BC, DePaul appear to have new basketball coaches
Two of the remaining openings in college basketball appear to be filled, as both DePaul and Boston College are expected to hold press conferences to introduce a new coach in the near future.
DePaul has scheduled a conference for Tuesday afternoon, at which it will introduce Oliver Purnell as its coach. Purnell had spent the last seven seasons at Clemson, going 138-90 during that time.
All things considered, Purnell’s move feels like a surprise. I’m not so sure if his name was being mentioned publicly. It certainly wasn’t last week, when former New Mexico coach Reggie Theus was the only known candidate to be interviewed, and Isiah Thomas was throwing his name into the ring.
Purnell leaves a Clemson program that was not in good shape when he arrived. Purnell put the Tigers into at least the NIT in his final six years, including the NCAA Tournament the last three.
The only problem is, Purnell’s teams have never won a game in the big dance, and that includes previous gigs at Dayton and Old Dominion. And then there was the 2006-07 season in which Clemson started the year 17-0 and then failed to make the tournament.
So maybe this is a step down for Purnell – although a reported $15 million over seven years probably doesn’t make it too much of a drop – and maybe it’s a stretch for DePaul. Or maybe it’s a perfect fit: a good, but not great, coach going to a program where good is an improvement.
As for Boston College, it’s expected that the school could name Cornell’s Steve Donahue as the successor to Al Skinner as early as Tuesday. One way or another, a press conference has been set up for Wednesday.
If Donahue is the Eagles’ new coach, then BC is getting exactly what it should have expected to get after the removal of Skinner. I’m sure that Donahue’s tenure at an Ivy League school did nothing but impress a BC brass that holds itself in high regard.
And while Donahue is not the big-name coach that I’m sure some wanted to see at BC, he is a proven coach and certainly seems like a good fit.
Its nice to see you posting on this topic, I have to book mark this site. Keep up the good work.