Oliver Purnell

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Oliver Purnell served for seven years as Clemson University's twenty-first Men's Basketball coach, 2003-2010, achieving a record of 138-88. He resigned early on April 6, 2010, to take the head job with the DePaul University basketball program in Chicago, Illinois.

[edit] Early life

Purnell was born May 19, 1953 in Berlin, Maryland.

[edit] Education

Purnell attended Old Dominion University where he earned a B.S. degree in health and physical education in 1975. He earned a master's degree in physical education and administration from Old Dominion in 1978.

He earned three letters playing basketball at Old Dominion between 1972 and 1975. He was the team MVP and honorable mention All-American in 1975 when he led Old Dominion to the NCAA Division II National Championship.

[edit] Coaching

Purnell served as a Graduate Assistant at Old Dominion (1975-1977), and then as Assistant Coach at ODU (1978-1985). From 1985 to 1988 he was an Assistant Coach at the University of Maryland.

He became Head Coach at Radford University (1988-1991), then returned to Old Dominion University as Head Coach (1991-1994) before moving on to Dayton from 1994 to 2003. He became the Clemson head coach on April 5, 2003, replacing Larry Shyatt who served from 1998 to 2003.

Entering his seventh and final season as the Tigers' Head Coach, Purnell had a 373-268 record for a .582 percentage over 21 years.

Preceded by: Larry Shyatt

Clemson University Basketball Coaches

Succeeded by: Brad Brownell