Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell (born May 19, 1953)
Teams coached: Radford Highlanders, Old Dominion Monarchs, Dayton Flyers, Clemson Tigers, DePaul Blue Demons
Radford record: 44-42 (.512)
Old Dominion record: 57-33 (.633)
Dayton record: 155-116 (.572)
Clemson record: 138-88 (.611)
DePaul record: 54-105 (.340)
Overall record: 448-384 (.538)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6 (1992, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0 (Runner-up in 2007)
- NIT Appearances: 8 (1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007)
- Atlantic 10 Regular Season Champion: 2 (1998, 2000)
- CAA Regular Season Champion: 2 (1993, 1994)
- Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion: 1 (2003)
- CAA Tournament Champion: 1 (1992)
Awards:
- Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: 1 (1998)
- CAA Coach of the Year: 1 (1993)
- Big South Coach of the Year: 1 (1991)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2010-2015 | DePaul |
| 2003-2010 | Clemson |
| 1994-2003 | Dayton |
| 1991-1994 | Old Dominion |
| 1988-1991 | Radford |
| 1985-1988 | Maryland (asst) |
| 1977-1985 | Old Dominion (asst) |
| 1975-1977 | Old Dominion (grad. asst) |
Oliver Purnell Facts
- Oliver Gordon Purnell, Jr.
- Born May 19, 1953
- Hometown: Berlin, Maryland
- Alma Mater: Old Dominion University (BA, 1975 & M.Ed., 1978)
- Graduated from Stephen Decatur HS in Berlin in 1971; named to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2008
- Played at (then College Division) Old Dominion under head coach Sonny Allen for three years
- Drafted in the sixth round of the 1975 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks but did not play for the team
- Inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in April 1988
- Was a GA at ODU for two years under new head coach Paul Webb while getting a masters, then became an assistant coach in 1977
- After eight seasons in that role, Purnell joined Lefty Driesell‘s staff as an assistant at Maryland in 1985
- Spent three years as Radford’s head coach before returning to alma mater ODU in 1991 to be the Monarchs’ head coach
- Led the team to three postseason berths in three years (1 NCAA, 2 NIT)
- Won 155 games in nine seasons as head coach at Dayton and then 138 games in seven seasons at Clemson
- Took over at DePaul in 2010, but resigned after the 2014-15 season with a 54-105 record during his tenure
- Along with his wife, Vicky, has two daughters
Oliver Purnell Coaching Tree
- Brandon Bailey (Maine Red Claws)
- Jim Casciano (UMPI, NJIT, King’s PA)
- Jimmy Drew (Lincoln MO)
- Ron Jirsa (Marshall)
- Mike Jones (Old Dominion)
- Wes Long (Queens NC)
- Mike Morrell (UNC Asheville)
- Kevin Nickelberry (Howard, Hampton)
- Tic Price (Lamar, McNeese State, Memphis, New Orleans)
- Shaka Smart (Marquette, Texas, VCU)
- Will Wade (McNeese, LSU, VCU, Chattanooga)
- Mike Young (Virginia Tech, Wofford)
