Off The Inbound

DePaul Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto to Retire

June 5, 2020 Nick Schultz Big East, Chicagoland Schools, Conferences, DePaul, News 0

After 18 years as DePaul University’s athletic director, Jean Lenti Ponsetto announced Friday she’d be retiring this summer.

Ponsetto has been with DePaul for 45 years, dating back to her days as a student-athlete from 1974-78. After graduation, she rose from women’s basketball assistant coach to assistant athletic director to senior associate athletic director to, eventually, athletics director in 2002. WeAreDePaul.com first reported her decision Thursday night.

She has beaten breast cancer twice, but announced she’s in treatment for a third diagnosis.

Her tenure as AD saw great success from the women’s basketball program, which has made 24 NCAA Tournaments since coach Doug Bruno was re-hired in 1988. But the men’s basketball program has struggled, most recently going from 12-1 in non-conference play to 4-15 in Big East Conference action this past season. (If you want to read my infamous column about that non-conference run, here’s the link.)

Off the court, Ponsetto found herself in controversy, especially recently. In 2018, she was at the center of a naming rights controversy with Wintrust Arena when she didn’t sign a conflict of interest form even though her sister-in-law, Wintrust executive vice president Kandace Lenti, was involved in the naming rights agreement, The DePaulia reported. DePaul was also named in a recent lawsuit involving Ponsetto’s brother, former Blue Demons softball coach Eugene Lenti, regarding alleged player mistreatment.

With Ponsetto’s departure, though, brings questions about the men’s basketball program. The Blue Demons have only made the NCAA Tournament once during her tenure, in 2004, and haven’t finished higher than seventh in the Big East since the league reorganized in 2013. Fans have been critical of Ponsetto and coach Dave Leitao on social media, even going so far as to create a Twitter account and hashtag calling for her firing.

Leitao received a contract extension in April after the fourth year of his second stint at DePaul, but with Ponsetto out of the picture, it’s unclear if the program will see any changes.

It’ll also be interesting to see who DePaul hires to replace Ponsetto. DePaul president A. Gabriel Esteban said a national search will begin immediately.

Here is Ponsetto’s full statement from the DePaul press release:

“Today is a bittersweet day for me and my husband, Joe. 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 and to witness the unprecedented growth from that  ‘little school under the el’ to its current world class University serving students from around the globe.
 
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the current and former Blue Demons that chose DePaul to be the lifelong home of their transformational intellectual, athletic, spiritual and professional growth years. I affirm my pride in the professional accomplishments and servant leadership of our Blue Demon letterwinners – the world will be a better place for their innumerable and immeasurable contributions. As well, any and every success we’ve had during my tenure has been the result of the incredible leadership, mentorship and commitment of our coaches and my athletics colleagues that have walked every step of this journey with me. They, along with our past and present Blue Demons have been my everyday joy.
 
“I am also very grateful to the Vincentian fathers and brothers, faculty and staff with whom I’ve served over the past 40 years. Special thanks to Presidents Richardson, Minogue, Holtschneider and Esteban for their partnership and confidence, and support of my leadership. And to all the many benefactors who supported DePaul Athletics over these past 40 plus years, my sincere thanks and appreciation for your belief in the DePaul Athletics Mission in transforming the lives of our student-athletes to become the socially responsible leaders of their generation. You are the wind beneath our wings!
 
“The changing times over these past few months has led me to this decision. 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. I am incredibly grateful to the world-class medical team at Rush University Medical Center for their healing hands and hearts that have allowed me to continue my life’s work serving the DePaul community. Not unimportant in this decision for me was the opportunity to spend more time with our growing family and my 95-year-old dad who lives with Joe and I.”