DePaul Basketball: Blue Demons’ Jean Lenti-Ponsetto to retire

DePaul Blue Demons’ sports will look a little different next year, as athletic director Jean Lenti-Ponsetto is set to retire this summer.

Lenti-Ponsetto’s planned retirement from DePaul Blue Demons’ sports was confirmed by the campus paper The DePaulia (full disclosure: I’m a DePaul alum and wrote and edited for The DePaulia from 2001-2004) on Thursday night.

“Today is a bittersweet day for me and my husband, Joe,” Ponsetto said in a statement. “DePaul has been a part of our lives for the past 46 years. Our dearest and closest friends were teammates we began our student-athlete journeys with in 1974. It truly has been our privilege and the honor of a lifetime to serve DePaul as athletic director.”

Lenti-Ponsetto has battled cancer in recent years.

“The changing times over these past few months has led me to this decision” Ponsetto said. “Having successfully battled two breast cancer diagnoses and currently in treatment for a third, I thought it was time to step away from the long days, working every weekend and the 24/7 demands that being an athletic director requires.”

She was a long-time fixture around the athletics facilities and campus in general. Before getting the top job, she spent seven years as senior associate athletic director, 12 years as associate director, and two in a role of assistant director.

The DePaul Athletic Hall of Famer was elevated to the top gig in July 2002, replacing Bill Bradshaw.

Her tenure was a busy one. She oversaw DePaul’s move to the Big East and later was instrumental in that conference’s realignment. She hired three men’s basketball head coaches – Jerry Wainwright, Oliver Purnell, and Dave Leitao. Leitao, the current coach, is in his second stint at the school.

DePaul men’s basketball has been an afterthought for most of her time in charge, last qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 2004. A strong showing in non-conference play this season raised hopes of a return, but the team struggled in Big East play.

Conversely, the women’s team, helmed by Doug Bruno, has been a consistent tournament contender, having qualified for 18 straight seasons. That team has snagged six Big East regular-season titles and five Big East tournament wins.

Both soccer teams have been tournament qualifiers under her watch, and the softball team has been in the Women’s College World Series twice.

Over 1,400 DePaul athletes have made academic honor rolls during Lenti-Ponsetto’s tenure.

A lawsuit filed in April against former DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti – Lenti-Ponsetto’s brother – for verbal and physical abuse of players also made headlines, as did a conflict of interest controversy involving Lenti-Ponsetto. That involved the naming rights of Wintrust Arena, which replaced the Allstate Arena as the home for basketball games.

Lenti-Ponsetto played basketball, softball, tennis, and volleyball during her time at DePaul in mid-1970s.

She will remain in her role until a successor is hired.