Blair Schaefer - Women's Basketball Coach

Blair Schaefer

Title:
Coordinator of Women's Basketball Player Development
Email:
bschaefer@athletics.msstate.edu
Phone:
325-0198

After helping build Mississippi State women’s basketball into a national contender as a player, Blair Schaefer returned to the Bulldogs this season after joining the staff as the Coordinator of Women's Basketball Player Development.

The 2019-20 will be Schaefer’s first season in the role for the SEC Champion Bulldogs. She assists with various day-to-day operations of the program off the court, including coordinating community service events for the team and acting as a liaison with academics and housing.

Schaefer was a part of one of the winningest classes in program history, as her senior class posted a 126-22 record. During her four years, the Bulldogs were national finalists in 2017 and 2018 and made the NCAA Tournament every season.

As a junior, Schaefer helped lead Mississippi State to the program’s first trip to the Final Four and national championship appearance, starting three games during the tournament. Her role greatly expanded as a senior, when she started all 39 games and averaging a team-best 32.1 minutes per game. She drained 97 3-pointers on the year, which ranks second in MSU single-season history, while averaging 9.1 points per game.

The four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection was tabbed the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2017-18. During her final season with State, Schaefer established herself as one of the team’s best defenders and earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team.

After graduating from Mississippi State in 2018, Schaefer remained in the sports field but in the capacity of sports reporting. After getting a few opportunities through the SEC Network as a color analyst for women’s basketball games, she began doing that full time. In her first year, ESPN asked her to assist in its coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, where she was part of the team that covered the first and second rounds at the Syracuse regional site.

For her career, Schaefer played in 135 games and started 43. She ranks third in program history with a .385 3-point field-goal percentage for her career and also sits at fifth in career 3-pointers made (175).