Villanova Basketball Opponent Capsule: DePaul Blue Demons

Last Season: DePaul, by recent standards anyways, had an okay season finishing 12-21 and 3-15 in the BIG EAST. The 3 wins we not enough to keep them out of the basement in the first year of the new conference, but they did scalp Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament's first round, which obviously made everyone smile.

Last Meeting/All-Time Series: Villanova took both meetings last season, first blowing the Blue Demons out 88-62 in the Pavilion before nearly posting an identical score at Allstate Arena, 87-62. DePaul has lost eight straight matchups in the series, and the 'Cats hold an 18-8 all-time series lead.

Head Coach: Oliver Purnell is in the 5th year of his original 7-year contract with DePaul. While coaching stability is something that every school desires, it's been somewhat of a surprise that Purnell hasn't seen the axe yet considering the poor performance of the program.

Top Returners: BIG EAST Rookie of the Year winner Billy Garrett Jr. is coming off a fine freshmen season in which he averaged 12.4 ppg and 3.0 apg. Fellow All-Rookie teamer Tommy Hamilton IV averaged 7.7 ppg and 4.8 rpg. We've seen this story at DePaul before, but Garrett and Hamilton look like they have future star potential.

Key Losses: Brandon Young was the team's leading scorer at 16.3 ppg and leading distributor with 3.5 apg.

Key Additions: Purnell will have 4 transfer eligible to play this season. JUCO guard Aaron Simpson will join the roster from Lincoln College and comes with the reputation as a high-volume scorer. Guard Darrick Wood, originally a St. John's commit out of high school, joins from Hutchinson CC. Athletic forward Rashaun Stimage also enters the program having gone the JUCO route. Forward Myke Henry transferred from Illinois in 2013 and is eligible to play after sitting out last season. 3-star high school forward Raymond Doby decided to reclassify and not attend DePaul in late April.