7-23 overall, 1-17 in the Big East.Look familiar?

That’s Oliver Purnell’s first season as head coach of the DePaul men’s basketball program going into the Syracuse game.

Even more interesting, it’s also nearly identical to what we saw last year, when Jerry Wainwright and Tracy Webster pieced together an 8-23 overall record with a 1-17 conference record.

For those counting at home, that’s a difference of precisely one less non-conference win, due to one less game on the schedule.

New era, same tradition? It certainly seems that way.

Looking at the records, it’s understandable why enthusiasm for the program is drooping.

For all the offseason hoopla, it looks like there wasn’t a lot gained.

But look deeper, and there’s at least something to start thinking about getting excited for-there are some good freshmen on this team, and their successes have been well-chronicled.

At best, the future looks bright. At worst it looks like soft mood lighting. But at least it is illuminated.

So now, at the end of the regular season, it has to be asked: Should this year be considered a success for the men’s basketball program?

“Even though it’s not a winning season, it’s all been a good season,” Brandon Young said. “Being that I’m a freshman, I got to play college basketball, come to school, get my education and everything. Other than that, it’s a good season for me. I’m learning new things, I’ve got a great coaching staff and good players around me that make me feel comfortable, that I just like being around.”

For the young players, this is probably true. The wins weren’t there, but the potential for future wins is.

And they don’t face the same pressure that some of the older players do.

For the seniors, it was probably more difficult.

Look how quickly some of them were phased out of the rotation. Mike Stovall, who played significant minutes for last year’s team and was featured on a lot of promotional material prior to this season, started the first 14 games of 2010.

Then he was moved to the bench, where he played double-digit minutes only twice the rest of the way. He also did not play even a second in four games. Mario Stula went through a similar situation.

Neither are bad players. But Purnell made it clear early on that this team was building for the future. Despite the injection of exciting young talent, that inexperience probably cost the team in close games.

Finishing their final year with another one-conference-win season has to be frustrating. Especially not getting a Big East win at home, a fate that was sealed March 2 against Rutgers. It was senior night, and the Blue Demons lost 68-64. Purnell touched on the disappointment in the postgame press conference.

“Obviously I would have loved to have seen them win, and it was right there and they could taste it,” Purnell said. “We got a reception for them now [after the game], and they’ll have smiles on their faces, but they’d have a lot bigger smiles on their face, feel a lot better if they’d gotten a win.”

And for Purnell?

All coaches want to win. But expecting a dramatic improvement from this team was unrealistic.

And when he committed to playing the young guys, the message was clear-this season is more about the future than the present.

And Purnell has a strong track record. Prior to the season, he said that there was a blueprint he had developed for success over his coaching career.

He went 7-20 overall and 0-12 in the conference during his first season at Dayton before jumping above .500 in his sophomore effort.

At Clemson he also started slow, going 10-18 and 3-13. He did not finish below .500 for the rest of his career at the school.

A rough first year had to be expected. But that doesn’t make the losses any more tolerable while they are happening.

And while Purnell and the returning players can look forward to next year, the seniors will have to be content with two Big East wins in two years.

So was it a success? It just depends on who you ask.