THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190739
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
No regrets. No backward glances. Are you kidding? Oliver Purnell says he'll go two or three weeks sometimes without catching an Old Dominion basketball score. Anyway, who has time? Purnell is up to his ears reviving his third college basketball program in only his eighth season as a head coach.
No hard feelings, either. When Purnell left ODU, his alma mater, for the University of Dayton in the space of a few whirlwind days after the 1993-94 season, he says it happened as decently as possible.
Dayton dangled a rich basketball history, a college town that lives Flyer basketball and an arena teeming with patrons even in lean times. There was bigger money. And then there was a six-year contract, the deal-closer. Security for Purnell, his wife and two daughters. A total package with which ODU could not compete.
``I have nothing but good memories of Old Dominion,'' Purnell said Thursday before his Flyers engaged 11th-ranked Virginia Tech in a gripping Atlantic 10 game. ``But I think there was a misunderstanding about the importance of money in my decision to go to Dayton. The major factor was security. Because all of a sudden if you get four or five sprained ankles, two blown-out knees ...''
That is, a coach can get fired when his program tanks because of things beyond his control. But at Dayton, Purnell's got his cushion, not to mention his usual calm and self-confidence. And as the last 1 1/2 seasons have shown, a real plan in place.
Last year's Flyers, none of whom were recruited by Purnell, went 7-20. Still, they averaged nearly 11,000 fans per home game, the 34th-best mark in Division I. This season, with three Purnell recruits, two of whom start, attendance is at 11,310 as Dayton is 9-6, albeit against unimpressive non-conference competition.
However, the Flyers scared the stuffing out of the Hokies before they succumbed 63-62, missing what could have been a game-winning 8-footer with three seconds left.
They fell to 1-3 in the Atlantic 10. But for Dayton-ites there was reason for consolation in the Flyers' scrappy, team effort and impressive flashes of individual talent.
It seems there's more of everything on the way. Purnell has signed for next year two high school players considered among the top five recruits in Ohio. He has a two-year starter at Wisconsin transferring in who will be eligible the second half of next season.
But perhaps the loudest signal that Purnell had dispelled the initial skepticism that arose when Dayton failed to hire a ``name'' coach is this: Dayton was one of six schools that went to the wire with 7-footer Jason Collier, a Dayton-area recruit regarded as the best in Ohio and among the finest in the country.
The other five were Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Indiana. Collier chose Indiana.
``Instead of looking at us like losers,'' said assistant coach Pete Strickland, who accompanied Purnell from ODU, ``we got from the high school coaches, `Hey, that's great, you guys really gave it a shot. We gotta keep those local guys home.' ''
If Dayton doesn't keep 'em home, it won't be because Purnell isn't out there banging drums, building morale by ordering office and locker room renovations, doing TV commercials for car dealerships, interrupting family outings to shake hands and share a good word with whomever approaches. And they constantly approach.
``I really can't go anywhere without being recognized,'' Purnell said. ``It can be bothersome. But that's the way it is. It's great to have people who are interested. People have had season tickets for 25, 30 years. They've grown up with Dayton basketball. It's an important thing in the community. A source of pride.''
People will feel a lot better if Purnell can duplicate the success he had at Radford and ODU. When Radford went from 7-22 in 1989-90 to 22-7 the next season, it was the third-most dramatic turnaround in NCAA history.
At ODU, he took his first team to the NCAA tournament after a lengthy drought and compiled three consecutive 20-win seasons. And at Dayton, what Purnell called a ``psychologically scarred'' team that had won only 10 games in its previous two seasons has started to think like winners. Can similiar results be far behind?
``He's made me play harder, and work harder on the things I wasn't good at,'' said fifth-year senior center Chris Daniels, who leads the nation in field-goal percentage. ``He just brings out the best in you and the team. He's so positive. For anything he says negative, he says three things positive. Everything is more at ease now.''
There are miles to go, though. Dayton still plays the half-court game to which its personnel is suited, but Purnell is recruiting for the full-court, pressing game he favors. And as he did in ACC country, Purnell still labors in the shadow of a powerhouse conference, in this case the Big 10.
But Dayton's entry into the Atlantic 10 has put Purnell into a larger recruiting pool than he enjoyed at ODU. And though he was at least Dayton's third choice to succeed the fired Jim O'Brien, Purnell has made believers of his players and their loyal audience.
``A lot of older players wanted a `name' coach,'' said longtime Dayton radio man Bucky Bockhorn, a former Flyer from the late '50s glory days. ``But they sure as hell like Oliver now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ALAN KIM, Roanoke Times & World News
Oliver Purnell's Flyers nearly pulled off a big upset of Virginia
Tech Thursday night.
by CNB