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November 10, 2015 was a successful day for the DePaul men’s basketball program. On that day, the Blue Demons landed a tandem of commits in the form of Al Eichelberger and Brandon Cyrus.
Cyrus is the standout of DePaul’s incoming recruiting class. Amongst an assortment of three-star players, Cyrus has the highest score of the quartet of players via 247Sports’ recruiting service. A few schools were in on him, but Cyrus, a native of Canada, decided that DePaul was the choice for him.
He originally played ball out in Torrey Pines, California before transferring to the heralded La Lumiere School in Indiana. The school has built up a strong reputation for basketball of late, hosting such players as Jeremiah Tilmon, Brian Bowen and Jaren Jackson among others. When he hits the floor for DePaul, Cyrus will hope to give the school’s reputation yet another boost.
Per his player page on DePaul’s athletics website, Cyrus averaged roughly 11 points and 5 rebounds per game in his final year at La Lumiere. That’s pretty stout production and would be more than welcomed for the Blue Demons when Cyrus eventually gets a good chunk of burn.
As it stands, their backcourt isn’t too crowded but it’s likely that Cyrus will be fighting for playing time. Darrick Wood and RJ Curington are both seniors and should be expected to get a good deal of time on the floor. Eli Cain had a terrific freshman season and is expected to take another leap this year as a sophomore, and Erten Gazi should likely get more minutes this year too. Cyrus could wind up in the same rotation as fellow freshman Devin Gage but since Cyrus is listed as a ‘2’ and Gage is listed as a ‘1’ that also comes into question. Billy Garrett Jr. is the only point guard on the roster, so he and Gage will flip more often than Cyrus and the other five guards that are eligible on the roster.
Figuring out Cyrus’ role going forward will be intriguing to watch from afar. Dave Leitao has no shortage of options and as the leading man in the 2016 class, Brandon Cyrus will likely be one of many building blocks for the Blue Demons program as they look to evolve and get out of the Big East basement.