Big East Preview: #14 DePaul Blue Demons

Previewing all 15 teams in the Big East from #15 to #1

By:  Shane McCarthy

With two talented upperclassmen scorers returning, DePaul is on the right track to make noise in the Big East.  But the continuation of glaring struggles will likely keep this team near the bottom of the conference.

Who’s Back:

Cleveland Melvin –F– Junior – 32.1 Min, 17.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.8 apg

Brandon Young –G– Junior – 30.5 Min, 14.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.7 apg

Moses Morgan –F– Junior – 19.6 Min, 9.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.0 apg

Jamee Crockett –F– Soph – 18.4 Min, 8.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.2 apg

Donnavan Kirk –F– Junior – 18.0 Min, 3.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.2 apg

Charles McKinney –G– Soph – 17.5 Min, 4.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.4 apg

Worrel Clahar –G– Senior – 16.8 Min, 6.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.0 apg

Derrell Robertson Jr. - F - Soph - 8.5 Min, 0.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.1 apg 

Incoming Recruits:

Jodon Price – [Small Forward] – 6 foot 7, 170

ESPN’s 60^th ranked Small Forward

Rivals.com’s 143^rd ranked player and 32^nd ranked Small Forward

DeJuan Marrero – [Small Forward] – 6 foot 5, 208

ESPN’s 49^th ranked Small Forward

Durrell McDonald – [Shooting Guard] – 6 foot 1, 171

Who’s Out:  Krys Faber, Jeremiah Kelly 

Outlook:

In his second season as head coach of the Blue Demons, Oliver Purnell led DePaul to a record of 12-19 and 3-15 in the Big East. Disappointing? No doubt. But it was an improvement over the dismal 7-24 and 1-17 showing in his first year.

Entering the 2012-13 season, Purnell will have the luxury of possessing one of the best scoring tandems in the country.

Cleveland Melvin is the Big East’s top returning scorer at 17.5 ppg. As a duel threat, he should pick up where he left off. He is a 6 foot 8 scorer who can drive or pull up – an absolute nightmare to guard.

His sidekick, Brandon Young, is a talented guard who also possesses the scoring touch. As lethal as he can be, he actually struggles from beyond the arc (28.1%). Given that he is a natural scorer, improvement this season is in the realm of possibilities.

Unfortunately, the story for DePaul practically begins and ends with Melvin and Young.

They lack any sort of low post presence and it is uncertain who will be their point guard entering the season.

The book on this team last year was that they could not play defense or rebound. Frankly, it does not matter how many points you can score (DePaul actually scored the second most points in Big East play last year at 72.1) or what conference you play in; if you can’t defend or rebound you are not going to win on a consistent basis, if at all.

The Blue Demons don’t have to look far for an example of a team going from a bottom dweller to a conference threat - as South Florida did just that in the Big East last year. Maybe Coach Purnell taught this team how to play defense and box out in the offseason, along with the implementation of a slow ‘burn’ offense. But that seems unlikely, and it doesn't seem likely that any of the new guys will provide a drastic change or be that missing piece. 

There are a couple of talented players on this roster, and they will likely win a few more games this season compared to last, but anything more seems doubtful. 

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac