DePaul hires a new coach- Oliver Purnell

[Da Coach]

DePaul filled their vacant coaching position late last night. Oliver Purnell, the coach at Clemson, agreed to a 7-year, $15 million deal to take over the Blue Demons. There will be a 1:30 pm news conference at DePaul for the announcement.-

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/3765

Purnell's record is 394-279 in 22 years as a Division I head coach with stops at Clemson, Dayton, Old Dominion and Radford. He was 138-88 in 7 seasons at Clemson.
He has lead his team to the NCAA 6 times, but his record in NCAA games is 0-6.
Also, he does not have any recruiting connections in Chicago. While at Clemson, most of his recruits were from the south, especially the Atlanta region.

One more thought- many people said DePaul made a mistake hiring guy as old as Jerry Wainwright and needed a much younger guy. But, Oliver Purnell is 56 (will be 57 next month), 15 months younger than Wainwright was when he was hired.

[Double D]

Considering the complete mismanagement of the process, this looks like a decent hire. Looking at the money, that is what likely took him from a good spot in the ACC, to a dead end job in the Big East.

[depaulfan]

Da Coach- Agree 100% on his age...overall I'm pretty disappointed. It says he wants to keep some Chicago guys on staff so look for Billy Garrett to remain a Blue Demon assistant.

I know I said a few weeks ago on this board that the big rumor about the DePaul job is that they were thinking much bigger than someone like Chris Lowery....and I said they were going to get a big name hire. Well, I knew from my sources they were going to go big...just didn't know they would fall flat on there face like most of you told me on this board. I'll eat my crow!!

[tornado]

well - in defense of Purnell, he is a good recruiter and good coach..
whether he succeeds at DePaul is yet to be seen - give the guy a chance.....

in the toughest league in the nation, he has had four consecutive 20+ win seasons, and has finished in the upper half of the league...
His 5-year average is 23 wins per year, and his RPI's in that spell are 34, 28, 22, 46, and 79 -- all the while playing a schedule that's consistently among the top 25-30 SOS's as well.

Basically, he's the 3rd or 4th best coach in the ACC by many standards - so that isn't too bad --
but it seems some people just aren't happy unless he is the best - like you're gonna get Coach K?

[BradleyBrave]

well - in defense of Purnell, he is a good recruiter and good coach..
whether he succeeds at DePaul is yet to be seen - give the guy a chance.....

in the toughest league in the nation, he has had four consecutive 20+ win seasons, and has finished in the upper half of the league...
His 5-year average is 23 wins per year, and his RPI's in that spell are 34, 28, 22, 46, and 79 -- all the while playing a schedule that's consistently among the top 25-30 SOS's as well.

Basically, he's the 3rd or 4th best coach in the ACC by many standards - so that isn't too bad --
but it seems some people just aren't happy unless he is the best - like you're gonna get Coach K?

Amazingly, I agree with Tornado on this. I don't think this is a bad hire at all, and almost stop short of saying that DePaul pulled a rabbit out of their hat on this one. While his NCAA record is not good, Purnell is arguably the most decorated coach at DePaul since Ray Meyer. I think he gives DePaul instant credibility, which is something they haven't had in a long, long time. Whether he can be successful at DePaul remains to be seen, but I don't think DePaul is as impossible to win at as some say. While the home games are played in Rosemont, DePaul's campus is in one of the best areas of Chicago, and their on-campus facilities are good enough and new enough to compete. Purnell may not have Chicago 'connections', but I also don't think that recruiting Chicago is necessarily the key to being successful there, just like Peoria isn't the key to winning at BU. Yes, local kids are GREAT to have, but not a requirement. DePaul was NEVER going to get Ben Howland or Jamie Dixon, and never even called Steve Lavin, so I think this was about as good as they could do. If I were a DePaul fan, I would be happy with this hire.

[MacabreMob]

Amazingly, I agree with Tornado on this....

You two can't agree on the time of day.

I also agree - looks to be a decent hire. Good luck to him and Depaul.

[Braves4Life]

This was a good move for both Purnell and Depaul. Depaul gets a proven winner (albeit he never won the "big" games) and this is probably the biggest name they could get. Purnell gets out of Clemson before getting fired; my Clemson fans are glad to see him go. This gets Purnell more money, lets him coast into retirement with a bigger contract, and allows him to be a hero since Depaul can go NO lower.

I think he will have Depaul to .500 (overall, but still near bottom of Big East) within 2 years and will have them top 5 in Big East within 5 years.

[SFP]

He'll need to get a big time north-east and mid-west recruiter. It's real hard to get a guy from the south to play in Chicago. I like Oliver Purnell but I do not think he is a great X and Os guy, as he is a motivator. He should do fine though as long as he can get the recruits.

[BradleyBrave]

This was a good move for both Purnell and Depaul. Depaul gets a proven winner (albeit he never won the "big" games) and this is probably the biggest name they could get. Purnell gets out of Clemson before getting fired; my Clemson fans are glad to see him go. This gets Purnell more money, lets him coast into retirement with a bigger contract, and allows him to be a hero since Depaul can go NO lower.

I think he will have Depaul to .500 (overall, but still near bottom of Big East) within 2 years and will have them top 5 in Big East within 5 years.

I don't know if he'll ever have DePaul into the upper 3rd of the Big East, but I do agree with your sentiments on where he can take them. I anticipate seasons similar to the ones he had at Clemson - 11-0, 12-0 non-conference slates followed by .500 or so conference performances. Compared to where DePaul is at right now, he'll look like a miracle worker if he can make that happen.

[Bravesfan]

This was a good move for both Purnell and Depaul. Depaul gets a proven winner (albeit he never won the "big" games) and this is probably the biggest name they could get. Purnell gets out of Clemson before getting fired; my Clemson fans are glad to see him go. This gets Purnell more money, lets him coast into retirement with a bigger contract, and allows him to be a hero since Depaul can go NO lower.

I think he will have Depaul to .500 (overall, but still near bottom of Big East) within 2 years and will have them top 5 in Big East within 5 years.

He may become the "Dana Altman" of the Big East. Considering he has never won an NCAA Tournament game, I'll just be happy if he can get DePaul back to the Big Dance on a consistent basis. This probably won't happen for a few years though, unless the 96 team format comes to fruition next year. Then a .500 record should just about do it!

[Bravesfan]

He'll need to get a big time north-east and mid-west recruiter. It's real hard to get a guy from the south to play in Chicago. I like Oliver Purnell but I do not think he is a great X and Os guy, as he is a motivator. He should do fine though as long as he can get the recruits.

My only other concern is his late season swoons at Clemson. But as I said above, if he finishes at or a bit above .500, that should be enough to get DePaul into the tournament if they expand to 96 teams.

[DoubleJayAlum]

This hire can't be seen as good news in Wichita...

[BradleyBrave]

This hire can't be seen as good news in Wichita...

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

[Braves4Life]

This hire can't be seen as good news in Wichita...

Marshall reminds me of Rick Barnes...... I think they'd love him in Clemson.

[real fan]

This hire can't be seen as good news in Wichita...

Do you think that Wichita will lose there coach to Clemson?