The Roster
Notable Returnees
Brandon Young 6'4 199 Senior 16.7 Points, 4.6 Assists, 3.3 Rebounds, 31.5 Minutes
Cleveland Melvin 6'8 208 Senior 16.6 Points, 6.8 Rebounds, 0.8 Blocks, 31.1 Minutes
Jamee Crockett 6'4 213 Junior 8.7 Points, 3.6 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 22.9 Minutes
Charles McKinney 6'3 183 Junior 5.3 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists, 20.0 Minutes
Durrell McDonald 6'1 171 Sophomore 2.9 Points, 0.9 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 11.1 Minutes
What They Return In Stats: 69% of Points, 50% of Rebounds, 64% of Assists, 58.7% of Minutes
Roster Thoughts...The duo of Young and Melvin is aesthetically pleasing, on the surface. Both averaged over 16, while racking up nice looking stats for their respective positions, Young dishing out 4.6 assists and Melvin grabbing 7 rebounds, but nothing has translated towards W's yet. Young needs to improve his three point shooting, he shot 31% last year and is a 30.5% shooter in his DePaul career. After Young and Melvin, the cupboard is pretty bare. Crockett is a solid piece, but he really struggled scoring the ball last year, shooting 37% from the floor and 26% from three. You can talk about offensive woes all you want, but as a team, DePaul has to get better defensively, or they will never climb out of the cellar. The Blue Demons ranks of 327th in opponents scoring, 330th in opponents FG%, 291st in 3FG% are just awful, saying they're awful is almost too kind. Donnavan Kirk, who provided DePaul with their one impressive individual defensive stat(1.6 blocks per game) is now gone, too. It's not a pretty roster, as good as Melvin and Young look on paper, the reality is DePaul has gone 30-64 in the two players three seasons, so it's hard to get too excited about it, although it would be horrifying to see DePaul without them.
The Newcomers
Billy Garrett 6'4 175 Freshman Guard; Rivals #99, Scout #96, 247Sports #140
R.J. Curington 6'6 170 Freshman Guard; Rivals Unranked, Scout Unranked, 247Sports #243
Thomas Hamilton 6'9 280 Freshman Center; Rivals Unranked, Scout Unranked, 247Sports Unranked
Greg Sequele 6'8 220 Junior Forward; 247Sports #14 JUCO
Forrest Robinson 6'10 220 Junior Forward; Unranked JUCO
Sandi Marcius 6'10 268 Senior Center; 3.3 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 9.3 Minutes at Purdue('12-'13)
Newcomer Thoughts... Billy Garrett is the crown jewel of this class. Garrett, the 6'4 son of a coach, is capable of playing both guard spots and has exceptional size to do so. Garrett is a smart, high IQ guard who can really shoot it. The concern with Garrett is his lack of speed and athleticism, this could limit him and let defenders key in on his shooting ability. Joining Garrett as an incoming guard is R.J. Curington. R.J. is another guard with good size who is heralded for his full throttle style of play, something DePaul desperately needs on the defensive side of the ball. Rounding out their class, DePaul got several very big bodies. Sequele committed to Washington State out of High School, had to go the JUCO route after not meeting academic standards. He's a versatile forward who can play a little three along with his primary position, the four. Forrest Robinson, the JUCO transfer who started out at North Texas, but struggled to earn minutes and Thomas Hamilton, the big man out of the IMG academy in Florida. Both provide a lot of size inside, something needed after the departure of Kirk. The grad transfer, Marcius, is also another nice pickup for the Blue Demons, gives them size and experience.
The End Result
DePaul's still got a long way to go. Purnell is 30-64 in his first three seasons, including an abysmal 6-48 record in Big East play. With their three top scorers in Young, Melvin and Crockett returning, DePaul at least has a foundation for this season. If Garrett comes in and plays well, there is definitely room for improvement. The only problem is, DePaul needs A LOT of improvement, something I don't see coming this year. I'll say DePaul probably has more talent this year, a lineup featuring Garrett, Young, Melvin, Crockett looks solid, but there isn't a lot of depth in form of talent other than that and unless DePaul makes a miracle jump in the defensive department, they don't have anywhere near the scoring to overcome their defensive holes, although Garrett and Curington are both solid additions for the offense. All in all, it's a limited roster with a dearth of talent, the same thing DePaul has been plagued by for the last few years. DePaul should struggle, again. Although they'll get relief from teams like Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville, the Big East is very deep with good teams and I foresee DePaul struggling to break that 2/3 win barrier.
The Three Biggest Positives...
1. Melvin and Young
I know I used the previous section of the article to talk about how their individual stats haven't translated well to W's, but they're still the number one positive for this team. Two players who put up 16+ and provide a senior presence.
2. Recruiting Improvement?
This has more to do with the future rather than this season, but Garrett and Curington are a definite step up in regards to talent. With a new stadium coming, maybe DePaul can finally turn that corner and get some good recruits from the recruiting hotbed that is Illinois to stay home.
3. Experience
Let's face it, it was almost hard to find three positives for DePaul. They do have experience, however. Eight juniors and seniors on the DePaul roster. Is this a good thing for an eleven win team?
Three Biggest Negatives...
1. No substantial roster improvement
From an 11-21 team. Garrett and some of the other newcomers are nice additions, but it's not fair to expect a fringe Top 100 freshman to substantially improve a team like DePaul. Kirk, Clahar and Morgan are all gone, too.
2. Defense
After just having a terrible, terrible team defense last year, it doesn't look like DePaul should improve all that much. Curington has a good motor, and Garrett brings good size, although he isn't very fleet of foot. Kirk is a loss, though. Until Melvin or Young really make an effort to lock down their spot, I don't see things changing.
3. Talent
They just don't have talent, not enough anyway. They'll be at a talent disadvantage every single night in the Big East. Couple lack of talent with lack of offensive firepower and lack of defensive effort, it's a disaster.
Postseason Prediction...
None, plain and simple, short and sweet. I never want to completely rule anything out, but I'll be shocked if DePaul emerges from this season with a winning record, let alone postseason play.
