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Clear to partly cloudy. Low 32F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: December 15, 2022 @ 3:15 pm
Sam Purcell, a Dalton native, is pictured with his wife, Meghan, and daughters Reese, Rylee and Reagan following an NCAA tournament victory with the University of Louisville. Purcell was named the head women’s basketball coach at Mississippi State on Saturday.
Sam Purcell, a Dalton native, is pictured with his wife, Meghan, and daughters Reese, Rylee and Reagan following an NCAA tournament victory with the University of Louisville. Purcell was named the head women’s basketball coach at Mississippi State on Saturday.
As Sam Purcell was introduced as the next head women’s basketball coach at Mississippi State University at a Sunday press conference, Purcell used the first question he was asked to recognize people who helped get him to where he is.
That includes those that know him in his hometown.
“It’s the people. I’m from Dalton, Georgia,” Purcell, the Dalton native and 1998 graduate of Southeast Whitfield High School began when asked about what made Mississippi State the right fit.
“I’ve had an unbelievable coaching career where I got to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for two years, Georgia Tech for six and Louisville for nine,” Purcell said. “The reason that I was able to move up in this business was because I was with the right people.”
Purcell was named the head coach at Mississippi State on Saturday after spending nine years as an assistant at Louisville. After his time at Southeast, Purcell attended Auburn University before his stops as assistant coach.
Purcell, who will continue his role at Louisville while the Cardinals remain in this year’s NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, replaces interim Mississippi State head coach Doug Novak. Novak was tabbed as the interim coach in September after Bulldogs head coach Nikki McCray-Penson stepped down.
Purcell crediting those around him with helping advance his career isn’t just coachspeak.
One of those “right people” received a phone call from Purcell Sunday, thanking him for his guidance back in his Dalton days.
“To get that phone call and know that he kind of recognized the impact that we had as coaches feels really good,” said current Northwest Whitfield head boys basketball coach Ryan Richards. “To have coached Sam, and for him to grow a love of the game and want to be involved in it for the rest of his life is pretty cool.”
Richards was an assistant coach under Alan Long at Southeast when Purcell came through the Raider program. North Murray head boys coach Tim Ellis was on that staff as an assistant too, before he got the head job at Southeast.
Richards said he and Purcell have stayed in touch in the years since. Richards visited Purcell and observed practices at Louisville a few years ago.
Richards said he could see the passion for basketball in Purcell that has helped build a career during his time as a player.
“He played point guard, which, we always say is like the coach on the floor,” Richards said. “He ate up every detail. He wanted to know everything and he was always asking questions.”
Purcell acknowledged his open-minded approach to learning the coaching profession in his Sunday press conference.
“By being able to work with so many coaches that did it right, I feel prepared for this opportunity for however this roster develops and giving it an opportunity to be successful,” Purcell said.
Richards saw Purcell’s perseverance manifest in high school ball as Purcell played through occasional breathing issues caused by asthma.
“I remember one time in summer league games, he’d played three games that day,” Richards said. “I remember him laying in the locker room floor breathing in a bag and his muscles all tensed up. It didn’t faze him at all and he was ready to go back out and play the next day. He was just so tough and played with so much energy.”
Another trait Richards saw in Purcell that he recognizes in Purcell’s coaching? Positivity.
“He never really got down on any of his teammates,” Richards said. “He was always encouraging. He was always in their corner. and that makes a great coach.”
At Mississippi State, Purcell helms a program with plenty of recent success but that has fallen off a little in recent years.
The Bulldogs were mainstays of the NCAA tournament under former head coach Vic Shaefer, who left to take the job at Texas in 2020.
Mississippi State reached consecutive Final Fours in 2017 and 2018, even defeating Purcell’s Louisville squad in the national semifinal in 2018, before falling in the national title game both years.
Mississippi State hasn’t been back in the tourney since 2019.
“It’s one game at a time. There’s no super speed up,” Purcell said. “I’ve got to make sure that the foundation is right which I worked on last night. Making sure these players understand who is their head coach. Obviously, you didn’t come here for me, but I came here for you. That’s where we’ll start.”Richards said Purcell can provide an example for any of his players that want to make basketball part of their career.
“Any kid that wants to work that hard and loves the game like he has can achieve and do great things,” he said. “That’s what Sam’s done.”
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