Purcell Adds All-SEC Standout to 2023 Signing Class

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State women's basketball head coach Sam Purcell announced the signing of Erynn Barnum for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

Barnum is transferring to Mississippi State from Arkansas. She spent the previous five seasons playing for the Razorbacks and will have one year of eligibility remaining due to the additional covid year granted to student-athletes for the 2020-21 season.

Erynn Barnum | 6-2 | Forward |Little Rock, Ark. | Little Rock Central HS | Arkansas
Career Honors
2023 All-SEC Second Team
2022-23 Katrina McClain Award Preseason Watch List
2022-23 Katrina McClain Award Top 10 List

Get To Know Erynn
Erynn Barnum, rated as the No. 21 transfer recruit in the country by ESPN, comes to Mississippi State fresh off a career year with the Razorbacks. She earned All-SEC Second Team honors her senior season after averaging career-highs in points scored (15.0), rebounding (6.5), assists (66), blocked shots (38) and steals (47). During the 2022-23 season she played and started in all 37 games.

During the 2022-23 campaign, Barnum became Arkansas' first Katrina McClain Award Midseason Top 10 List honoree, given to the best power forward in the country. She scored in double figures 28 times with nine 20-point games, three 10+ rebound contests and two double-doubles. In the SEC, she ranked third overall in field goal percentage, ninth in offensive rebounds (2.5), 11th in scoring and 14th in rebounding and free throw percentage (.644). She earned her first career 20-point game against Tulsa (11/14/22) when she scored 27 points with eight rebounds. She would go on to follow that performance up with a 20-point night against Kent State (11/17/22).

Barnum scored a career-high 37 points against Ole Miss (1/29/23) off 13 field goals, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. That same game she also earned her 500^th career rebound. Surpassed 1,000 career points at Georgia, finishing with 16 points and seven boards in Athens.

Over the course of her career that started during the 2018-19 season when she sat out as a redshirt, Barnum played in 114 career games making 47 starts. She has scored 1,072 points (9.4 ppg) and grabbed 579 rebounds (6.5 rpg) with 103 career steals, 101 blocked shots and 100 assists and she comes to Starkville with a career field goal percentage of 53%.

Before attending Arkansas, Barnum Averaged 19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.8 assists per game in her final year at Little Rock Central. She earned a pair of all-state selections in 2017 and 2018, all-conference selections in 2016 and 2017, all-tournament team at the Fayetteville Lady Bulldog Classic, M.V.P. honors at the Camden Fairview Holiday Classic. She also participated in the Metro Classic Game and was selected to play in the Mike Conley Jr. All-Star Game.

Purcell on Barnum
"Is it November yet? Man, our team was already going to be good, but with the addition of Erynn, we are going to be special. Adding Erynn to our team gives us an already proven SEC player who can come in on day one and contribute at a high level. She led Arkansas in scoring last season and was on the ALL-SEC Second Team. I love having a team that is hard to guard and I love coaching a team full of positionless players, and Erynn is that type of player. She's a young woman that fans will see grab a rebound and then take it coast-to-coast with her speed, but she can also spot up and score on the perimeter or post up on the block and get a bucket. Erynn's also the third all-conference transfer from the portal that we've signed this off-season, proving that we are building something special here in the state of Mississippi and the country."

Career Highs (Entering 2023-24)
Points: 37, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
Rebounds: 12, 2x last at Utah (3/18/22)
Field Goals Made: 13, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
Field Goals Attempted: 21, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
3-Point Field Goals Made: 3, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
3-Point Field Goals Attempted: 5, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
Free Throws Made: 9, vs Central Arkansas (11/11/22)
Free Throws Attempted: 13, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)
Assists: 7, at Kentucky (1/1/23)
Steals: 5, at Clemson (11/25/22)
Blocks: 3, 4x last vs Missouri (2/23/23)
Minutes: 42, vs Ole Miss (1/29/23)

2023 Signing Class
Mjracle Sheppard
Jasmine Brown
Quanirah Cherry-Montague
Meloney Thames
Lauren Park-Lane
Darrione Rogers
Erynn Barnum

For the most up-to-date information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWBK."

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Mississippi State University Athletics

Purcell Adds All-SEC Standout to 2023 Signing Class

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