His old Clemson team figures to challenge for another NCAA tournament berth this March. His new DePaul squad would be fortunate to avoid a third straight finish in the Big East cellar.
"You question it, but it's a matter of how quickly you get over it," Purnell said Friday. "That's the same as anywhere I've been. I remember sitting around the office at Clemson after I left Dayton thinking, 'What have I done?'"
Purnell surely endured a few twinges of regret on Friday during an exasperating 88-66 loss at the hands of lightly regarded Cal State Northridge in the consolation bracket of the 76 Classic in Anaheim. The Blue Demons surrendered 10 straight made field goals to start the game and trailed 41-12 late in the first half, far too steep a deficit for such an inexperienced team to mount much of a rally.
An impressive 2011 recruiting haul suggests DePaul could take a first step toward respectability next season, but this season is more about laying the foundation for future success than wins and losses. The Blue Demons enter Sunday's seventh-place game against Stanford at 1-3, having previously lost to Western Carolina and Oklahoma State.
"Oliver and I had a nice conversation before the game and we talked about the rebuilding process and not knowing which team was going to show up," Cal State Northridge coach Bobby Braswell said. "He's obviously a fantastic coach. Everywhere he's been, he's been successful and he's going to get that program running."
It came as a surprise when Purnell bolted for DePaul this spring after three straight NCAA tournament appearances at Clemson, but perhaps it shouldn't have given his track record.
In 1991, he left 22-win Radford in hopes of jumpstarting then-middling Old Dominion. In 1994, he left 21-win Old Dominion to rebuild struggling Dayton. And in 2003, he left 24-win Dayton to take over a Clemson program that had lost 22 of 30 ACC games the previous two seasons.
"I like challenges," Purnell said. "I'm motivated when people say you can't do something, but at the same time I don't go into situations blindly. I look at the raw materials a place has. I look at it as a job that could be a great job. It might not be that now, but I look at location, league recruiting areas and if I see the key components are there or can be there, then I start to get excited."
What caught Purnell's attention about DePaul was its basketball pedigree and its location in the heart of talent-rich Chicago. Although the Blue Demons had lost 35 of their last 36 Big East games and hadn't made the NCAA tournament since 2004, Purnell believed that the right coach could return the program to the heights it once achieved under Ray and Joey Meyer in the 1970s and 80s.
Purnell has managed to sell a handful of prized recruits on his vision for a resurgence at DePaul. Five prospects signed early with DePaul earlier this month including three-star point guard Shane Larkin and Illinois natives Macari Brooks and Jamie Crockett.
If any more doubts start creeping into Purnell's head as the losses mount this winter, perhaps he should think about that recruiting class and daydream about the better days that may be ahead.
"You look back on the reasons you left and you keep pushing ahead," Purnell said. "The same things you're telling your players and everyone involved with your program, you've got to tell yourself. It's going to be really good when it happens, that gratifying feeling. "
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