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'Perfect Storm' For DePaul Basketball Turnaround? David Booth Thinks So

By Justin Breen | January 26, 2016 5:49am | Updated on January 26, 2016 10:08am
 Former DePaul star David Booth (r.) with fellow former basketball standout Hersey Hawkins.
Former DePaul star David Booth (r.) with fellow former basketball standout Hersey Hawkins.
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Twitter/David Booth; DePaul Athletics (right)

CHICAGO — Minutes after landing in Detroit following a 13-hour, no-sleep flight from Shanghai on Monday afternoon, David Booth sounded surprisingly refreshed to talk basketball.

"I love my job. If I hit the lottery, I'd still come to work the next day," said Booth, the former DePaul star and one-time Blue Demons assistant coach who's now the New Orleans Pelicans' director of player personnel.

"I'm excited to come to work every day and be around the world's best players and see the world's best players every night," Booth added.

Booth had a quick stopover in Detroit before taking another flight to New Orleans, where the Pelicans hosted the Houston Rockets on Monday night. He spent the previous five days in China looking for hoops talent. He's visited a great deal of the rest of the world — including France, Spain, Turkey and Greece — searching for hidden basketball gems.

Booth also is the director of scouting with the Pelicans and is in charge of coordinating the schedules for New Orleans' six regional scouts and making sure they don't overlap. Booth and his team scout everywhere — colleges, overseas, D-League and other NBA teams.

"Any top player in the world, we have to know about it," Booth said. "I've got to make sure we turn over every stone. It's for free agency, draft and trade purposes."

Booth, who from 1988-92 led DePaul to two NCAA tournament appearances and finished with 1,933 all-time points — the second most in school history — remains close to his alma mater and returns to Chicago about five times a year for job commitments. DePaul (7-12 overall, 1-6 Big East this season) hasn't reached the NCAAs since 2004, but Booth believes the program could return to glory with its new McPier Arena in the South Loop scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.

Head coach Dave Leitao "is doing a good job. The new facility will help out. [Athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto] is a good leader," Booth said. "All that is a perfect storm for turning the program around. I'm excited about the future with them. I can't pinpoint one reason why they haven't been successful lately, but the key is that they're on the right path."

When he was a DePaul assistant coach during the 2009-10 season, Booth tried to recruit Anthony Davis to Lincoln Park, but the then-Perspectives star chose Kentucky before he was selected No. 1 overall in the 2012 NBA draft by the Hornets (now Pelicans).

Booth said he and Davis frequently talk about their years in Chicago.

"He's a good kid and he really loves the city of Chicago," Booth said.

Booth's ultimate goal is to become an NBA general manager. Booth played 13 years professionally and also served as a NBA scout, but never gets tired of watching basketball — and learning new things about the game.

"It's all about having passion for your job," Booth said. "I love my job. If you have passion for it, everything else will follow."

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