DePaul Basketball

In the last 12 hours or so, it's been confirmed that DePaul University is planning to leave the Big East Conference.

However, the Blue Demons will not be the only school leaving. This mass departure has fueled speculation that the Catholic universities leaving the Big East will form their own league.

If this rumor does come to fruition, this conference would be similar to the West Coast Conference. Every member of the WCC is a religious institution.

As reported right here on Bleacher Report, this was a unanimous decision by DePaul, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, St. Johns, and Villanova. Notre Dame was not involved in this decision as it is already scheduled to go to the Atlantic Coast Conference in the near future.

Aside from the announcement that these schools will indeed leave the Big East, nothing else has been set in stone. There are still some legal hurdles to climb.

Plus, DePaul hasn't made a formal announcement of their own, as of yet. I have contacts at DePaul, and so far none of them have said anything to me. My e-mail to the athletic department yesterday has not been answered.

What I can tell you now is that I think this a good move for DePaul. I've always felt that the Big East Conference was too big for them. DePaul has not had a very good record in Big East play, going only 22-115 in conference games since joining the conference.

Perhaps an all-Catholic conference would better suit them, since it could make them more competitive.

So far the 2012-13 Blue Demons squad sports a record of 7-3, and it has won its last five games. While that's fine and dandy for November and December, I wonder if the Demons can continue their winning ways once the conference portion of the schedule begins.

Aside from that, all we can do is wait for more information to come out. I eagerly await to hear about DePaul's future.

Greg Sequele, a junior college transfer from Los Angeles, Calif., committed to the DePaul Blue Demons late Thursday night, according to Brian Snow of Scout.com. He made his decision after visiting DePaul last weekend.

Sequele picked DePaul over USC and Kansas State.

The 6'8" power forward was originally part of Washington State's 2011 class but was later forced to go to junior college after not meeting NCAA requirements.

Sequele played at the College of Southern Idaho last season where he averaged 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds a game. He will play at Citrus Community College in California this season before heading to DePaul.

Sequele averaged 13.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as a senior in high school at Ribet Academy.

ESPN.com said of Sequele out of high school:

Sequele is about as athletic as it gets at the four-spot. He can run and jump all game long and he never appears to get tired. He is a swift athlete that is extremely quick off the floor and has great timing around the basket.

DePaul now has two junior college transfers in the 2013 class. Sequele joins 6'10" center Forrest Robinson from South Plains Junior College in Texas.

The Blue Demons also have 4-star guard Billy Garrett from Chicago, Illinois, in the 2013 class.

DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell's decision to go after junior college transfers is very smart. DePaul has six freshman for the 2012-13 season, and mixing in some experienced junior college players will help the Blue Demons have a quality team next year.

Coach Purnell is likely done recruiting for the 2013 class and can now focus completely on the season. The Blue Demons start their season at home Friday night against UC Riverside.

Usually a 9-3 non-conference record for a Big East squad is not cause for celebration, but for a team that has won only 35 games in the last four years, as the DePaul Blue Demons have, a 9-3 record (despite who they played) is reason enough to think DePaul is on the upswing.

DePaul has been brutally inept in winning only two conference games in the last three years, where it has been a fixture at the bottom of the standings. Every year, the Blue Demons were circled as an easy win.

However, that’s all about to change.

Prior to the 2010-2011 season, DePaul knew it had to make a recommitment to basketball and brought in renowned program-builder Oliver Purnell.

Purnell has had success at rebuilding programs at Radford, Old Dominion, Dayton and Clemson and left each of those programs in better shape than when he came in. Clemson, for example, had been to the NCAA tournament the previous three seasons prior to Purnell leaving for DePaul. Only North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski had a better winning percentage in ACC play than Purnell did in his last four seasons at Clemson.

Purnell inherited a mess when he arrived at DePaul. Purnell’s predecessor Jerry Wainwright clearly didn’t have the know-how and recruiting competence to battle with the other Big East heavyweight coaches and failed on a massive level.

So Purnell had to revamp his roster and take his lumps in his first season with the Demons. As expected, DePaul struggled in Purnell’s first year, winning only seven games (and one Big East game).

What Purnell found out at DePaul last year, though, is that he has a talented and exciting sophomore duo in Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young. They form a nucleus Purnell can build around.

Melvin was especially remarkable last year, as he averaged 14.3 PPG (17.4 in Big East play) and 5.0 RPG (6.3 in Big East play) en route to winning Big East Rookie of the Year.

Young was not that far behind.

In his freshman campaign, Young averaged a solid 12.6 PPG and 3.7 APG while earning a selection to the Big East All-Rookie team.

Melvin and Young are off to great starts this year, as both are averaging more than 17 PPG with Melvin leading the team with 18.5 PPG to go with 6.5 RPG, while Young chips in with 17.4 PPG and 4.8 APG.

As Melvin and Young go, so does DePaul. However, Purnell recruited a class of athletes that fit his up-tempo style of basketball and complement Melvin and Young quite well.

A couple of Chicago-area kids have fit in quite nicely for Purnell. In Jamee Crockett and Charles McKinney, DePaul has a couple of athletic wings who play with a high motor and can lock down opponents with their defense. Crockett is fifth in the team in scoring (6.5 PPG), while McKinney averages 4.5 points per game.

DePaul is also getting contributions from Worrel Clahar (a pesky JUCO transfer point guard who brings energy off the bench), Donnavan Kirk (a transfer from Miami who brings athleticism to the post and one who has battled back injuries all season, but now appears to be healthy) and Derrell Robertson (a 6'10" project from Mississippi).

DePaul also has another talented sophomore on the squad, as Moses Morgan has proven himself to be one of DePaul’s better shooters, averaging 7.5 PPG and coming in second on the team in three-point field goals made (22).

Lastly, the Blue Demons have a pair of holdovers from the Wainwright era in seniors Jeremiah Kelly and Krys Faber who have carved out a niche on the team.

Kelly is third on the team in scoring (10.6 PPG) while leading the team in three-pointers made (27). Faber, meanwhile, isn’t a threat to score (5.9 PPG) but does lead the team in rebounding (6.6 RPG).

While DePaul likely won’t be on the radar for any NCAA tournament consideration, it will be no gimmie game for opposing Big East teams.

The Blue Demons love to get up and down the court and thrive in creating offense of turnovers with their full-court press. With a year under their belt, the team is used to the chaotic pace that Purnell loves to play.

Many teams in the Big East will be caught napping when playing DePaul, as it is trying to make a statement this year. DePaul may not be great, but it is not bad.

With that said, DePaul will have a real challenge ahead of it with the start of Big East play. It begins on Sunday, January 1 when it hosts the No. 1-ranked Syracuse Orange.

While not many DePaul fans are not expecting a win on Sunday, they want to have the comfort in knowing that this year’s DePaul’s team will be no pushover.

The road back to respectability for DePaul starts with the new year, and there is enough mojo going on in Chicago that this is the year it happens.

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The DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team are off to their best start in 12 seasons, going 9-3 after defeating Cal Poly 63-58.  

Blue Demons coach Oliver Purnell has his team going into the Big East schedule starting on January 1st with very little fanfare and a five-game winning streak. 

Much of the college basketball talk around the Chicago area has centered around the 11-1 Illinois Fightin' Illini.  And with Northwestern possibly heading to the NCAA tourney for first time in Wildcats' history, the school located in Lincoln Park has been an afterthought. 

Much of that has to do with their struggles in recent years. 

Their last tourney appearance was almost eight years ago.  Their last NIT berth was in 2007.  That's an eternity for most teams. 

The other reason for DePaul's obscurity has to do with recruitment woes. 

One would think that a university based in Chicago wouldn't have any problems recruiting players.  But DePaul does. 

The last player from DePaul to be drafted in the first round of the NBA was Wilson Chandler (by the New York Knicks in 2007). 

That doesn't bode well for a team vying for relevance.

Going 9-9 or 10-8 in the Big East would go a long way towards bringing the Blue Demons back to prominence. 

It won't be an easy task, as even the top teams struggle against the competition in such a loaded conference. 

Syracuse, the number one team in the nation, is first on the docket for DePaul. Good thing the game is at the Allstate Arena.  

DePaul has historically played the Orange tough, even in the down years.  A close loss will bring the Blue Demons some respect.  A win might just have them in the hunt for something bigger—dancing in March.

Again, it will be tough.  The Big East has six teams ranked in the Top 25 polls, including three in the Top 10.

Still, DePaul matches up well with some of them. 

Forward Cleveland Melvin and point guard Brandon Young are budding talents whose growth will strengthen the Blue Demons. 

Melvin leads the team in scoring (18.5 points) and is second in rebounding (6.5).  Young is the assist leader, averaging close to five a game, and is second in scoring (17.4). 

Promisingly, both players are only sophomores.  Neither is expected to enter the draft after the season. 

Sophomore Moses Morgan and freshmen Jamee Crockett and Charles McKinney are also standouts, contributing to the team in different areas.

The DePaul Blue Demons are young, athletic and on the rise. 

If they were playing in Conference USA or the Mid-American Conference, they would be a shoe-in for tournament contention. 

But they will have to face the likes of Pittsburgh after the Syracuse game, followed by Villanova and a tough Seton Hall team that is currently 10-1.  If they can split those games and go to 11-5, then their current momentum might be sustained. 

Can the DePaul Blue Demons survive the Big East?  Check back with me in three weeks.   

Minnesota was down early, but their depth and domination inside helped them come back and pull out a 86-85 victory against DePaul in the second quarterfinal of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida.

The Golden Gophers gave their team more chances on the offensive end with 19 boards, totaling 37 for the whole game. That's compared to the Blue Demons' 24 total rebounds. Golden Gophers also dominated bench points, 45-24.

Trevor Mbakwe was a dominating presence in the post, leading the Golden Gophers with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Rodney Williams shot efficiently, making 7-of-9 from field and four more at the foul line for a total of 18 points off the bench, along with five rebounds. The Blue Demons' Brandon Young and Cleveland Melvin were about half of the offensive output, shooting 23 and 20 points respectively. Krys Faber got nearly half of the team's rebounds himself with 11 boards.

Both teams started off hot from the field, hitting about 67 percent in the first five minutes of the game. During this run and throughout the half, both teams attacked the rim to get layups and dunks.

Once things cooled off, the Golden Gophers started to struggle, including missing all four of their shots behind the arc. They abandoned those shots the rest of the half.

The difference in the first half, however, was the Blue Demons' ability to hit the three-point shot, nailing 5-of-10, including two from Young.

The up-and-down play by both teams continued in the second half. The Golden Gophers took advantage of their second chance shots and play from their bench to come back and finally take the lead at 72-71 with 8:03 to go in the game.

Depth cost the Blue Demons down the stretch. They ran out of gas and continued to get beat inside, especially by Mbawke. The game was deadlocked at 84-81 in the final two minutes until Young made a jumper to get it within one with a minute to go. After a questionable charge on the Blue Demons by Melvin, Julian Welch missed both free throws for the Golden Gophers. Williams got the offensive board and then put it back in to extend the lead back to three.

The Blue Demons couldn't get the final three, but they got the board and layup to get the lead back to 86-85. However, only a half second remained in the game, and they couldn't get a foul in time.

Without question, Minnesota was too much for DePaul inside for a full 40 minutes. Both teams played well in the post, but the Golden Gophers were better off the bench. The Blue Demons only made one three-point shot in the second half, and couldn't make that clutch three pointer at the end to tie.

Minnesota remains undefeated and move to 5-0 on the season as DePaul falls to 2-1. The Golden Gophers will be playing the Indiana State Sycamores in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 eastern on ESPN.

Since joining the Big East in 2005, DePaul has enjoyed minimal success and has often played the role of cellar dweller in the massive 16-team (soon to be 17-team) conference. The Blue Demons did earn an NIT bid in 2007, but have yet to make the NCAA Tournament since transitioning from Conference USA to the aforementioned Big East conference. Upon casual glance, it is easy to dismiss DePaul as a hapless lightweight, but I am going to tell you why there is reason to be excited about this once proud program.

Head Coach Oliver Purnell will be the man to lead DePaul into the future. Purnell struggled in his first season at the school going 7-24 and only winning one conference game as he coached up an inexperienced team that featured few impact talents. With that being said, Oliver Purnell has the ability to turn this slumbering DePaul program around. He has guided Old Dominion, Dayton and Clemson to NCAA tournament appearances. At Clemson in particular, Purnell showed the ability to sign high profile recruits and generate fan support at a school where football definitely took precedence over basketball.

After winning only one Big East game last season, the Blue Demons have nowhere to go but up as they enter the 2011-2012 campaign. Thankfully, DePaul figures to be much improved next season. The team will be led by sophomores Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young. Melvin was a former UConn commit and enjoyed tremendous success as a freshman, scoring 14.3 points per game and being named Big East rookie of the year. Young meanwhile proved to be a capable scoring guard as evidence by his 12.6 points per game, and appears to be a young talent that Purnell can build his backcourt around. Senior Jeremiah Kelly and junior Tony Freeland will also be counted ass integral contributors.

There is definitely young talent on the roster, but make no mistake that the Blue Demons need to recruit at a much higher level if they hope to consistently crack the top half of the Big East standings. One of the reasons why Oliver Purnell felt like a good fit for DePaul was because of his ability to recruit top talent. In his 15 months at the school, Purnell has already demonstrated an ability to attract top tier players to the Windy City.

His first major recruiting coup at the school was the signing of Shane Larkin. Larkin is a 5’11" guard out of Orlando, Florida and was rated the 72nd best player in the class of 2011 by Rivals. Shane also held scholarship offers from Alabama, Florida State and Boston College before ultimately signing with DePaul. In state signees Macari Brooks and Jamie Crockett are also solid pickups. Purnell’s ability to keep these two Illinois talents from leaving the borders (so to speak) is encouraging and bodes well for the future.

I want to make it clear that in no way am I suggesting that DePaul will be competing for an NCAA tournament bid next season. No, this team simply does not have enough quality talents to compete night in and night out in the Big East. This program is mired in the lowest tier of the conference hierarchy, and it will take hard work and perseverance on the part of the coaching staff and the players to pull this program out of the mud.

What I am suggesting is that there is definitely positive momentum surrounding DePaul even though that momentum has not resonated in the win-loss column yet. The program was stuck in neutral under ex head coach Jerry Wainwright. More than anything, DePaul needed a new direction and a shot of energy to right this flailing ship. The hiring of Purnell and the influx of talented youngsters such as Cleveland Melvin cures both of those needs.

The possibility for success at the school is definitely present. Fans in Chicago would definitely come out to support a big time college basketball program. Chicago is also a recruiting hotbed that regularly churns out some of the top talent in the country. That all sounds good, but the reality is that right now All-State Arena is far from featuring sellout crowds for Blue Demon home games (average attendance was 7,676 for home games last season and the arena sits 17,500). DePaul will also have to rebuild an image that has collected some dirt since the days of Ray Meyer, but as we know, that will all come with winning.

When Oliver Purnell spoke of his feelings about DePaul and the decision to leave a Clemson program that was on solid footing he spoke of the schools commitment to basketball.

"It's a super job,'' Purnell said. "They are very, very committed to restoring a tradition and make DePaul Chicago's team.''

As I said before there is reason to get excited about the program’s future, but it ultimately remains to be seen whether that commitment and desire will translate into long-term success.

Everywhere that Oliver Purnell has coached, he has done three things:

1. Recruit players that the school could never recruit and sign before he arrived.

2. Change the atmosphere into one that believes.

3. Win.

Purnell's latest reclamation project, the storied but woeful DePaul Blue Demons, are ready to become the latest success story on Purnell's resume.

First, let's take a look at that recruiting:

Shane Larkin, PG - Orlando, Florida

Barry Larkin's son is the diamond in Purnell's plans for the future. His hard-nosed style is perfect for the high pressure, high reward defense that has marked Purnell's teams for the past 20 years.

Macari Brooks, SG - Chicago, Illinois

Brooks is as important to Purnell's efforts as Larkin in that he is an Illinois product. Purnell must end the longstanding feud between Illinois high school coaches (particularly in the Chicago Public League) and DePaul.

Joey Meyer started a long legacy of not making in-roads with the inner-city coaches and AAU programs. Purnell has said all of the right things to the right people, and is starting to see results.

Derrell Robertson, C - Mendenhall, Mississippi

Robertson provides the kind of big man that Purnell likes—one that is mobile and able to get up and down the court.

Montray Clemons, PF - Charlotte, North Carolina

Montray was courted by BOTH North Carolina State and North Carolina. He chose DePaul.

Jamie Crockett, SG - Crete, Illinois

See Macari Brooks. Any recruits from Illinois bode well for Purnell and the DePaul program.

These players are just the beginning. The next challenge for Purnell will be to convince the 5,000 or so DePaul fans living in the Lincoln Park area to drive out to Allstate Arena and support the team long enough to convince DePaul brass to pony up for a new arena on campus.

The DePaul campus is wonderful, placed right in the heart of a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. However, the stadium is located 40 minutes away, right off of O'Hare Airport, in a very "industrial" area.

Purnell needs to win, or at least show signs of life, to start making demands for change.

Build it and they will come. Well, that and a few nice gestures to the Chicago Public League coaches.

DePaul basketball fans should be comforted by the fact that this season, where the Blue Demons only won seven games while losing 24 and were outscored by 12.9 points per 100 possessions, will be the worst season the program has while Oliver Purnell is the head coach.

Based on what took place at each of his three previous coaching stops, there are only brighter days ahead for DePaul basketball.

It was at Old Dominion, a program Purnell took over in the 1991-92 season, where he first displayed the trend that continues to this day. In his first year as head coach, Purnell led his team to a .500 record of 15 victories and 15 defeats. Purnell then followed that up by coaching his 1992-93 squad to a 21-8 record and his 1993-94 team to a record of 21-10.

Leaving Old Dominion, Purnell took his coaching acumen to Dayton, where his team posted a record of only 7-20 in his first season. Never again did the Dayton Flyers have a season where they played as poorly as they did in 1994-95.

After the nine seasons Purnell spent turning Dayton into a consistently winning program, to the point where the Flyers went 24-6 in his final season as their coach, Clemson received the benefits of having Purnell roaming the sidelines.

In what has become his modus operandi, Purnell's Clemson squad struggled in his first season, only winning 10 games and losing 18 games. For no other season did Clemson have a record with a winning percentage under .500.

With that sort of coaching track record in turning previously mediocre programs into winning ones, it is no great leap to expect that Purnell will be able to do the same thing with the DePaul Blue Demons. Of course, it is worth nothing that all the wins Purnell leads DePaul to will not result in any NCAA tournament success. None of Purnell's teams have ever gotten past the first round of the tournament.

Even with his multiple tournament failures providing the only blemish to his coaching résumé, DePaul certainly hired the right man for the job, and hopefully DePaul's opponents enjoyed the dominance they had over the Blue Demons this season, because it will not be that easy to beat them again while Purnell is their head coach.

I guess I might actually know what I'm talking about because I am not the only one questioning the hire of Oliver Purnell as the man to return DePaul to greatness.

Several very successful AAU and local high school coaches are questioning the move as well. Between all the local papers and sites all the same issues came up, the big ones being:

-too old

-no Chicago ties

Both could have been said about former coach Jerry Wainwright. Jerry was 63 when he was fired this past December. No Chicago ties also went for former coach Dave Leitao who bolted for Virginia in 2005.

Interestingly the only person who thought it was a great hire was Illinois Warriors AAU head coach Larry Butler. He said "Oliver Purnell has credibility. He knows how to rebuild a program. He's done that at every program he's been at. He's going to do it at DePaul. He's always been able to recruit quality student-athletes. DePaul is now moving in the right direction where it needs to be. Kudos to Jeanie [Lenti Ponsetto]." Also added "That doesn't bother me that he doesn't have Chicago ties. We don't necessarily need a Chicago guy. We need a guy who will come in and give Chicago guys love by recruiting their guys and help turn DePaul's program around."

But won't it be too late by the time he makes all these connections. If he makes it through his 7 year contract he will be 64 years of age. That's closer to retirement then hitting your prime.

The interesting thing about Butler liking the move is that he is the former coach of John Scheyer to said no to all the local school and went to Duke which is in the ACC. In case you didn't know Clemson, Purnell's former school, is also in the ACC.

Again why not go after the coach of Dayton, Brain Gregory who is from Chicago or Butler head coach Brad Stevens who just lost to Scheyer's Duke team in the finals on Monday.

If not a head coach from a small school why not an assistant coach from Duke? Chris Collins maybe who again is a local guy and has been an assistant under Coach K for the last decade and even has helped coach the Olympic team. Like I said in my past article I hope it works out but I have serious doubts, I had no idea he was 57, and I feel a little better that local respected coaches agree with me.

 It is also important to state that all of the coaches said they won't hold it against Purnell that he has no Chicago ties but it is interesting to know that in his 22 years of being a head coach he has never had a Chicago player on his team.

Check out all my thoughts on Chicago sports.