Big East 2014 Conference Preview: #10 DePaul

2013-14 Season Review

There is only one way to characterize DePaul’s 2013-14 season: high scoring, fast-paced blowouts, with an occasional nail biter in the event the team was able to control the tempo. After landing a commitment from four-star point guard Billy Garrett Jr., arguably the best recruit in the Oliver Purnell era, one might have expected different results. Heading into last season, the team featured a pair of 6’10 forwards, an experienced core of Brandon Young and Cleveland Melvin, and star recruit Billy Garrett Jr., and yet it was more of the same.

The Blue Demons often employed a full court press on defense and found themselves scrambling to recover if their guards got beat off the dribble. In addition, the team’s leading scorer and former Big East Rookie of the Year in 2011, Cleveland Melvin, was suspended for violation of team rules mid-way through the season and never returned. It was a recipe for disaster, as the team continued trying to outrun and outscore their more talented opponents.

2014-15 Season Outlook

Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Billy Garrett Jr. (So.)
SG: Durrell McDonald (Jr.)
SF: Myke Henry (Jr.*)
PF: Rashaun Stimage (Jr.*)
C: Tommy Hamilton (So.)

*Transfer

Key additions/departures

Gone are seniors Brandon Young, Cleveland Melvin, and Sandi Marcius, who, before Melvin’s suspension, combined for 37.8 points per game. This season, fans are hopeful that the development of Garrett in addition to Illinois transfer Myke Henry and 6’10 sophomore Tommy Hamilton will help offset these losses. Henry, a 6’6 230 pound forward, was ranked number 97 by ESPN in the incoming 2011 class and averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds as a high school senior. Begrudged by a lack of playing time and a preference for playing a true wing role as opposed to the stretch-4 he had been playing at Illinois, Henry opted to stay local and opt for a team where he would have more of an impact and a chance to break the starting lineup.

Hamilton on the other hand is a 6’11 forward coming off a freshman season where he backed up departing senior Sandi Marcius and averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Perhaps the most encouraging thing for Hamilton, a big man who has no fear in shooting the three, is his loss of about 30 pounds this off-season, giving him added mobility in transition and a greater ability to change direction on defense, which was often a problem for him last season. Hamilton’s progression this off-season will play a major role in DePaul’s success at limiting points in the paint.

Joining this cast of players is returning junior Durrell McDonald, a 6’2 sharpshooter who, despite only averaging 5.4 points and 19.6 minutes per game, currently ranks fourth all-time in three-point field goal percentage at DePaul. Many expect McDonald to join Garrett in the backcourt this season, as his speed and ball-hawking quickness on defense will serve as a complement to Garrett’s length at the point guard position.

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In addition to Henry, Depaul adds a three-star recruit, Raymond Doby, and three JuCo transfers, the most heralded being 6’8 forward Rashaun Stimage who some believe may get the starting role at power forward. Stimage was ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the state of Illinois in 2012, with an incredibly high ceiling due to his combination of size and athleticism. Despite some early season inconsistencies at Daytona State College, Stimage closed the second half of the season strongly, averaging just over 14 points per game as his team went 13-4 over that stretch.

The other JuCo transfers are Aaron Simpson, a 5’11 point guard who is expected to fill in and backup Billy Garrett, and Darrick Wood, a 6’4 shooting guard who originally committed to St. John’s, and should see playing time behind McDonald with plenty of opportunity to take over the starting role.

The team also boasts returning players R.J. Curington, Jamee Crockett, Greg Sequele and Forrest Robinson off the bench, who will provide much needed depth for a team that plays a fast-paced offense wrought with turnovers and fouls. Robinson, a 6’10 senior forward, has a tendency to shoot from deep, and saw minutes as a starter toward the end of last season, but often found himself in foul trouble. Despite finishing under .500 for his entire tenure at DePaul, Purnell seems optimistic about this squad, now that he has been through a full recruiting cycle:

"“I’m very excited about the future,” Purnell said. “One of the reasons is I feel like we’re at that tipping point where we can start going downhill. Now, all the kids in the program, we recruited. We do feel like we have a culture shift.”"

Bottom Line

The addition of three experienced junior college players and Illinois transfer Myke Henry will certainly help DePaul move forward from the loss of their three senior leaders, but there is no question that the team will miss the scoring output of Young, who averaged 21.8 points per game over the last ten games of the season. The hope is that Garrett steps up to fill his shoes while also getting help from Hamilton, Henry and Stimage, but at this point an NCAA berth appears to be nothing more than a pipe dream. Very few of the returning players have proven themselves in significant minutes, and while the future certainly looks a bit better, there is little reason to believe that the Blue Demons will have better results than last season.

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