The 2024 DePaul Prep Boys basketball season was one to remember. With 35 wins and 2 losses, the team made their way to state for the second year in a row.
The boys started their season off by playing in the Chicago Catholic league. In this league, they were undefeated and took first place which advanced them into the playoffs.
Unlike last year, the boys were placed into the 3A division which was an advancement from the 2A division they played in last year. This division was more challenging with harder teams to face. However, the boys won state again after moving up a division, which was the first time this has happened in IHSA basketball history.
Tom Kleinschmidt, the head varsity basketball coach, explained how thrilled he was with how the boys played this season. “I am very proud of the boys this season,” said Kleinschmidt.
Kleinschmidt contrasted this year to last year, “We used bigger guys together on the court. We usually play 1 big and 4 guards playing at a quicker and faster pace. We were still fast paced this year but we went with our 6 ‘7, and two 6’6 players which was a problem for some opponents.”
Kleinschmidt explained that going with a “bigger lineup” was the biggest change the team made from last year to this year, and this change overall led the team to going far into the season.
When it came to the overall performance of the team this season, Kleinschmidt said that “when the lights were on some of the guys tended to fold or get a little nervous and some guys rose to the occasion.” As a team, Kleinschmidt believed that the team’s overall performance rose to the occasion.
Junior at DePaul Prep and Varsity player, Rob Walls, said that his favorite part of the season was winning state. “It was my main goal going into the season,” said Walls. He believed that he significantly grew as a player this season. “I feel like I’ve grown this season individually by raising my confidence and leadership for the team.”
Comparing this year to last year, Kleinschmidt said that he thought the team “shot the ball well, and finished at the rim and the paint with our bigger guys better this year.” In the end, this led the team to increasing their scoring average.
“Unfortunately, we are going to miss four seniors next year,” said Kleinschmidt. Even though the seniors will be gone, the team is excited to welcome some new sophomores to the team.
Kleinschmidt explained that he is excited to bring back some players from this season to next year’s season. “We are bringing back some guys that are young but still have playing experience, so I’m looking forward to coaching those guys and the new guys coming up from the sophomore team.”
Ready for the season next year, Kleinschmidt said, “we have a good core group of guys and maybe we can make another run next year.”
