It’s no secret by now that DePaul’s men basketball has seven new players and coach Oliver Purnell is excited about it. The new squad has already shown potential, earning a win against Lewis for their exhibition game this past Tuesday.

“We’re excited about our progress as a program,” Purnell said to Fox Sports. “We’re bigger and stronger upfront. We’re still very athletic, and we like the idea that we’re a better basketball team because of the additional personnel. Rebound has been a problem; we think we’ve got that fixed…We expect to have a winning season.”

Of the seven brand new players, four are transfer students: Myke Henry from University of Illinois, Forrest Robinson from South Plains College (Texas), Greg Sequele from Citrus College (Calif.) and Sandi Marcius from Purdue. The remaining three are freshman: Billy Garret Jr. from Morgan Park High School, Tommy Hamilton from IMG Academy (Fla.), and R.J. Curington from Oak Hill Academy (Va.)

But for every new player, there are five players who had their own reasons for transferring away from DePaul. Donnavan Kirk, Moses Morgan, Derrell Robertson Jr., Montray Clemons, and Jodan Price have all decided to take their talents elsewhere this season.

“I feel that I have made the right decision because of personal reasons,” said Morgan. “It was the best thing for me and my family.”

And the feelings seem mutual for the rest of the transfers, who seem to be doing well where they are now.

Of the five, Kirk, a 6-foot-9 center, averaged the most playing time, with 25.5 minutes a game last season. He now attends University of Miami, which is ironically where he began his college basketball career before transferring to DePaul in 2011 as a sophomore. According to Yahoo! Sports, Kirk is eligible to play at Miami right away because he has already earned his degree from DePaul.

Morgan, a 6-foot-6 forward, is sitting out this year as a senior at Cal State Fullerton. He has one season of eligibility left, meaning he is allowed to play next season.

Don’t let the “red shirt” fool you. Morgan has definitely been working on his game, striving to become better than ever. “A few of my goals for this year are to improve the way I eat, and physically get stronger, quicker, and faster,” said Morgan. “This year of sitting out is a year for me to improve my all-around game.”

Derrell Robertson Jr., 6-foot-10 center, is now a San Francisco Don at the University of San Francisco. Last season, Robertson played in 32 games, averaging 1.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 13 minutes of playing time per game.

Robertson, like most of the transfers, will be redshirting this year. He has two years of eligibility left after this season.

After recovering from a devastating knee injury forcing him to receive a medical redshirt, Montray Clemons, 6-foot-7 forward, has moved to Florida to play for Pensacola State College.

“Coming back from an injury like the one I suffered from was by far one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” said Clemons. “This injury took a toll on me mentally. Ultimately I decided I needed a fresh start. I needed to put myself in a position where I could compete against people every day…I needed to go somewhere where I could log in a lot of minutes to build my confidence back up.”

Like Morgan, Clemons is confident that he has chosen the right school this time around.

“I had a lot of interest in schools,” said Clemons. “But I was taught a long time ago to go to a school where there’s a need for what I do instead of going to a school of my liking or where they just want me.”

Jodan Price, 6-foot-7, began his college basketball career last year at DePaul, and has transferred to Eastern Michigan University. The shooting guard made eight appearances at DePaul last season as a freshman.

Though the boys have separated and traveled far away to continue their dreams of playing college basketball, it seems that there is one common theme: a remaining strong connection to DePaul.

“I just wish them the best of luck and I still got love for them,” said Morgan. “I hope they do well, especially Brandon [Young], Ed [McGhee] and Jamee [Crockett] because they have been through a lot and I want to see them succeed.”

“I love DePaul,” said Clemons. “Probably the best two years of my life. I met some really great people there and built very strong relationships with those people, but ultimately I had to do what was best for me…Even though I’m not there with them, I’m still rooting for them to be successful. They’re more than my teammates, they’re my family.”