A reason to fear DePaul next year? How about five? And a few leftover from last year, like this T-shirt slogan devised by the DePaul faithful.
Oliver Purnell heads into his fourth season as DePaul head coach with two reasons to be optimistic.
The first is a presumption that Purnell will find success in year four based on his previous two coaching stops. Purnell took over an abysmal Dayton squad in 1994 that went 7-20 in his first season. In his fourth season, he lead his team to twenty wins and an NCAA Tournament bid two years later.
When Purnell arrived at Clemson in 2003, he went 10-18 in his first year. After three years in the ACC cellar, his Tigers strung together four straight years of 20+ win seasons, including three NCAA tournament births.
Coach Purnell believes his Blue Demons are on the cusp of a breakout season.
“It’s clear to me that we’re really close, there were ten or eleven games where we were right there with a chance to win, and we didn’t get it done. We’re finding a way to get over that hump”, said Purnell.
The second reason for optimism is the group of young talent Purnell is bringing to Lincoln Park next year, “One of the ways you do that is through recruiting.”
And recruit he did. Purnell and his staff have put together a promising class of recruits that will allow the Blue Demons to contend in the newly shaped Big East Conference.
Billy Garrett Jr. is the most highly touted homegrown recruit to come to DePaul since Bobby Simmons. In addition to leading Morgan Park to an Illinois Class 3A State Title, Garrett Jr. set school records for points and assists.
Garrett will bring his great distribution and superb outside shooting to a team that lacked both last season. He and R.J. Curington are expected to give DePaul more pop on the perimeter.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well on the outside. Those two guys come in with the credentials to shoot well from the outside” Purnell said.
Curington averaged 15 pts a game for a nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy (Va.). Not bad, considering five of Curington’s classmates at Oak Hill will be playing Division I basketball next year at places like Indiana, North Carolina and North Carolina State.
In a January matchup against a Simeon squad that boasts more than a handful of Division I players, Curington scored 19 pts including three 3-pointers.
Purnell perhaps beefened up his frontcourt by adding three more big bodies to the roster, the biggest being Chicago product Tommy Hamilton Jr. Hamilton, the son of former NBA player Tommy Hamilton Sr., is expected to be a force underneath the basket.
Hamilton’s size has been an asset as well as a hindrance. He’s a physical player who can match up with any center in the Big East. However, Hamilton sat out all of the 2011-12 season for Chicago’s Whitney Young High School with a knee injury, before transferring to IMG Academy in Las Vegas for his senior season.
“He went down to IMG and lost about 30 lbs. Now to continue that, the physical condition part is a big thing. He is a physical player, that’s what he does. But he does have the skills to step away from the basket” said Purnell.
Coach Purnell’s staff also dipped into the junior college ranks and pulled out two very athletic big men. Greg Sequele of Citrus Junior College has been described by recruiting analysts as athletic as any forward out there (Just watch this.). Sequele has bounced around the junior college ranks for the past two seasons, battling injury and NCAA eligibility issues, but Purnell is excited to have him next year.
“He’s an athlete much along the lines of Cleveland Melvin,” said Purnell. “6’8”, bouncy, should really fit into our up-tempo style of offense next year.”
Forrest Robinson has been playing behind one of the nation’s top junior college center at South Plains College in Levelland, TX. He’ll add to a deep Blue Demon bench that will boast a slew of young, versatile big men.
“He is a big guy who can shoot too. He’ll give us a lot of depth in the frontcourt” Purnell said.
Add these five to a roster heavy in upperclassmen experience, and Purnell should have a different looking team.
“We’ll be athletic and we’ll be deeper. Start with the perimeter. You’ve got Jamee(Crockett), Charles(McKinney), Brandon(Young) and Durell(McDonald) back and add the two new guards, that’s six. I see us being a better shooting team.”
And the interior lineup should be able to go toe to toe with anyone in the Big East.
“Upfront, Squele’s an athlete, Cleve too. With Tommy, we’ll be a more physical team. We’re going to get better defensively, clearly” Purnell said. “That’s the key. We’ve got to force teams into lower shooting percentages and keep them off the offensive glass.”
Coach Purnell will have his squad assembled and ready to hit the hardwood on June 17th, the first day of Summer classes.
Jake Berent 
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