Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Corry's Corner - August 2022
August 01, 2022 | Women's Basketball
I started this article at the beginning of the month while I was on a plane to Chicago. Coach Purcell gave everyone in the program an extended weekend off. I used it to see my children and husband before the rigors of the July recruiting month would begin. Other coaches also visited their families, and many of our players returned to see their loved ones. The weekend flew past, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the baselines evaluating high school players at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, and the blog was left unfinished. It's now the end of the month, and I finally found the time to recap all that has happened.
For coaches, July is intense, busy, and almost a whirlwind. We travel from city to city, barely remembering where we are or where we are going. We arrive at gyms at 8 a.m., and by the time we leave, we are walking up and down aisles trying to remember where we parked our cars. Diets are full of coffee, pop and concession stand food. The positive aspect of the July recruiting period is being able to evaluate prospective student-athletes who will one day become a Bulldog. The negative is that we are separated from our current student-athletes.
There are 744 hours during July. We had 15 hours for team basketball workouts, which means we spent .02% on the basketball court this month. Due to the recruiting period, two coaches (Coach Lazo and Coach Irvin) could only attend eight practices; and two other coaches (Coach Paige and Coach Purcell) only attended 6 of the practices. For women's college basketball, it is a double-edged sword. We require the time to recruit, but we need to spend time with our current players. College basketball is a continual balancing act between the present and the future.
While there is some negative to the schedule, it allowed an opportunity to see our team's growth and see if the foundation we built in June was secure or required adjustments. Development is complicated, which is why we create statistics, analytics and other matrices to determine if it has occurred. Objective measurement tools can indicate if growth occurs because numbers don't lie.
Not all growth is statistical. Sometimes it is subjective and only visible through one's eyes or felt in one's heart. Growth is not always revealed on a piece of white paper with black words. While on the recruiting trail, we received statistical updates from Coach Jones and Coach Kaiti. These updates were examples of where we had grown on the basketball court. They were informative about where we were developing physically. I looked forward to the messages but was still unsure what they meant. Had we indeed grown? I know statistics don't lie, but they also don't show the entire picture.
When I returned to StarkVegas, I was relieved to be back. On my first morning in the Mize, I was greeted by the sounds of Drake playing on the speakers and a player using the Mr. Dish shooting machine on the court in their free time. Shot after shot, she was challenging herself to become better. During practice, once quiet voices were now asking their teammates where to go on a specific play. We finished our rush drill in one attempt: cheers and high fives from everyone without a coach's prompt. We were better.
I watched as a few players stayed after practice to help another one learn a new play. I heard a couple players discussing their weekend plans, which included them all hanging out at the pool. I learned that a player had gone grocery shopping with our team nutritionist and was meeting her personal goals of healthier eating habits. Relationships had strengthened between players who now see themselves more as sisters than teammates.
We had grown.
We grew on the basketball court in ways that numbers don't depict. I can see our growth in just the eight weeks from this summer. It's funny, as coaches we like to say we are a team on the first day of practice. The truth is, it's the first day, and just because you are on a team doesn't mean you are a team. Becoming a team takes time and work. When we started our summer session, the goal was to get better. No crazy slogans or billboard thoughts; Coach Purcell just challenged them to be better than the day before. Now it's the last day of July, and I can write that not only are we better, but we are a TEAM who has gotten better both subjectively and objectively. Mission accomplished. As we end the summer chapter and take a couple of weeks off, I can say wholeheartedly that this team is destined to do great things, and I hope all of you enjoy the ride - HAIL STATE!
Dream Big, Work Hard
Corry Irvin
For coaches, July is intense, busy, and almost a whirlwind. We travel from city to city, barely remembering where we are or where we are going. We arrive at gyms at 8 a.m., and by the time we leave, we are walking up and down aisles trying to remember where we parked our cars. Diets are full of coffee, pop and concession stand food. The positive aspect of the July recruiting period is being able to evaluate prospective student-athletes who will one day become a Bulldog. The negative is that we are separated from our current student-athletes.
There are 744 hours during July. We had 15 hours for team basketball workouts, which means we spent .02% on the basketball court this month. Due to the recruiting period, two coaches (Coach Lazo and Coach Irvin) could only attend eight practices; and two other coaches (Coach Paige and Coach Purcell) only attended 6 of the practices. For women's college basketball, it is a double-edged sword. We require the time to recruit, but we need to spend time with our current players. College basketball is a continual balancing act between the present and the future.
While there is some negative to the schedule, it allowed an opportunity to see our team's growth and see if the foundation we built in June was secure or required adjustments. Development is complicated, which is why we create statistics, analytics and other matrices to determine if it has occurred. Objective measurement tools can indicate if growth occurs because numbers don't lie.
Not all growth is statistical. Sometimes it is subjective and only visible through one's eyes or felt in one's heart. Growth is not always revealed on a piece of white paper with black words. While on the recruiting trail, we received statistical updates from Coach Jones and Coach Kaiti. These updates were examples of where we had grown on the basketball court. They were informative about where we were developing physically. I looked forward to the messages but was still unsure what they meant. Had we indeed grown? I know statistics don't lie, but they also don't show the entire picture.
When I returned to StarkVegas, I was relieved to be back. On my first morning in the Mize, I was greeted by the sounds of Drake playing on the speakers and a player using the Mr. Dish shooting machine on the court in their free time. Shot after shot, she was challenging herself to become better. During practice, once quiet voices were now asking their teammates where to go on a specific play. We finished our rush drill in one attempt: cheers and high fives from everyone without a coach's prompt. We were better.
I watched as a few players stayed after practice to help another one learn a new play. I heard a couple players discussing their weekend plans, which included them all hanging out at the pool. I learned that a player had gone grocery shopping with our team nutritionist and was meeting her personal goals of healthier eating habits. Relationships had strengthened between players who now see themselves more as sisters than teammates.
We had grown.
We grew on the basketball court in ways that numbers don't depict. I can see our growth in just the eight weeks from this summer. It's funny, as coaches we like to say we are a team on the first day of practice. The truth is, it's the first day, and just because you are on a team doesn't mean you are a team. Becoming a team takes time and work. When we started our summer session, the goal was to get better. No crazy slogans or billboard thoughts; Coach Purcell just challenged them to be better than the day before. Now it's the last day of July, and I can write that not only are we better, but we are a TEAM who has gotten better both subjectively and objectively. Mission accomplished. As we end the summer chapter and take a couple of weeks off, I can say wholeheartedly that this team is destined to do great things, and I hope all of you enjoy the ride - HAIL STATE!
Dream Big, Work Hard
Corry Irvin
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | Sam Purcell, Favour Nwaedozi vs Florida - 3/4/26
Wednesday, March 04
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | Sam Purcell Media Session - 2/24/26
Tuesday, February 24
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | Sam Purcell Media Session - 2/18/26
Wednesday, February 18
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | Highlights at Arkansas - 2/16/26
Tuesday, February 17