Noel Johnson, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward with a sweet stroke and an impressive list of offers officially chose the Clemson Tigers last Friday in what is just the latest step forward for a steadily improving basketball program.

Clemson’s 2010 recruiting class, which already boasted Trevor Booker’s “little” brother, and highly regarded forward Devin Booker, McDonald’s All-American Milton Jennings and super-athletic shooting guard Donte Hill, truthfully didn’t need a whole lot of help — it was already Purnell’s best class on paper to date. But Johnson’s commitment, coming on the heels of last year’s three three-star effort, according to the Rivals.com recruiting service, should bolster Clemson’s reputation in the never-easy ACC for years to come.

It’s easy to forget what Purnell inherited.

In 2002, Larry Shyatt managed to pull in a raw Akin Akingbala who quite honestly took years to develop into a serious ACC player, and Shawan Robinson. In his final class at Clemson, Shyatt pulled in Vernon Hamilton.

Let’s face it — Shyatt’s recruiting prowess was anything but impressive, especially in the last few years of his career here.

Enter Purnell, who, in his time at Clemson has brought in a higher brand of player, some of whom have become household names in Tiger basketball lore. James Mays, Cliff Hammonds, K.C. Rivers, Trevor Booker and Terrance Oglesby all have put their stamp on the program, and were all recruited by a coach desperately trying to change the perception of the program.

His persistence on the recruiting trail has been evidenced in the win column. Two years after a 10-win debut season, Purnell nearly doubled that win total and sent his squad to the NIT.

Now Purnell has raked up 72 wins in the last three seasons, and could quite possibly be eyeing a lot more with the addition of his blue-chippers to a solid returning nucleus.

Look for Milton Jennings and Noel Johnson to make solid pushes for early playing time, as the void left by Oglesby and Rivers, while painful to endure, may very well force Clemson into a successful future.

It’s quite a sell Purnell has managed to pull off.