Holmes: DePaul Must Steer Clear Of Tunnel Vision In Coaching Search
By Laurence W. Holmes-
(CBS) When word came down Saturday that DePaul basketball coach Oliver Purnell had resigned, my social media outlets were bombarded with questions about former Blue Demon stars being on the list to replace him. The most prevalent names: Rod Strickland, Mark Aguirre and Tyrone Corbin.
All of those are fine names, but DePaul fans need to to think bigger. Everyone likes a good homecoming story, but enough is enough. Nostalgia should only be a tiebreaker for equally qualified candidates.
DePaul does have a storied history. That can be important on the college basketball landscape, but at this point, it's just mostly significant to basketball romantics who remember when DePaul and Marquette were independents and on top of the college basketball world. A new chapter needs to be written now. Marquette has embraced the future and has been rewarded with plenty of NBA talent and continued success into the millennium. DePaul needs to go in that direction, too.
If you look at the Big East, the schools in it are pretty much identical. It's a conference made up of inner-city (mostly Catholic), liberal arts universities. Almost all of them have a deep basketball history. And if you're recruiting against DePaul, it's easy to make the case for any of the other schools. Not because it's not a great place to get an education -- it is -- but because it's not on the radar of enough great players. The other schools in conference have maintained a level of respectability and in some cases growth, while DePaul has been going backward.
The question is how do you get there? And there are plenty of different routes. Fans who are dead-set on hiring a former great are looking at the forks in the road and trying to go straight.
The other trope that DePaul fans need to let go of is the idea that the Blue Demons need more Chicago recruits. Of the nine players who played the most minutes for DePaul this season, seven of them are from the Chicagoland area. It doesn't matter where the players are from; what matters is can they be successful.
Dave Leitao's 2003-'04 DePaul squad -- the last to make the NCAA Tournament -- was anchored by a kid from New York (Sammy Mejia), a couple of guys from Wisconsin (Quemont Greer and Drake Diener) and a standout from Maryland (Delonte Holland). Those Blue Demons made it to the round of 32, where they were beat by eventual champion UConn.
It's been more than 30 years since the legendary Ray Meyer retired. Think about that. The kids who watched his teams aren't the ones who are sending talented players to the "Little school under the L tracks." When it comes to men's basketball, DePaul is an afterthought for the stars of today. What the university needs is someone who can convince players to buy in, whether that's with style of play, demeanor, charisma or recruiting connections.
I believe all of the former DePaul players are qualified and, if hired, they should be supported. But my hope is that fans and, more importantly, DePaul's athletic department don't have tunnel vision in the hiring process. Jerry Wainwright and Purnell are both good men, but their failures have set DePaul back a long way. The next hire has to be the right one.
Where the candidate played shouldn't matter much.
Laurence Holmes hosts the Laurence Holmes Show on 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @LaurenceWHolmes.