THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024
VOL. 107, ISSUE 26
Carbondale to Chicago: Mullins and D’Amico find new homes at DePaul Jamilah Lewis | @jamilahlewis Brandyn Wilcoxen | @brandynwilcoxen
Troy D’Amico (0) holds up a three from across the court after scoring for SIU Dec. 2, 2023 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois.
Former Salukis are finding new homes upstate. SIU men’s basketball forward Troy D’Amico announced his commitment to DePaul University on Saturday via his social media, one day after former head coach Bryan Mullins was reported to be hired at DePaul. D’Amico, a native of Chicago, announced the move with the caption “[Troy D’Amico] is coming home,” in reference to Chicagobased DePaul. Mullins is a native of Hinsdale,
Illinois, and served as an assistant coach at Loyola Chicago for four years prior to his tenure at the helm at SIU. Following Mullins’ departure on March 8 after being eliminated from the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, several players entered the transfer portal, including starters Clarence Rupert and AJ Ferguson, as well as rotation players Kennard Davis, Scottie Ebube and Jarrett Hensley. A three-year player for Southern Illinois, D’Amico started all 32 games for the Salukis. He was second on the team in points with 9.3 per game,
second in assists at 2.6 per game, and fourth in rebounds at 3.7 per game. He shot 43% from the field, and 36% from three in 2023-24. Mullins compiled a record of 86-68 in five years as head coach at Southern Illinois, and joins a staff under former Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann. They will look to orchestrate a major turnaround at DePaul, which finished last in the Big East with a 3-29 record, and 0-20 in conference play. Go to dailyegyptian.com for continuing coverage of the men’s basketball offseason.
Bryan Mullins during overtime of SIU’s loss to UIC in the MVC tournament March 7, 2024 in St. Louis. Photo by Brandyn Wilcoxen.
Pulido swims fastest mid major backstroke ever, shines at NCAA championships Ryan Grieser rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com
Freshman running back Kayleb Wagner (25) raises his fist with his bracelets to show support for the Dylan Buckner Foundation and all who struggle mentally March 22, 2024 at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois. Jason Isele | @iselephotography
Wristbands honor teen’s memory through mental health campaign
Carly Gist | cgist@dailyegyptian.com
Trigger warning: This story contains content related to suicide and mental health challenges. Outside of the newsroom, Daily
Egyptian Photographer Jason Isele has been working to promote mental health awareness one wristband at a time. “I am doing it for a childhood
bestie of mine, Dylan Buckner, who died by suicide just seven days into 2021,” Isele said. “We [friends and family] weren’t sure how else CAMPAIGN | 4
In her second appearance at NCAA nationals, SIU swimmer Celia Pulido swam her way to even more appearances in the swim and dive record book, at SIU, in Illinois and nationally. The MVC Swimmer of the Year from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, placed seventh in the country in the 100 yard backstroke, swimming a time of 50.73 seconds. According to swimswam. com, Pulido’s time is the fastest midmajor time in women’s 100 yard backstroke ever, and is also the fastest in Illinois ever. The previous SIU record, held by her, was the 50.98 second swim that earned her a spot in the A finals. Nearly a second faster than her seed time in the event from the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in February, Pulido then competed in the 200 yard backstroke on Saturday. Pulido’s prelims swim shattered her
SIU record of 1:53:80, dropping over a second en route to a 1:52:44, good enough to rank her number 14 of 52 swimmers in the prelims and earn her a spot in the evening’s finals heats. Pulido competed in the second heat, or B final, and once again broke her own record, swimming a 1:52:31 and moving up one spot to finish 13th in the nation in the 200 yard backstroke. Pulido, a junior, was able to score 12 points for her efforts in the 100 and 200 yard backstroke finals and helped SIU finish in 28th place of 41 teams at the NCAA championships. Pulido is the first of two Salukis who will compete in the NCAA championships this month; Alex Santiago will compete this upcoming week in the men’s NCAA championships. Among their individual accomplishments, Pulido and Santiago also made history for the Salukis, as it is the first time that SIU will have a male and a female swimmer competing at NCAA nationals since 1992. Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at ryan.grieser@siu.edu.