DePaul University Athletics
Exhibition Season Starts Saturday with Northwood
10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Oct. 29, 2010
CHICAGO - DePaul plays the first of two exhibition games starting Saturday night against Northwood University. It is the third game of a McGrath Arena tripleheader that opens with a 2 p.m. volleyball game between DePaul and Connecticut. Prior to the men's exhibition game, the DePaul women's basketball team also hosts Northwood in a preseason matchup at 5 p.m.
The Timberwolves posted an overall record of 12-14 last season and held a 9-13 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Northwood lost its top three scorers from last season with Andrew VanDierenDonck returning as the leading scorer with 8.4 points per game last season. Northwood is a NCAA Division II program located in Midland, Mich. Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his first season at Northwood. A year ago, Rekeweg was named the 2010 NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading St. Francis (Ind.) to the NAIA National Championship.
The Blue Demons conclude the exhibition schedule on Nov. 7 when they host the Lewis Flyers at 6 p.m. at McGrath Arena.
Purnell Era Begins in Chicago: Known for rebuilding programs in each of his previous coaching stops, DePaul named Oliver Purnell head coach on April 6, 2010. Purnell brings 22 years of head coaching experience to Lincoln Park including the last seven seasons at Clemson University. He is the 13th head coach in DePaul basketball history.
Purnell inherited a Clemson program in 2003 following stints at Dayton, Old Dominion and Radford. After a 10-18 record during his first campaign in 2003-04, he led the Tigers to six straight postseason appearances including each of the last three NCAA Tournaments. Clemson is just one of 21 programs nationally, including BIG EAST members Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova and West Virginia, to make three straight NCAA appearances.
In the last four seasons, Purnell's .694 winning percentage is third in the ACC with only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and North Carolina's Roy Williams posting higher winning percentages in that span. The 2009-10 squad finished at 21-11 with the program's third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Clemson also finished the season with 301 steals in 32 games to rank among the nation's best for the sixth straight year. Purnell compiled a record of 138-88 (.613) during his seven-year tenure at Clemson while the program improved its winning percentage in five straight seasons from 2004-09.
From an honors standpoint, Purnell has been named conference Coach of the Year in three different Division I conferences. He was also the 2009 District III USBWA Coach of the Year and one of 10 finalists for the Henry Iba Award, presented annually to the nation's top head coach.
Additionally, he was a coach prominently involved in the USA Basketball program for nearly 10 years. Teams he was affiliated with in the USA Basketball program as a head coach or assistant coach accumulated a 45-4 record and won five gold medals in international competition. He was an assistant coach under Larry Brown on the United States Olympic team in Greece in 2004.
Purnell Adds Veteran Staff: Immediately after being hired in April, DePaul coach Oliver Purnell put together a staff that features a wealth of experience. The staff includes two former head coaches and a seasoned veteran of the Chicago recruiting scene.
Joining Purnell's staff from Clemson are associate head coach Ron Bradley, director of basketball operations Josh Postorino and video coordinator Andy Farrell. They join Billy Garrett and Brandon Bailey from last season's coaching staff. Former Michigan head coach Brian Ellerbe is an assistant coach under Purnell and Mac Calloway heads to Chicago from Miami (Fla.) as the program's strength and conditioning coach.
Bradley is the associate head coach after serving in the same capacity with Purnell the last eight seasons at Clemson. He has over 30 years of collegiate experience, including the 29 at the Division I level. Bradley was head coach at Radford from 1991-02 and was inducted into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in June 2010.
Ellerbe spent the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach at George Washington before joining Purnell's staff in May. He served as head coach at Michigan from 1997-01 and Loyola (Md.) from 1994-97.
Garrett enters his second season at DePaul in 2010-11. He joined the program in May 2009 after coaching at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2007-09), Iowa (2006-07), Seton Hall (2001-06) and Siena (2000-01). Garrett started his coaching career in Chicago as head basketball coach at Providence St. Mel High School from 1994-00.
Postorino spent the last three seasons with Purnell at Clemson including the last two as an assistant coach. He enters his 10th year at the collegiate level next season and is be the director of basketball operations at DePaul.
Farrell joins the staff as video coordinator after serving in the same capacity with Purnell the last two seasons at Clemson. Prior to handling the video coordinator duties at Clemson, he was a graduate assistant at Virginia Commonwealth during the 2007-08 season. As an undergraduate student at Dayton from 2003-07, Farrell was the head student assistant for the Flyers.
Calloway begins his stint at DePaul after working at Miami (Fla.) since 2005. With the Hurricanes, he handled strength and conditioning duties along with pre-season, in-season and off-season programs with the men's basketball team.
Bailey continues as a graduate assistant after joining the program prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. He will assist the staff in all phases of the program including video operations, practice preparation and tape exchange.
What's Back: Entering the 2010-11 season, DePaul returns 10 players including three that started at least 17 games. Mike Stovall (Sr., G/F) is the top returning scorers and leads the way as the Blue Demons look to replace their top scorer and rebounder from a year ago.
Stovall averaged 7.0 points per game and showed flashes of explosive scoring ability with a career-high 30 points against Providence on Jan. 14. The Chicago native posted just five games in double-figures, but when scoring in double-figures he averaged 18.6 points per outing.
Jeremiah Kelly (Jr., G) and Devin Hill (Jr., F) also return after starting 27 and 17 games last season. Kelly led the Blue Demons with 84 assists while Hill blocked a team-best 26 shots. Other top returners include Michael Bizoukas (Jr., G), Tony Freeland (So., F) and Krys Faber (Jr., C). Bizoukas and Freeland started seven times in 2009-10 while Faber made 11 starts.
What's New: A three-player freshmen class from across the country heads to Lincoln Park this season. Cleveland Melvin, Moses Morgan and Brandon Young signed a National Letter of Intent to joining the Blue Demons starting with the 2010-11 campaign. Morgan and Young signed in Nov. 2009 while Melvin inked his NLI in May 2010.
Melvin is a 6-8 forward out of Baltimore, Md. and played last season at Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) while Morgan is a 6-5 guard from Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas and Young is a 6-3 guard from Friendship Collegiate School in Washington, D.C.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,365-837 (.620) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 521 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... the Blue Demons have won four of their first five games in two straight seasons... DePaul's back-to-back 20-loss seasons in the last two years are the first since consecutive 20-loss campaigns in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
Three Decades in Rosemont: DePaul enters its 31st season in 2010-11 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Blue Demons are 302-122 (.712) all-time in Rosemont. DePaul University played its first season at the then-named Rosemont Horizon in 1980. The Blue Demons debuted in Rosemont with a 74-56 win over Gonzaga and John Stockton on Dec. 1, 1980.
Wallace to Miss 2010-11 Season: DePaul junior Eric Wallace will miss the 2010-11 season after sustaining fractured left tibia and fibula in a preseason workout on Oct. 4. Wallace underwent surgery to repair the injury on Oct. 7 and is expected to make a complete recovery. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24 games last season as a sophomore. He sat out the 2008-09 campaign after transferring from Ohio State. The 6-7 guard/forward scored a career-high 16 points against Detroit last season and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds in games against Alabama State and St. John's last season.
