Men look to improve Big East reputation

On paper, last year's Blue Demon season might not look like much. The team went 7- 24 for the season and 1-17 in the Big East conference. Their lone Big East win was against Providence with a narrow 79-76 victory. They averaged 64.5 points with their opponents averaging 78.9. But that was last year, the first full year under new management. Are the men ready and where they need to be to successfully keep rebuilding the program under coach Oliver Purnell?

"I think so, but we have to play to see," said Purnell. "The big thing is to get better every year. It's that simple – when you're building a program you want to get better every year."

The biggest hurdle thus far in the year is the loss of players to injury. On top of freshman Macari Brooks transferring out of DePaul, junior forward Tony Freeland will be out for the season due to a shoulder injury and freshman forward Montray Clemons is sidelined with a knee injury.

"I think we will be better but now we have to go out and show that," said Purnell. "And hopefully we can keep this thing pieced together from an injury standpoint to show that."

The bright spot for the Demons is their returning squad of sophomores and seniors, particularly Brandon Young, Jeremiah Kelly and Big East Rookie of the Year Cleveland Melvin, who will all play pivotal roles in the Demons' season.

"We need every one of them because we're a little bit shallow now," said Purnell. 

"But from every one of them [returning players] we're expecting career best years and the reason we're expecting that is because this is their second year with us."

The two transfer students on the team, forward Donnavan Kirk and guard Worrell Clahar, will also play a unique role in between the veteran leadership and the freshman newcomers.

"I kind of look at them like freshman, because this is the first time they've been with us," said Purnell. "But those guys are older. They do have more experience playing and they come with a basic basketball experience now so they need to bring that to us."

The men themselves know the talent the Big East has to offer this year and know what they will have to bring to be successful. Kelly, a senior, feels last year gave him a lot more experience and depth as a player.

"In the Big East you can't win with five players, six players – you need to have at least eight to 10 players," he said. "Right now we feel comfortable with at least ten players out there and we're going to look forward to making it happen."

And Kelly is right. This year the Big East is a formidable force in the 2012 college basketball landscape with five teams ranking in the AP top 25 and six ranking in the USA Today/Coaches top 25, not to mention the NCAA tournament champ, UConn, looming on DePaul's schedule.

"Every game is a big game in the Big East, I'm looking forward to all of them. When you're in college every game counts, you know? Only 64 teams make it to the playoff so every game counts," said Kelly. "You have to treat every game like it's the championship."