BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For each of his first three years at Mississippi State, women’s basketball head coach Sam Purcell has had to hit the transfer portal hard. He’s done well to find role players and contributors in the starting lineup around starters JerKaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe, but now he is having to reconfigure the team and identify new cornerstone players.
When asked about leaning on those players, Purcell gave an answer that embraced the new era of change in college athletics.
“You know what return experience sometimes does for you? You get blah, stagnant,” he said. “You just think what happened last year is going to happen again. I absolutely love the challenge that is ahead of me, getting an entire new roster that you know what, every day we show up in practice, it means something, right? We know we have to get better. We know we have to fail, but most importantly we know we have to get to know each other.”
The Bulldogs saw seven players enter the transfer portal in the spring, with four transferring to other SEC programs. Five players came in through the portal, and two highly rated true freshmen came in as part of a historic recruiting class for Purcell. Madison Francis and Jaylah Lampley both bring a combination of skill and athleticism that can make the Bulldogs more dynamic, and that’s what Purcell is looking for with the rapid changeover.
“Those are the best teams that I’ve been fortunate to be part of because they have to have a ‘dawg’ mentality,” Purcell added. “That’s the group I have right now. They’re dawgs.”
The Bulldogs still have a talented and experienced group of upperclassmen, led by senior guards Destiney McPhaul and Chandler Prater. Prater, in particular, has taken on the role of “Team Mom” and helped spearhead the team-building side of a new-look roster.
“My role is to make sure everybody knows what’s going on,” Prater said. “Obviously we’ve got practice and workouts, but beyond that, hanging out with the team. I’ve cooked for them a few times, having them at the crib. So a team mom but also a voice on the court.”
“She’s definitely a mother figure and someone I look up to along with the other seniors,” Francis said of Prater. “They all have our best interests at hand, and they’re all willing to work with us. We all want it, so it’s a good thing to have that in the team collective.”
The family-type of atmosphere is something that drew the players to Purcell’s program, and something which drew the coach to those players in the recruiting process. For him, that level of bonding is necessary to take the team beyond where it’s been the last few years.
Purcell led the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament last year, beating Cal before falling to No. 1 seed USC in the second round. It was also his third year in a row getting the team over 20 wins on the season, but the changeover has left doubt over where the team will be in the SEC.
For Purcell and his group, they don’t mind too much. They’d rather write their own story.
“We know our backs are against the wall,” Purcell said. “Five out of the top-10 teams in the country are from the SEC. Nobody’s talking about us, nobody is considering us. They did it last year, do it again. When you do that, all you do is fuel fire for my team. Most importantly, you give us a chip. That’s the best thing a head coach can ask for.”
The Bulldogs will tip off the season at home against Davidson on Nov. 3. It’s the first of 10 nonconference home games that should give the entire roster plenty of time to prove themselves and push for minutes going into SEC play.
Frances and Lampley both spoke of the support within the team in their arrival, and though they were highly touted prospects, they know they have to earn every bit of time they get on the floor. They’ve been all-in on the process, and now it’s getting close to game time to see what they can do when the lights are on.
“Being two feet in, it’s all you can ask for when you come in,” Purcell said of what he’s seen from the freshmen and newcomers. “You chose MSU because of the vision, because of the past seasons of success, but also, I told them, I don’t play labels. I’ve started freshmen, but you’ve got to come in and earn it. Come in and help elevate this program, because at the end of the day you’ll be known as a top-10 recruiting class, but let’s make sure we finish top-10 or better when your time’s over and done.”
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