North: Time for DePaul to hire the right coach

Well, I'd like to say "I told you so," but it won't change the fact that the DePaul men's basketball program has failed miserably. Again.

Oliver Purnell resigned from the head coaching position with two years left on his $2 million a year contract with a 54-105 record.

At the time of the hire, I said that a seven-year multimillion dollar contract just wasn't prudent. But hey, it's not my money.

I hope the university now realizes men's basketball needs to become a priority for the school. I still can't understand why this once-proud program has taken such a back seat to other athletics there.

As I watched St. John's, Georgetown, Buffalo, Villanova and Harvard prepare for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, I couldn't help thinking what a sad mess we have in this state.

Here we are with another year and not a single Illinois school invited to the NCAA tourney.

I see Valparaiso and Robert Morris both in the NCAA tournament, and say why not DePaul?

After years of being irrelevant on the basketball scene, DePaul was a big city-small school that tasted gold from 1979 to the mid-80s under head coach Ray Meyer. The newspaper clipping now are yellow with age, and star players such as Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings, who made DePaul a household name in Chicago in the 1980s, are middle-aged men now.

Can the Blue Demons ever be relevant again - especially in the Big East?

When DePaul moved to the Big East in 2005, I told anyone who would listen, it was a money grab and a bad move for the program. I think I can safely say I was right, but that doesn't mean the next coach won't get it done.

So who will be the next head coach? There should be plenty of candidates, not only because it's an attractive job in a great city, but it pays good.

It's not enough, though, to throw money at a head coach and walk away. From the head of the school to the person who sweeps the classroom floors, everyone has to be invested in the program for it to be successful.

Maybe DePaul officials should let the program's fans and student body pick the next coach, because the people in charge haven't got it right for awhile.

So what's the answer? Should DePaul go full circle and rehire Joey Meyer?

Or maybe they can coax former Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun to run the program. Or maybe they wait for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to retire in three years because being a cheater apparently doesn't matter if you have tenure and had success at a school.

I'm just looking for someone with a pulse - anyone.

How about Tommy Amaker, who has made Harvard basketball (22-7) relevant? Or Jim Les, a local guy, who led Cal-Davis to a 25-7 record this season? Or Tommy Kleinschmidt, now with DePaul College Prep, formerly Gordon Tech.

DePaul is at a crossroads with its men's basketball program, and it's time school officials finally get it right.

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