DePaul University

Nov. 3, 2011

DePaul vs. Lewis Saturday, Nov. 5 | 7:30 p.m. McGrath-Phillips Arena | Chicago, Ill. Exhibition Game One
DePaul Information: Game Notes | Roster | Schedule | Media Guide
Lewis Information: Game Notes | Roster | Schedule
McGrath-Phillips Arena:  Tickets | Parking | Seating Chart
BlueTube: Audio | Media Interviews Play-by-Play: Zach Zaidman |Analyst: Laurence Holmes
Next Game:  Game One vs. UT-Pan American Saturday, Nov. 11 | 8 p.m. | McGrath-Phillips Arena Tickets: Ticketmaster | (773) 325-SLAM

CHICAGO - DePaul plays its lone exhibition game of the 2011-12 preseason Saturday night against the Lewis Flyers. The game is the second half of a DePaul basketball exhibition doubleheader with the women’s team facing St. Xavier at 5 p.m. Both games will be at McGrath-Phillips Arena on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus.

The Flyers posted an overall record of 17-14 last season and held a 9-9 record in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Lewis returns seven letterwinners and four starters from a year ago and welcome eight newcomers to the 2011-12 roster.

A year ago, Lewis posted a 70-68 win over DePaul in exhibition play at McGrath-Phillips Arena. The Flyers took a 39-27 advantage at halftime behind a blistering field goal percentage of .696 (16-23) that included a 6-of-10 effort from behind the three-point line. Chris McClellan led the Flyers with 17 points while Mike Stovall led DePaul with 13 points.

The Blue Demons open the 2011-12 regular season on Friday, Nov. 11 against UT-Pan American. The opener is scheduled for an 8 p.m. at McGrath-Phillips Arena and the game can be heard live on WSCR 670 AM in Chicago with Zach Zaidman and Laurence Holmes calling all the action.

What’s Back: Entering the 2011-12 season, DePaul returns seven players including four that started at least 18 games a year ago. Headlining the returners are sophomores Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young. Other top returners include seniors Jeremiah Kelly and Krys Faber and sophomore Moses Morgan.

Melvin was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and to the league’s All-Rookie Team after averaging 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In BIG EAST play, he averaged 17.4 points and 6.3 boards per contest. Melvin was joined on the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team by fellow Baltimore native Young. Young was second on the team with 12.6 points per game along with a team-high 115 assists. The duo picked up BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honors six times during the season with four honors for Melvin and two for Young. They also led all BIG EAST freshmen in scoring throughout the season.

Kelly led DePaul with 31.7 minutes per game last season while totaling 90 assists, 52 steals and a team-high 50 three-pointers. Kelly averaged 7.6 points per game and joined Young as the only players to start all 31 games in 2010-11. Faber returns after leading the Blue Demons with 5.3 rebounds last season. He is one of DePaul’s two tallest players measuring at 6-10 along with freshman Derrell Robertson Jr. Morgan averaged 14.0 minutes per game last season and came off the bench to total 21 three-pointers during his rookie campaign.

What’s New: A four-player freshmen class joins two transfers for six newcomers on the 2011-12 roster. The rookie class includes Montray Clemons (Baltimore, Md.), Jamee Crockett (Chicago, Ill.), Charles McKinney (Evanston, Ill.) and Derrell Robertson Jr. (Pinola, Miss.).

The four rookies are now in Lincoln Park along with transfers Worrel Clahar and Donnavan Kirk. Kirk joined the Blue Demons in January at the start of the Winter Quarter and will be eligible to play following the conclusion of 2011 Autumn Quarter exams just before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Pontiac, Mich. native was a redshirt freshman at Miami (Fla.) at the start of the 2010-11 season. Clahar is a junior college transfer that played the last two seasons at Lawson State CC in Birmingham, Ala. The Brooklyn native ranked among the nation’s top junior college players in steals and assists last season.

Injury Bug Bites Early: DePaul junior Tony Freeland and freshman Montray Clemons will both miss the 2011-12 season after suffering injuries in the preseason. Freeland underwent shoulder surgery on Nov. 2 that will force him to sit out this season while Clemons ruptured his patella tendon in his left knee in warm-ups at DePaul’s Blue Madness.

Locally Grown: The 2011-12 DePaul roster features five players from the state of Illinois. Among those five are Chicagoland natives Joe Belcaster, Jamee Crockett, Jeremiah Kelly and Charles McKinney. The fifth Illinois native is Champaign’s Edwind McGhee.

Six states are represented on DePaul’s active roster with California (Krys Faber), Maryland (Cleveland Melvin, Brandon Young), Michigan (Donnavan Kirk), Mississippi (Derrell Robertson Jr.), Nevada (Moses Morgan) and New York (Worrel Clahar) joining DePaul’s home state of Illinois.

Following St. Vincent de Paul: The DePaul men’s basketball team headed overseas in August for a 10-day excursion in France titled “In the Footsteps of St. Vincent.” While in France, the Blue Demons visited Paris, Toulouse and Nice and finished the trip with a perfect 4-0 record.

Unlike other college basketball overseas experiences, the DePaul men’s program was immersed in the history of St. Vincent de Paul - the namesake of DePaul University - and also used the opportunity to integrate the incoming recruiting class on and off the court. The student-athletes took a course titled “The Life and Times of Vincent de Paul” to prepare for the trip and after crossing the Atlantic Ocean they walked in the footsteps of St. Vincent de Paul.

Noting the Blue Demons: The men’s basketball program is 1,372-861 (.614) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 548 straight games... DePaul’s last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... three players recorded a four-point play during the 2010-11 season... Cleveland Melvin was intentionally fouled on a lay-up and made the two free throws against Ball State on Dec. 11... Jeremiah Kelly was fouled on a three-pointer and made the free throw against Loyola-Chicago on Dec. 18... Moses Morgan also converted the four-point play on a fouled three-pointer and free throw against Cincinnati on Feb. 8.

Three Decades in Rosemont: DePaul enters its 32nd season in 2011-12 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Blue Demons are 307-132 (.699) all-time in Rosemont. DePaul played its first season at the then-named Rosemont Horizon in 1980. The Blue Demons debuted in Rosemont with a 74-56 win over Gonzaga and John Stockton on Dec. 1, 1980.

Pre-Conference Action: DePaul is scheduled to play in the Old Spice Classic and BIG EAST/SEC Challenge during the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The Blue Demons head to Orlando for the 2011 Old Spice Classic. The event will be held Thanksgiving weekend, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 24, 25 & 27, at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla. Joining DePaul in the field for the sixth annual event is Arizona State, Dayton, Fairfield, Indiana State, Minnesota, Texas Tech and Wake Forest.

DePaul is facing Ole Miss in the 2011 BIG EAST/SEC Challenge on Dec. 1. The Blue Demons and Rebels square-off at Allstate Arena on the first day of the three-day event that features 12 games between BIG EAST and SEC programs.