Purnell leaves Clemson to coach DePaul
CHICAGO — DePaul has hired Clemson’s Oliver Purnell as its coach, hoping he can revive a once-proud program that has struggled in recent years.
He replaces Tracy Webster, who took over on an interim basis after Jerry Wainwright was fired in midseason.
Purnell has a 394-279 record in 22 seasons as a head coach, including 138-88 mark in seven seasons with Clemson while leading the Tigers to the NCAA tournament the past three years. But they’ve lost in the first round each time, making him 0-6 overall in NCAA games, including appearances with Dayton and Old Dominion. He also coached Radford.
Donahue takes Boston College job
BOSTON — Steve Donahue, who led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, has been hired to take over the basketball team at Boston College, a BC official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Donahue led the Big Red to a 29-5 record this season — the most wins in Ivy history — and victories over favored Temple and Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament. The first Ivy team to reach the Sweet 16 in more than 30 years, Cornell lost to No. 1-seeded Kentucky 62-45 in the regional semifinals.
Donahue will take over for Al Skinner, who was fired after 13 years in which he became the winningest coach in BC history and took the Eagles to seven NCAA tournaments in a nine-year span.
Moore, Harris honored
CollegeInsider.com has named Washington State University point guard Reggie Moore and Gonzaga forward Elias Harris to its 2010 Freshman All-America Basketball Team.
Moore, a graduate of Rainier Beach High School, started 30 of 31 games for the Cougars and averaged 12.7 points and 4.2 assists per contest. He set WSU freshman records for assists (131), free throws made (154) and free-throw percentage (.794).
Harris, a native of Germany, averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in helping the Bulldogs win the West Coast Conference championship and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Conroy to fill Tulane post
NEW ORLEANS — A person familiar with the decision says Citadel coach Ed Conroy has agreed to fill the vacant coaching position at Tulane. Conroy has been head coach at Citadel for four seasons. He will replace Dave Dickerson, who resigned last week after five seasons with the Green Wave. Tulane was 8-22 in 2009-10.
Boeheim wins coach of year
ATLANTA — Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim has been selected the Naismith college coach of the year. The Atlanta Tipoff Club made the announcement Tuesday. Boeheim won out over finalists Steve Alford of New Mexico, John Calipari of Kentucky and Frank Martin of Kansas State.
Title game earns good TV ratings
NEW YORK — The NCAA championship game earned its highest television rating since 2005. Duke’s 61-59 win over Butler on Monday night on CBS earned a 14.2 fast national rating and 23 share. That’s up 31 percent from the 10.8/18 for North Carolina’s blowout against Michigan State last year. It’s the best rating since a 15.0/23 for North Carolina-Illinois in 2005.
Harris to return to Zags
SPOKANE — Freshman star Elias Harris will return to Gonzaga next season. The 6-foot-8 Harris averaged 14.9 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds last season. He shot 54.7 percent from the field and was named to the All-West Coast Conference team. There had been speculation that the native of Germany might explore entering the NBA draft. Gonzaga coach Mark Few has also announced the hiring of Donny Daniels as an assistant coach. Daniels spent the past seven years on the staff at UCLA. He replaces Leon Rice, who was named coach at Boise State.
Associated Press
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