Possessed to find success
DePaul’s Dave Leitao, part of the building of the UConn men’s program, grasps what the Huskies bring to the new Big East
Some of UConn’s upcoming Big East rivals will be old, some new. And then there is DePaul, coached by one of the family.
“There’s some nostalgia to it,” said Dave Leitao, going into the sixth season of his second stint as DePaul’s head coach. “But there’s a right-now moment that you’ve got to be prepared for, because not only will they be able to bring good teams, but great fans and a great venue to play in. As a competitor, you understand what that means for you and the business at hand, because you’ve added an integral and highly competitive piece to an already great league.”
Leitao, 60, played for Jim Calhoun at Northeastern, then coached for him, and followed him to UConn as an assistant in 1986. During two long stretches on Calhoun’s staff, he was part of the Dream Season and the first NCAA championship team. In between and afterward, he has been a head coach at Northeastern, DePaul, Virginia and, after coaching in the NBA’s developmental league, took over at
DePaul again in 2015.
“We’re in Chicago, so there’s an expertise that Chicago sports fans expect,” Leitao said. “There is an understanding of the history of DePaul and following that