Mark it down: DePaul is 1-0 on the season.
Oliver Purnell began the post-Clemson era of his career with a 114-81 blow out of Chicago State Sunday night at McGrath Arena. This college basketball version of a track meet was about as fun to watch as pretty much any game I’ll see this year.
Even though the pace of the game resembled the MTV Rock ‘n’ Jock basketball contest and the final score indicative of three quarters of a Phoenix Suns-Golden St. Warriors NBA game, don’t think DePaul’s offensive issues are exactly solved.
The team’s leading returning scorer is Mike Stovall, a 6-4 “three” from right here in “The Chi.” He averaged just 7 points per game last season, but broke out for 30 versus Providence on January 14th of last year. In the opener, nine Blue Demons reached double-figures, Tony Freeland leading the way with 21.
But Stovall was right there with 19, and he also led the team in scoring in the exhibition.
By Paul M. Banks
And I think his talents will fit the new up-tempo system as well or better than anyone else on DePaul’s roster. He should be the most battle-ready individual player once the Demons reach Big East play. And once again the conference will be extremely loaded.
“It’s real fun, going against other top players in the country competing with them trying to show everyone your game and that you can compete on their level,” Stovall said.
But for now the Demons will focus on their pre-conference tune-ups. I think John Templon of Chicago College Basketball summed it up best when he tweeted:
“Chicago State is a good opener for the Purnell era. The Cougars play right into the style that he wants to play.”
ANd regarding that style of play, Stovall described what they held close to their vest, and what they showed:
“”We have a lot of presses, we showed two or three of ’em. We have a lot of half court traps as well. We just didn’t show em yet,” he said.
The key to improvement will be how well they hit the glass this winter.
“We just have to attack the defensive rebounds,” he said. “We have to block out and just get aggressive down there and don’t run out or start leaking out for the outlet passes. As a team, as a whole, as one we have to go and rebound.”
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to the Tribune’sChicago College Basketball network, Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, and Yardbarker Network
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank