1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	27–2
Head coach	Ray Meyer (39th season);
Assistant coach	Joey Meyer (7th season)
Captain	Mark Aguirre
Home arena	Rosemont Horizon

1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1		–		–	27	–	2	.931
No. 7 Notre Dame		–		–	23	–	6	.793
Southern Miss		–		–	20	–	7	.741
James Madison		–		–	21	–	9	.700
Fordham		–		–	19	–	9	.679
Cleveland State		–		–	18	–	9	.667
Stetson		–		–	18	–	9	.667
Saint Peter's		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Tennessee State		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Marquette		–		–	20	–	11	.645
Old Dominion		–		–	18	–	10	.643
Penn State		–		–	17	–	10	.630
St. Francis (Pa.)		–		–	17	–	10	.630
Siena		–		–	17	–	10	.630
South Carolina		–		–	17	–	10	.630
Dayton		–		–	18	–	11	.621
Long Island		–		–	18	–	11	.621
Texas–Pan American		–		–	18	–	11	.621
Illinois State		–		–	16	–	11	.593
Wagner		–		–	16	–	11	.593
UNLV		–		–	16	–	12	.571
William & Mary		–		–	16	–	12	.571
North Texas State		–		–	15	–	12	.556
Southeastern Louisiana		–		–	14	–	13	.519
Iona		–		–	15	–	14	.517
Richmond		–		–	15	–	14	.517
Fairfield		–		–	13	–	13	.500
UNC Wilmington		–		–	13	–	13	.500
New Orleans		–		–	13	–	14	.481
Towson State		–		–	13	–	14	.481
East Carolina		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Fairleigh Dickinson		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Valparaiso		–		–	12	–	15	.444
Campbell		–		–	11	–	16	.407
George Mason		–		–	10	–	16	.385
St. Francis (N.Y.)		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Navy		–		–	9	–	16	.360
Robert Morris		–		–	9	–	18	.333
Baptist		–		–	8	–	19	.296
Northern Iowa		–		–	8	–	19	.296
Army		–		–	7	–	19	.269
Portland State		–		–	7	–	20	.259
Manhattan		–		–	6	–	20	.231
Nicholls State		–		–	6	–	22	.214
Baltimore		–		–	5	–	21	.192
Catholic		–		–	4	–	20	.167

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team represented DePaul University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by head coach Ray Meyer, in his 39th season, and played their home games at the brand new Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont. For the second year in a row the Blue Demons were a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Once again DePaul lost in the second round, this time to St Joseph's 49–48.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	21	Dennis McGuire	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Holy Cross	River Grove, Illinois
G	23	Clyde Bradshaw	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	East Orange	East Orange, NJ
F	24	Mark Aguirre	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Westinghouse	Chicago, IL
F	32	Terry Cummings	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Carver	Chicago, IL
G	44	Skip Dillard	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr

Head coach

Ray Meyer

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 22	No. 2	vs. No. 3 Louisville	W 86–80	1–0	Springfield Civic Center (8,937) Springfield, Massachusetts
December 1	No. 2	Gonzaga	W 74–56	2–0	Rosemont Horizon (11,370) Rosemont, Illinois
December 6	No. 1	Santa Clara	W 88–71	3–0	Rosemont Horizon (15,556) Rosemont, Illinois
December 8	No. 1	Northern Illinois	W 93–56	4–0	Rosemont Horizon (14,711) Rosemont, Illinois
December 13	No. 1	at Texas	W 83–65	5–0	Frank Erwin Center (16,006) Austin, Texas
December 16	No. 1	at North Texas	W 92–86	6–0	Super Pit (9,100) Denton, Texas
December 19	No. 1	vs. Loyola (IL)	W 71–67	7–0	McGaw Memorial Hall (4,992) Evanston, Illinois
December 20	No. 1	vs. Northwestern	W 62–54	8–0	McGaw Memorial Hall (6,543) Evanston, Illinois
December 27	No. 1	No. 3 UCLA	W 93–77^[1]	9–0	Rosemont Horizon (16,702) Rosemont, Illinois
December 29	No. 1	vs. Georgetown	W 72–67	10–0	San Diego Sports Arena (8,825) San Diego, California
December 30	No. 1	at San Diego State	W 85–69	11–0	San Diego Sports Arena (11,044) San Diego, California
January 3	No. 1	Furman	W 78–65	12–0	Rosemont Horizon (14,557) Rosemont, Illinois
January 6	No. 1	at Maine	W 85–77	13–0	Alfond Arena (4,803) Orono, Maine
January 10	No. 1	Old Dominion	L 62–63	13–1	Rosemont Horizon (14,858) Rosemont, Illinois
January 13	No. 4	St. Louis	W 93–67	14–1	Rosemont Horizon (13,398) Rosemont, Illinois
January 18	No. 4	Wagner	W 90–75	15–1	Rosemont Horizon (16,168) Rosemont, Illinois
January 24	No. 3	at La Salle	W 69–62	16–1	The Palestra (8,558) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 28	No. 3	at Illinois State	W 54–50	17–1	Horton Fieldhouse (8,529) Normal, Illinois
February 1	No. 3	Syracuse	W 91–69	18–1	Rosemont Horizon (16,020) Rosemont, Illinois
February 4	No. 3	Detroit	W 69–58	19–1	Rosemont Horizon (15,103) Rosemont, Illinois
February 7	No. 3	UAB	W 77–66	20–1	Rosemont Horizon (16,232) Rosemont, Illinois
February 9	No. 3	Creighton	W 83–57	21–1	Rosemont Horizon (16,473) Rosemont, Illinois
February 14	No. 3	at Evansville	W 61–53	22–1	Roberts Municipal Stadium (11,818) Evansville, Indiana
February 21	No. 3	Marquette	W 78–71	23–1	Rosemont Horizon (17,013) Rosemont, Illinois
February 23	No. 3	at Butler	W 89–64	24–1	Hinkle Fieldhouse (13,465) Indianapolis, Indiana
February 28	No. 4	Loyola (IL)	W 105–95	25–1	Rosemont Horizon (17,106) Rosemont, Illinois
March 4	No. 2	at Dayton	W 84–64	26–1	University of Dayton Arena (13,455) Dayton, Ohio
March 8	No. 2	No. 6 Notre Dame	W 74–64^[2]	27–1	Rosemont Horizon (17,579) Rosemont, Illinois
NCAA Tournament
March 14	(1 ME) No. 1	vs. (9 ME) Saint Joseph's Second Round	L 48–49^[3]	27–2	University of Dayton Arena (13,455) Dayton, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source:^[4] ^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	1	Mark Aguirre	Dallas Mavericks
2	38	Clyde Bradshaw	Atlanta Hawks

References

^ "Aguirre and DePaul Savor Sweet Revenge After Routing UCLA". The New York Times. December 28, 1980. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "BRADSHAW LEADS DEPAUL VICTORY". The New York Times. March 9, 1981. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
^ "Another Sad Ending for Aguirre". The New York Times. March 16, 1981. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
^ "1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ "1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "Aguirre and DePaul Savor Sweet Revenge After Routing UCLA". The New York Times. December 28, 1980. Retrieved February 13, 2022.

[2] "BRADSHAW LEADS DEPAUL VICTORY". The New York Times. March 9, 1981. Retrieved December 5, 2021.

[3] "Another Sad Ending for Aguirre". The New York Times. March 16, 1981. Retrieved December 5, 2021.

[4] "1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[5] "1980–81 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.

[ESPN-6] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
Venues	University Auditorium (1923–1956) Alumni Hall (1956–1980) Allstate Arena (1980–2017) Wintrust Arena (2017–present) McGrath-Phillips Arena (practice/alternate 2000–2017)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics