They have played in famous places from Durham, N.C., to Lawrence, Kan., to Westwood in Los Angeles.
They were raised for this experience before they thought of becoming DePaul Blue Demons. There were traveling teams and summer leagues and all those hours on hot asphalt, all leading to what will happen Thursday.
The players from DePaul will step off a bus and into a scene they have envisioned for years. There will be people in the stands for practice at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. Friday night the Demons will meet Kansas in their school’s first NCAA tournament game since 1992.
Several weeks ago, when DePaul’s postseason credentials were still in doubt, Quentin Richardson listened to a question about pressure. The look in his eyes suggested he was surprised that the subject was an issue.
“This is something I’ve been doing ever since I can remember,” Richardson said that day. “I feel like once I get out on the court, it’s just basketball.”
This week the Demons are stepping into a world that is not quite the same outside the lines of the court. The presence of top-seeded Duke at the first-round site in Winston-Salem will create a heightened demand for tickets and an intense atmosphere around the games. Pat Kennedy understood the sensation from his days as an Atlantic Coast Conference coach at Florida State. He also understands it is a difficult one to describe.
“They’ll feel more of that when they get there,” Kennedy said before his team left campus.
The Blue Demons’ coach was talking about his team’s arrival for the practices Thursday. DePaul’s success in channeling powerful emotions as the Demons point to the game against the Jayhawks will help determine how long their first NCAA experience lasts.
“You don’t want to get too high emotionally,” said Rashon Burno, a sophomore point guard and co-captain, and a member of New Jersey state championship teams at St. Anthony High School.
“We’re still a young team,” Burno said. “Sometimes we don’t control our emotions on the court.”
Controlling emotions will be especially important because the Demons will have a rare advantage in experience at several positions. Kansas, which has struggled through 23-9 season, is expected to start three freshmen and a sophomore. Kirk Hinrich, its freshman point guard, did not become a starter until late in the season.
DePaul’s problem was clear Saturday afternoon, soon after the Demons took the court for the Conference USA championship game against St. Louis. They appeared uncharacteristically animated during the introductions of the starting lineup. They bumped and jumped and yelled. Then the ball was tossed into the air, and some of them did not know where to go.
Paul McPherson’s theory was that several teammates overlooked St. Louis. Burno and Richardson took an opposing view. They believe the Demons were too excited to function efficiently, a problem for a young team playing in a championship game for the first time.
“I think it was [a factor],” Burno said of the excessive emotion. “I think we got up a little too much. We failed to do the little things you need to do to win games.”
The result was a series of breakdowns that Kansas coaches could study and exploit. Burno, who averaged 32 minutes in the three conference tournament games, became the target of the St. Louis defense. DePaul often struggled to make the first pass in its half-court offense.
“If somebody cuts your head off,” Kennedy said, “the rest of the body has trouble operating.”
