Candis Blankson

A veteran of the DePaul system, assistant coach Candis Blankson is entering her 18th year on the staff and her first beginning in the 2017-18 season as the Director of Corporate, Professional & Community Relations.

A true champion of the DePaul program, Blankson wore the Blue Demon uniform in over 100 games from 1997-01 before moving into a bench role prior to the 2001-02 campaign as an assistant coach.

Corresponding with the start of the 2011-12 season, Blankson was named one of the Top 25 High Major Women's College Basketball Assistants by Jason Belzer from CollegeInsider.com.

Twelve seasons ago, she added recruiting to her responsibilities in addition to working with the players and day-to-day operations of the DePaul women's basketball program.

The Blue Demons have put together 15 straight NCAA Tournament appearances – a streak only matched by Connecticut, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford and Tennessee. DePaul also advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2006, 2011, 2014 and 2016.

Since Blankson joined the staff, the Blue Demons have won an impressive 374 games while putting together 20-win seasons 13 times. In the last 14 seasons, the Blue Demons have posted a winning percentage of .731 (341-125). DePaul won back-to-back BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles in 2014 and 2015 and regular-season titles in 2016 and 2017.

During Blankson's tenure on the bench, she has worked with more than 50 all-conference performers, including two BIG EAST Freshman of the Year award-winners, four Sixth Player of the Year award-winners, two BIG EAST Tournament MVPs and BIG EAST Player of the Year Brittany Hrynko (2015), Chanise Jenkins (2016) and Brooke Schulte (2017).

Making academics a priority, the Blue Demons have become a mainstay in the WBCA Team Academic Poll. The Blue Demons broke into the top 10 in the poll in 2011 and have ranked as high as No. 2 in 2011 and 2012. Last season DePaul ranked No. 14 in the WBCA Poll, while the program has recorded the highest GPA among BIG EAST women's basketball teams nine of the last 10 years.

Blankson played a big role in DePaul repeating as both the BIG EAST regular season and tournament champions. She helped mentor 2015 BIG EAST Player of the Year and 19th overall selection in the WNBA Draft Brittany Hrynko. Megan Podkowa was also named the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament MVP while six other players were named to a BIG EAST all-conference roster or to the league’s all-tournament team that year.

The Blue Demons brought nationwide acclaim to the sport of women's basketball in 2014 with a 104-100 triumph over Oklahoma in the 2014 NCAA tournament opener. It was the highest scoring regulation game in the history of the NCAA women's tournament.

Also during the 2013-14 season, DePaul (29-7) tied the school record for most wins in a season and set program records for games played (36), points (3,006), three-point baskets (314) and assists (705). The Blue Demons advanced to their third NCAA Sweet 16 after claiming their first BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.

As a student-athlete, Blankson etched her name in the DePaul record books during her four seasons. She finished her career ranked eighth all-time with 72 three-point field goals and 22nd with 104 games played. She registered 33 double-figure scoring games in her career, including 19 times as a senior.

In her senior season, the 5-9 guard was one of the most versatile players on the roster as she led the team with 28.3 minutes per game and 70 offensive rebounds, while her 85 assists were second on the squad. Blankson ranked in the top 25 in Conference USA in five different categories. She was 13th in assists and three-point field goal percentage, 14th in offensive rebounds, 15th in three-pointers made and 22nd in scoring.

As much as she excelled on the court, Blankson was just as good in the classroom. She was a three-time Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll member and twice nominated as an Academic All-American. Her effort in the classroom helped DePaul to finish in the WBCA Academic Top 20 in two of her last three seasons.

The valedictorian at Hillcrest High School was a National Scholastic Coaches Association All-American Scholar Athlete. She was also named a Chicago Tribune Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a member of the National Honor Society. Basketball runs in the Blankson family as two of Candis' brothers played Division I college basketball. Ryan played at Loyola-Chicago while Odartey played at both Marquette and UNLV.

Blankson is a member of the WBCA and resides in Chicago.