Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Women's Basketball Coach
THE PURCELL FILE
- Hometown: Dalton, Ga.
- Education: Auburn, 2003
- High School: Southeast Whitfield High School
- Twitter: @SamPurcellMSU
- Birthday: October 5
- Wife: Meghan / Daughters: Reese, Rylee and Reagan
COACHING EXPERIENCE
- 2022-present:
Mississippi State, Head Coach - 2017-22:
Louisville, Associate Coach - 2013-17:
Louisville, Assistant Coach - 2009-13:
Georgia Tech, Assistant Coach - 2007-09:
Georgia Tech, Video Coordinator - 2005-07:
Tulsa, Assistant Coach - 2003-05:
Auburn, Video Coordinator/Administrative Assistant - 2000-03:
Auburn, Student Manager
PURCELL'S YEAR-BY-YEAR OVERALL RECORD
|
Year
|
W-L
|
%
|
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 18-13 | .581 |
| 2024-25 | 22-12 | .647 |
| 2023-24 | 23-12 | .657 |
| 2022-23 | 22-11 | .667 |
| TOTAL | 85-48 | .639 |
PURCELL'S YEAR-BY-YEAR CONFERENCE RECORD
| Year | W-L | % |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 5-11 | .312 |
| 2024-25 | 7-9 | .438 |
| 2023-24 | 8-8 | .500 |
| 2022-23 | 9-7 | .562 |
| TOTAL | 29-35 | .453 |
PURCELL'S NCAA TOURNAMENT RECORD
| Year | W-L | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1-1 | .500 | 2nd Round |
| 2022-23 | 2-1 | .667 | 2nd Round |
| TOTAL | 3-2 | .600 |
PURCELL'S PLAYERS BY THE NUMBERS
- 17 WNBA Draft Pick (1 at MSU)
- 11 All-America Honors (1 at MSU)
- 8 Total All-SEC Honors
- 4 Second Team All-SEC Honors
- 2 SEC All-Freshman Team Honors
- 2 SEC All-Defensive Team Honors
- 6 SEC Player of the Week Honors
- 5 SEC Freshman of the Week Honors
- 1 USBWA National Freshman of the Week Honor
MISSISSIPPI STATE HIGHLIGHTS
- 3 20+ Win Seasons
- 2 NCAA Tournament Appearances
- 7 ESPN Top-100 Signees
- 2 ESPN Top-25 Signing Classes
- Winningest First Year HC In Program History
WNBA DRAFT PICKS COACHED (17)
| YEAR | NAME (RD) | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jessika Carter (2) | Mississippi St |
| 2022 | Emily Engstler (1) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2022 | Kianna Smith (2) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2021 | Dana Evans (2) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2020 | Jasmine Jones (1) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2020 | Kylee Shook (2) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2019 | Asia Durr (1) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2019 | Arica Carter (3) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2019 | Sam Fuehring (3) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2018 | Myisha Hines-Allen (2) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2014 | Shoni Schimmel (1) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2014 | Antonita Slaughter (3) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2014 | Asia Taylor (3) | Louisville (AC) |
| 2012 | Sasha Goodlett (1) | Georgia Tech (AC) |
| 2011 | Alex Montgomery (1) | Georgia Tech (AC) |
| 2010 | Brigitte Ardossi (2) | Georgia Tech (AC) |
| 2008 | Chioma Nnamaka (2) | Georgia Tech (AC) |
Sam Purcell was named the ninth head coach in Mississippi State women's basketball history on Saturday, March 12, 2022. The 2026-27 season will be his fifth year as a head coach and his fifth leading the women's basketball program at Mississippi State.
In 2025-26, Purcell accomplished victories that few Bulldog teams before had done. Mississippi State defeated two top-15 teams in the same season for the first time in the Purcell era. On January 18, State took down then seventh-ranked Kentucky 71-59 inside Humphrey Coliseum, marking the highest-ranked victory in Purcell's four seasons. Just over one week later, the Bulldogs traveled to Knoxville and earned a 15-point victory over Tennessee, marking only the fourth time in 23 attempts that Mississippi State was victorious over the Lady Vols in Knoxville.
Under Purcell's tutelage, freshman Madison Francis made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs and was recognized for her outstanding play across the nation. Francis led the team in points (13.2), blocks (2.8), steals (1.6) and ranked second on the team in rebounding (7.4). Francis set a new freshman program record with 88 total blocks, which were the third-most of any Bulldog in program history. She finished the season with 2.84 blocks per game, which led the nation. Purcell also guided junior Favour Nwaedozi to a successful season, finishing the season as one of four SEC players to average a double-double, in her first season playing basketball in the United States after spending her first two seasons of college in Japan.
Purcell's guidance helped Francis become recognized by the Southeastern Conference as a member of the All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams. She earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice, USBWA Tamika Catchings' Freshman of the Week honors once and earned a spot on the 2026 Naismith Women's College Defensive Player of the Year Late Season Team. She was one of two freshman to be recognized to the 15-player list.
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 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).
