Rod Strickland Reportedly to Join DePaul Blue Demons Coaching Staff

I am not sure if you heard or not, but the DePaul Blue Demons still have a basketball program. What you might find even stranger is the fact that they still call Oliver Purnell their head coach. Despite rumblings from the fanbase and alums, DePaul has kept Purnell on staff and has seen a mass exodus of talent transfer in the program. Proving, yet again, DePaul cares more about making and saving money off of their hoops program than they do making it competitive.

Enough of me bashing my favorite team west of Madison Square Garden. The Blue Demons do appear to have some relatively small, good news about their program. The university has reportedly scooped up Rod Strickland to join Purnell’s coaching staff. For those of you who have forgotten, Strickland is a former DePaul player.

Strickland has most recently been a part of John Calipari’s coaching staff. It is pretty surprising that he would leave Lexington to be a member of a staff that is under an increased amount of pressure. While he is technically going home, he is also going into a situation where fans are calling for the head coach’s head on a stick — and they want Purnell’s head as soon as humanly possible (preferably served on a platter).

Maybe this is Strickland’s way of getting back in the program so he could ultimately take over when Purnell gets fired. Although, at this point, that would just be speculation and possibly wishful thinking.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported the initial deal two days ago, however, no official word has come out yet. Regardless if this is a coup by Strickland, Purnell can definitely benefit from having someone like him on his staff.

 

Joe is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JosephNardone