Sam Purcell - Women's Basketball Coach

Photo by: Jaden Powell/MSU Athletics

Sam Purcell

Title:
Head Women's Basketball Coach

Sam Purcell was named the ninth head coach in Mississippi State women's basketball history on Saturday, March 12, 2022. The 2025-26 season will be his fourth year as a head coach and his fourth leading the women's basketball program at Mississippi State.

The 2024-25 season saw Purcell lead Mississippi State back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his three seasons at the helm. The Bulldogs concluded the season with a 22-12 record, the third straight season they have finished with 20+ wins.

Purcell continued an excellent start to his young career as a head coach. With only three returning players from the 2023-24 roster, he became the only coach in program history to guide his first three teams to 20 or more wins. Purcell has totaled the most wins (67), SEC wins (24) and most NCAA Tournament wins (3) of any coach through their first three seasons in program history.

Purcell guided Jerkaila Jordan to the tops of the Mississippi State record book during their time together. She concluded her career in the Maroon and White second in program history with 273 steals and fifth with 1,899 points. She brought home her second straight All-SEC Second Team Honor for her performance on the 2024-25 campaign.

After signing what was the second-best recruiting class in program history in his inaugural season, Purcell bested it in year three. The 2025 high school signing class ranked 10th among the nation and included two espnW top 50 recruits and one top 100 recruit.

In 2023-24, Purcell led Mississippi State to a 23-12 record and became the only head coach in program history and one of five in the SEC since 2000 to surpass the 20-win mark in each of their first two seasons.

Purcell's first season as a head coach was a season of 'firsts' for the up-and-coming coaching star. A handful of those 'firsts' included his first game as a head coach, his first win, and his first NCAA Tournament appearance. But it also came with firsts for the Mississippi State women's basketball program that saw Purcell become the winningest first-year head coach in program history.

In his first season sitting in the head chair, Purcell became the winningest head coach at Mississippi State in their debut season with 22 wins while also becoming the first to have a winning record in the SEC after going 9-7 and finishing fifth in the toughest conference in the country. Most impressive, though, is that he guided the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament following a three-year hiatus.

In leading the team to the Big Dance in his first season, Purcell set the standard at MSU, as no coach in program history had made the NCAA Tournament before their third season leading the program. On top of that, Purcell became the fastest coach at State to win a pair of NCAA Tournament games. In winning two tournament games, MSU became the first team in NCAA Women's Basketball history to advance to the tournament's Second Round after starting in the First Four round.

Purcell helped guide a pair of Bulldogs to All-Conference honors during the 2022-23 season. He coached Jessika Carter to Second Team All-SEC honors and a place on the SEC All-Defensive Team. Carter had a career season under Purcell, setting career bests in points scored (458), blocked shots (65) and assists (42). He also led Debreasha Powe to the SEC All-Freshmen team after a promising rookie campaign for the Mississippi native.

Known as an elite recruiter, Purcell hit the ground running in year one, signing the nation's 16th-ranked recruiting class despite not having the luxury of an entire season of recruiting. The 2023 signing class, which then ranked as the second-best class in program history, just behind MSU's 2018 class, featured one espnW top 50 recruit, two other top 100 recruits, and a junior college All-American.

Before he arrived in Starkville, Purcell spent nine seasons at Louisville under the direction of future hall of famer Jeff Walz. While on the staff at Louisville, Purcell helped guide the Cardinals to a 266-48 overall record with eight NCAA Tournament appearances, seven Sweet 16s, five Elite Eights and two Final Fours. He also helped lead Louisville to four ACC Regular Season Championships and the 2018 ACC Tournament title, their first tournament crown since 1993.

Promoted to associate coach at the start of the 2017-18 season, Purcell played a critical role in guiding Louisville to a program-best 36-3 overall record that included an ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. The Cardinals opened the year going 20-0, marking the best start in program history. They then earned a No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and defeated opponents by an average of 27.5 points per game. During the 2020-21 season, Purcell helped the Cardinals to a 16-0 start and the first-ever No. 1 ranking in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll in program history.

Purcell helped the Louisville offense consistently rank among the nation's best. In every season but one at Louisville, the offense ranked inside the top 40 in points per game while averaging more than 72.2 points per game during that time. The impressive scoring margins that Louisville won games by – more than a +16.0-scoring margin in each of his last five seasons there – was mainly due to a strong emphasis on defense. Under the guidance of Purcell, the Cardinals allowed opponents to average more than 60 points per contest just twice.

Purcell led the recruiting efforts at Louisville and has shown the ability to recruit worldwide with his innate ability to connect with elite prospects. He has landed the nation's top recruit on two separate occasions with two different programs. Purcell inked top-rated prospect Kaela Davis in 2013 at Georgia Tech and Asia Durr at Louisville in 2015.

All nine signing classes that Purcell helped recruit were ranked in the top 15 by ESPN. Of those nine classes, four were ranked inside the top 10, highlighted by the No. 1 class in 2015, the No. 4 class in 2017, the No. 6 class in 2016 and the No. 8 class in 2014. Even more impressive, of the 15 McDonald's All-Americans in Louisville's history, 13 were recruited by Purcell.

Before his time at Louisville, Purcell had stops at Georgia Tech, Tulsa and Auburn. Purcell has learned from some of the best minds in college basketball, including Jeff Walz, Nell Fortner (former Auburn and current Georgia Tech head coach and the head coach of the 1996 Olympic Team) and Joe Ciampi (25-year head coach at Auburn, 2005 Hall of Fame inductee and Purcell's father-in-law).

Year-By-Year Highlights
2022-23
• Made his head coaching debut on November 9, 2022, against Mississippi Valley State, which also gave Coach Purcell his first career win. The Bulldogs defeated MVSU 104-47.
• Earned his first SEC victory on Dec. 29, 2022, at Vanderbilt (72-44) in what was also his first career SEC game
• Led MSU to its 12th NCAA Tournament Appearance and its first since 2019. The Bulldogs earned a No. 11 seed and became the first women's program to advance to the Second Round after starting in the First Four.
• Purcell became the winningest first-year head coach at MSU and the first head coach in program history to have a winning record in the SEC in their first season leading the program.
• First head coach at MSU to reach the 20-win milestone in their first season.
• Guided Jessika Carter to All-SEC Second Team honors and SEC All-Defensive Team honors. Also coached Debreasha Powe to SEC All-Freshman team honors.

Follow Coach Purcell on Twitter: @SamPurcellMSU

The Purcell File
Birthday: October 5, 1979
Education: Auburn, 2003
Hometown: Dalton, Ga.
Family: Wife – Meghan; Daughters – Reese, Rylee and Reagan

Purcell's Year-by-Year Record

Year	School	Record	Conference Record	Postseason
2022-23	Mississippi State	22-11	9-7 // T-5th	NCAA Second Round
2023-24	Mississippi State	23-12	8-8 // T-7th	WBIT Quarterfinals
2024-25	Mississippi State	22-12	7-9 // 10th	NCAA Second Round

Career Records

All-Time	67-35 (.657 // 3 seasons)
SEC Record	24-24 (.500 // 3 seasons)
NCAA Tournament	3-2 (.600)
Conference Tournament	1-3 (.250)

Coaching Highlights

NCAA Tournaments	2 (2023, 2025)
All-SEC Selections	4
SEC All-Freshman Team	1
SEC All-Defensive Team	1
20-Win Seasons	3

All-American's Coached (11)

Jessika Carter	Mississippi State	2024
Dana Evans	Louisville	2020, 21
Jazmine Jones	Louisville	2020
Asia Durr	Louisville	2017, 18, 19
Myisha Hines-Allen	Louisville	2016, 17, 18
Mariya Moore	Louisville	2016
Shoni Schimmel	Louisville	2014
Sara Hammond	Louisville	2014
Tyaunna Marshall	Georgia Tech	2013
Alex Montgomery	Georgia Tech	2011
Jill Robbins	Tulsa	2006, 07

WNBA Draft Picks Coached (17)

2024	Jessika Carter	Rd. 2	Pick 23	New York
2022	Emily Engstler	Rd. 1	Pick 4	Indiana
2022	Kianna Smith	Rd. 2	Pick 16	Los Angeles
2021	Dana Evans	Rd. 2	Pick 13	Dallas
2020	Jazmine Jones	Rd. 1	Pick 12	New York
2020	Kylee Shook	Rd. 2	Pick 13	New York
2019	Asia Durr	Rd. 1	Pick 2	New York
2019	Sam Fuehring	Rd. 3	Pick 34	Washington
2019	Arica Carter	Rd. 3	Pick 32	Phoenix
2018	Myisha Hines-Allen	Rd. 2	Pick 19	Washington
2014	Shoni Schimmel	Rd. 1	Pick 8	Atlanta
2014	Antonita Slaughter	Rd. 3	Pick 35	Los Angeles
2014	Asia Taylor	Rd. 3	Pick 36	Minnesota
2012	Sasha Goodlett	Rd. 1	Pick 11	Indiana
2011	Alex Montgomery	Rd. 1	Pick 10	New York
2010	Brigitte Ardossi	Rd. 2	Pick 21	Atlanta
2008	Chioma Nnamaka	Rd. 2	Pick 21	San Antonio