DePaul students, alumni call for firing of AD in newspaper ad
DePaul’s fanbase has reached a boiling point after 11 straight losing seasons.
A full-page ad appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times this weekend calling for the firing of DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto. The ad pointed to the futility of the Blue Demons men’s basketball program under Ponsetto’s tenure as well as their tens of millions in sunk costs. Noted at the bottom was that the ad was “paid for by concerned students and alumni of DePaul University.”
The @Suntimes Sunday Paper is out! #FireJLP pic.twitter.com/Btmc3uZ2fH
— Lazybluedemon (@lazybluedemon) March 10, 2018
Ponsetto was hired as DePaul’s AD in 2002 and enjoyed a moderate run of success, making three NIT Tournaments and one NCAA Tournament in her first five years. She also helped oversee a move to the Big East Conference in 2005. Since then however, DePaul has failed to qualify even a single time for either tournament and has furthermore had a total of zero winning seasons.
The Blue Demons went 11-20 this season (tied for ninth in the conference) and fell to Marquette in the first round of the Big East Championship. They have also gotten Eurostepped by some of their bigger-name coaching targets in recent years. As such, going with a new athletic director may be the only way left for DePaul to salvage any faith in their program.
