latter two years ended with devastating Round of 32 upsets. The 1982 Blue Demons continued right in that pattern—they had a fantastic season and got a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament—and promptly lost on the first weekend.
CUMMINGS TAKES THE TORCH
DePaul lost star forward Mark Aguirre to the pros, but 6’9” junior Terry Cummings was ready to step right in. Cummings averaged 22 points/12 rebounds per game, was a 1st-team All-American, and ended up as the second overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
Cummings got help from Bernard Randolph, a small forward who averaged 15 points/5 rebounds. Skip Dillard was a senior leader in the backcourt, and he knocked down 14 a night. Tyrone Corbin was a freshman forward who helped out on the boards, getting six rebounds a night.
Aguirre’s loss tempered expectations a little bit, but not entirely—DePaul opened the season ranked #8 in the nation.
DECEMBER TESTS
Five wins against a modestly decent schedule got the Blue Demons off and running. That set up a visit to UCLA. The Bruins were ranked #17 coming into this game and ended up with 21 wins, even though probation kept them out of the NCAA bracket in March. DePaul dropped an 87-75 decision.
But after an easy midweek win, the Blue Demons got another chance the following Saturday, the day after Christmas. They hosted Louisville, ranked eighth nationally and bound for the Final Four. DePaul got a big 75-68 win. They went on to win beat three more teams that fell in the “modestly decent” category. By the first weekend of January, they were 10-1 and ranked #5 in the polls.
STILL A NATIONAL CONTENDER
Dayton was a respectable program, and they came to Chicago and gave the Blue Demons a scare. DePaul escaped with a 71-69 win. They went to visit NCAA-bound Old Dominion and came home with a 70-60 victory. And even bigger W came at home over UAB, who would ultimately reach the Elite Eight. The Blue Demons sent them back to Birmingham with a 79-68 loss.
By the end of January, DePaul soared at 18-1 and was fourth in the national polls. They hadn’t skipped a beat, even with the loss of Aguirre.
BEATING THEIR RIVALS
Marquette, a traditional rival in this day of Catholic independents in the Midwest, and Evansville would both make the NCAA Tournament. In fact, they played each other. Over five days in early February, DePaul survived battles with both teams. The Blue Demons went north to Milwaukee and nipped the Warriors 67-66. The home date with the Purple Aces was another one-point affair, and DePaul came out with a 59-58 triumph.
With that, they were able to roll through the balance of the regular season. The Blue Demon season ended early, a week prior to Selection Sunday. In the recent years past, their finale against Digger Phelps’ Notre Dame program would have been a signature game on the national landscape. But the Irish were going through a painful rebuilding year. DePaul went to South Bend and won 81-69.
The opportunity for vindication was there. The Blue Demons were ranked #2 in the polls with their 26-1 record. Veteran head coach Ray Meyer, known for his jovial good nature, said that being #2, instead of #1 like the previous two years, surely meant they would win at least one game this time.
But alas, the pattern would hold.
DALLAS DISASTER
The NCAA Tournament was a 48-team affair in 1982, so teams seeded 1 thru 4 got byes into the Round of 32. DePaul, the top seed in the Midwest, ended up playing 8-seed Boston College down in Dallas. This was a good Eagle team, coached by Dr. Tom Davis, who played at a faster tempo that’s common today, but it was innovative in 1982. BC was quarterbacked by a future pro guard in John Bagley.
Cummings was ready to play, and the star forward went off for 20 points/17 rebounds. The Blue Demons clung to a 34-33 lead at halftime. But they weren’t shooting consistently. In an era prior to the three-point line, hitting 50 percent from the floor was a common threshold for efficiency. Both Dillard and Randolph shot a hair under that, even as they combined for 30 points. As a team, the Blue Demons only hit 44 percent of their shots.
Meanwhile, the Boston College guards were cooking. Bagley knocked down 26. Michael Adams, a little point guard who could drive the pace, scored 21. DePaul allowed 54 percent shooting. And they lost the game 82-75.
THE MIXED LEGACY SETS IN
It was a third straight tough ending for a program that was producing excellent teams but now had an inescapable reputation for March shortcomings. 1983 saw a temporary step back—Cummings skipped his senior year for the NBA, and DePaul missed the NCAA field in ’83. By 1984, they were back and a #1 seed. This time, they were able to advance to the Sweet 16, but no further. The Blue Demons dominated in the first half of the 1980s. March was just a tough nut to crack.