Corry Irvin became the second member of Mississippi State’s coaching staff to leave for a Division I head coaching opportunity.
Assistant athletic director for women’s basketball Michelle Clark-Heard was named the new head coach at Mercer last month, and now Sam Purcell will need to replace another assistant as Chicago State officially announced the hiring of Irvin as its new head coach on Wednesday.
Chicago State is a homecoming for Irvin, who grew up northwest of Chicago in Elgin, Ill. but headed west to play college basketball at Fresno State, ranking in the top 10 in the history of that program in made field goals, rebounds and blocks at the time of her graduation.
Irvin returned to Chicago to begin her coaching career under Doug Bruno at DePaul, then spent 18 years as the head coach at Whitney Young High School, where she won three state championships. She went back to the college ranks to become the head coach at Chicago’s Saint Xavier University, an NAIA school, winning the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in both years there.
From there, Irvin spent the 2021-22 season on the coaching staff at Illinois before Purcell brought her on board in Starkville.
Turning around Chicago State will be a tall task for Irvin. The Cougars finished 1-26 this past year and have not won more than six games in a season since 2011. After spending the last two years as a Division I independent, Chicago State will be joining the Northeast Conference for the 2024-25 academic year.
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