Purnell did a more than respectable job at Clemson. The recruiting base in SC is NOT great......and if you fan out into the immediate vicinity to recruit (and I am talking within a 3-4 hour drive) he had to compete with South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, NC State, Auburn, Univ of Florida among a multitude of other DI (albeit mid-major DI) schools for recruits. I know I am leaving out several schools as well. He made Clemson good program year in and year out...they qualified for the NCAA tourney on a regular basis. At DePaul he will have a TON better talent base to recruit from....and a school with a richer history of good basketball, at a school that LOVES basketball above all else.
Is it a perfect situation? Nothing ever is...but the situation for BASKETBALL is better at DePaul in the long run. He will definitely have to get better talent in than they have now but he obviously knows what he is doing in that department. Plus he is getting a raise and more job security to go with it.....that in itself is worth it to me.