DePaul Lands Significant In-State Commitment From Class Of 2011

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

May 11, 2010

7:45 P.M. CST

While basketball observers in Chicago may still not be aware of everything that there is to know regarding new DePaul University head coach Oliver Purnell, this much is certain--he is a man of his word. That is because upon Purnell's arrival at DePaul he said that one of his primary recruiting objectives was to keep top local high school talent at home and to cultivate and build relationships with many of the prominent traveling team coaches within Illinois who control the recruiting landscape.

There is no question that Purnell has already taken a huge step toward doing just that, as today the Blue Demons secured a verbal commitment from 6'4 class of 2011 forward Jamie Crockett from Crete-Monee High School in Monee, IL. Crockett chose DePaul over offers from Dayton and Western Michigan.

Crockett visited the DePaul campus this past weekend and at that time Purnell came forward with a scholarship offer. After talking things over with his family, Crockett felt no need to waver over his college choice any longer. He was most impressed with DePaul's campus environment as well as the coaching staff and sees DePaul as being a perfect fit.

Crockett's athleticism is absolutely off the charts.  Not only that, but he does not take any plays off. He is relentless on the glass, scores numerous points off of putbacks and thrives in the open court and in transition. While we still believe that Crockett needs to show continued improvement with respect to his perimeter game, we have always felt that he is a player who is loaded with potential.

Crockett competes on the traveling team circuit for the Mac Irvin Fire. Above everything else, this commitment is especially significant because of the impact that it will undoubtedly have on Purnell's ability to recruit future prospects from the immensely talented Fire program. Just to offer an example, 6'7 Mike Shaw from De LaSalle Institute in Chicago, 6'1 guard Macari Brooks from Rich South High School in Richton Park, IL and 6'5 Dre Henley  from Brehm Prep in Carbondale are among the other class of 2011 prospects on the Fire who have received scholarship offers from DePaul.

Kudos undoubtedly go out to assistant coach Billy Garrett, who was instrumental in Crockett's recruitment and has always enjoyed a strong relationship with Fire CEO Mac Irvin, having previously served as a coach in the Fire program. You can take it to the bank when we say that Garrett will continue to use his relationship with the Fire to his and DePaul's advantage when it comes to recruiting Chicago.

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