DePaul's New Head Coach

[HuskyCaucasian]

Per Zach Zaidman: DePaul officially announces 1:30PM CT press conference to introduce Oliver Purnell as new head coach

[fathom]

Terrible

[HuskyCaucasian]

Terrible

I dont get it at all. He wasn't any good at his previous job. He was slightly above .500 in the ACC.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Athomeboy_2000

[iamshack]

Terrible

Who did you expect them to get?

 

What a horrible job that is.

[fathom]

They're throwing a ton of money at someone who's never won a tournament game and isn't a good recruiter. Theus would have been a much better hire.

[iamshack]

Here is a good article about how crazy these ADs are.

 

EVERY school is throwing aroud a ton of money these days.

 

CBS Article

[Jenksismyhero]

Who did you expect them to get?

What a horrible job that is.

 

It really isn't though. If you've got the right connections in the city it's a great source of talent, it's in a major metro area, and it's a program in a major conference. If i were DePaul I would have thrown millions to Jerrence Howard. At the very least you'd deal with 2-3 years of no worse than what they've been, but he's in on some of the best recruits in the midwest. He could at least build up the talent on the roster and then bring in someone who can coach em up.

[iamshack]

It really isn't though. If you've got the right connections in the city it's a great source of talent, it's in a major metro area, and it's a program in a major conference. If i were DePaul I would have thrown millions to Jerrence Howard. At the very least you'd deal with 2-3 years of no worse than what they've been, but he's in on some of the best recruits in the midwest. He could at least build up the talent on the roster and then bring in someone who can coach em up.

Come on, it sure as hell is a rotten job.

 

It's a city school with no fan base, rotten facilities, they play their games nowhere near the damn campus....they've sucked for the better part of 25 years now. They've shown very little ability to keep City recruits from heading elsewhere....I mean come on, this is just like people saying St John's is a good job. It just isn't. 20 years ago it was a good job. Not anymore.

[LittleHurt05]

It really isn't though. If you've got the right connections in the city it's a great source of talent, it's in a major metro area, and it's a program in a major conference. If i were DePaul I would have thrown millions to Jerrence Howard. At the very least you'd deal with 2-3 years of no worse than what they've been, but he's in on some of the best recruits in the midwest. He could at least build up the talent on the roster and then bring in someone who can coach em up.

 

You are in a major conference where most of the others schools' basketball budgets completely dwarf yours.

 

Being in a major metro area, your fan base is non-existent cause there are so many other teams to root for. You play in a cavernous multi-purpose arena 15-20 miles from campus. Its also a big commuter school, so a lot of the other students are spread around the city anyway.

 

If they had stayed in C-USA, it would be a better job, cause you would have a way to better chance to compete and be successfull right away. Going against the likes of UConn, Cincinnati, Louisville, G-Town, etc., good luck.

 

I do agree that Jerrence Howard would have been a better hire. A young great recruiter with connections to the state could have brought more excitement and life to the program. Thankfully they didn't cause I think Bruce needs him by his side to keep up these top recruiting classes.

Edited April 6, 2010 by LittleHurt05

[Dick Allen]

I don't know why you give a 56 year old coach looking for his first tournament win $15 million to try to turn around a program that has fallen off the face of the earth. This is truly one of the worst hires of all time. Granted, anyone with a decent job probably wasn't interested, but wouldn't a top programs' assistant love this job, or even a guy like Theus would make a much bigger splash.

 

This is the exact same boring thinking that has them in their current spot. Its the "safe" pick, but when its all said and done, it really isn't, its the stupid pick. The Demons basketball fortunes aren't going to change until the get an AD and administration that thinks big and is willing to take chances.

[iamshack]

You are in a major conference where most of the others schools' basketball budgets completely dwarf yours.

 

Being in a major metro area, your fan base is non-existent cause there are so many other teams to root for. You play in a cavernous multi-purpose arena 15-20 miles from campus. Its also a big commuter school, so a lot of the other students are spread around the city anyway.

 

If they had stayed in C-USA, it would be a better job, cause you would have a way to better chance to compete and be successfull right away. Going against the likes of UConn, Cincinnati, Louisville, G-Town, etc., good luck.

 

I do agree that Jerrence Howard would have been a better hire. A young great recruiter with connections to the state could have brought more excitement and life to the program. Thankfully they didn't cause I think Bruce needs him by his side to keep up these top recruiting classes.

 

Yeah, they should have stayed in C-USA. Look at Butler. They know their place. They can win the Horizon League every year and go to the NCAA tourney. Why try to mix it up with traditional powerhouses when you don't have the resources to compete with them?

[Jenksismyhero]

Come on, it sure as hell is a rotten job.

 

It's a city school with no fan base, rotten facilities, they play their games nowhere near the damn campus....they've sucked for the better part of 25 years now. They've shown very little ability to keep City recruits from heading elsewhere....I mean come on, this is just like people saying St John's is a good job. It just isn't. 20 years ago it was a good job. Not anymore.

 

I don't think it's the best job out there, but I think rotten is a little much. There's a lot of potential there. You could rekindle the traditional success of DePaul, I do think there's enough of a fan base that would come out if the team ever got decent again. The arena situation is clearly a major problem, but make a run for a couple of years and you can start throwing out new facilities as a plan.

 

I just think if they got a young energetic guy that can recruit Chicago they'd be 10 times better.

[iamshack]

I don't think it's the best job out there, but I think rotten is a little much. There's a lot of potential there. You could rekindle the traditional success of DePaul, I do think there's enough of a fan base that would come out if the team ever got decent again. The arena situation is clearly a major problem, but make a run for a couple of years and you can start throwing out new facilities as a plan.

 

I just think if they got a young energetic guy that can recruit Chicago they'd be 10 times better.

I agree with your coaching suggestion, but even the hot assistant coaches are getting smarter these days. That program is a dead-end, and these guys are using enough foresight to have patience and avoid it for the chance at a quick buck. If you have any desire to spend your career coaching college basketball, and you're an assistant on the upswing, you'd be best to avoid a dead-end desitnation just so you can buy a bigger house earlier in your career.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Come on, it sure as hell is a rotten job.

 

It's a city school with no fan base, rotten facilities, they play their games nowhere near the damn campus....they've sucked for the better part of 25 years now. They've shown very little ability to keep City recruits from heading elsewhere....I mean come on, this is just like people saying St John's is a good job. It just isn't. 20 years ago it was a good job. Not anymore.

 

Yup. DePaul needs a miracle to be relevant again.

[southsider2k5]

I agree with your coaching suggestion, but even the hot assistant coaches are getting smarter these days. That program is a dead-end, and these guys are using enough foresight to have patience and avoid it for the chance at a quick buck. If you have any desire to spend your career coaching college basketball, and you're an assistant on the upswing, you'd be best to avoid a dead-end desitnation just so you can buy a bigger house earlier in your career.

 

Great point. Why put your eggs in the DePaul basket as an assistant? You have a much better chance of building a winning reputation at a mid-major than you do at DP. You are pretty much set to be 15th or 16th place and fired in a few years time. After that you might not be able to get another job. At least if you start low and then move up and fail, you have the reputation of being decent a smaller school, and probably can get hired again.

[BigSqwert]

What a f***ing joke. The AD needs to be fired.

[iamshack]

What a f***ing joke. The AD needs to be fired.

Sqwert, I'm not saying Purnell is a great hire, but come on...who in their right mind would possibly go there? What legitimate coach with any career momentum is going to accept a position at Depaul right now?

[BigSqwert]

Sqwert, I'm not saying Purnell is a great hire, but come on...who in their right mind would possibly go there? What legitimate coach with any career momentum is going to accept a position at Depaul right now?

 

So all of a sudden $15M can't get you anything? Purnell? That's it?

[iamshack]

So all of a sudden $15M can't get you anything? Purnell? That's it?

EVERY school is throwing around that kind of money right now. EVERYWHERE.

[southsider2k5]

So all of a sudden $15M can't get you anything? Purnell? That's it?

 

Obviously no one else jumped on that grenade, because they sure tried ringing every doorbell they could, including a guy like Steve Lavin, who doesn't even have a job.

[Jenksismyhero]

Obviously no one else jumped on that grenade, because they sure tried ringing every doorbell they could, including a guy like Steve Lavin, who doesn't even have a job.

 

According to Lavin, they didn't try. They never contacted him, despite his interest (which he made public).

[HuskyCaucasian]

According to Lavin, they didn't try. They never contacted him, despite his interest (which he made public).

Lavin said he told DePaul several times he would be very interested int he job. They never even bothered to pick up the phone. I'd take Lavin over Purnell any day of the week.

[iamshack]

Apparently they could've hired Tony Barbee from UTEP but they waited several days before bothering to call him, because they were busy calling the likes of Jamie Dixon and Mark Few...

[fathom]

This is what happens when you're more obsessed with finding a minority coach than an actual good coach. Hewitt would have been a better fit for Purnell, as at least he's proven he can recruit in the midwest.

[iamshack]

This is what happens when you're more obsessed with finding a minority coach than an actual good coach. Hewitt would have been a better fit for Purnell, as at least he's proven he can recruit in the midwest.

What makes you think Hewitt would have taken the job? He turned down St Johns, which is basically the same exact situation as Depaul...