Ep. 338 Sam Purcell, Mississippi State Bulldogs

Ep. 338 Sam Purcell, Mississippi State Bulldogs

From Coaching U Podcast with Coach Brendan Suhr by Coaching U

September 1, 2026 · 44 min · Season 1 · Episode 338

About this episode

Coach Brendan Suhr interviews Sam Purcell about his coaching journey and insights into women's basketball.

In this week's episode, Coach Brendan Suhr is joined by Sam Purcell, head coach of Mississippi State women's basketball. Purcell takes us through his journey that began in Dalton, Georgia, ran through junior college in Wadley, Alabama, and turned on a chance decision to cold-call Cliff Ellis at Auburn — leading to a video-room scholarship, nine years alongside Jeff Walz at Louisville, and now his fifth season leading the Bulldogs. Along the way he shares what his parents taught him about opportunity and relationships, and how a round of golf changed his life. From there the two get into the craft: how recruiting became a lifestyle rather than an event, building culture when you mayonly have a player for nine months, why Walz ran a season on five practice plans, and what Purcell learned watching Cori Close at UCLA. He also breaks down his style of play, coaching a roster with players from five countries, and why he'd rather find the right system for his players than force his players into a system. All that and more on Episode 338 of the Coaching U Podcast presented by Noah Basketball. Noah Basketball is trusted by 28 NBA teams, over 200 NCAA programs, and over 1,000 high school…

People in this episode

Host: Brendan Suhr

Guest: Sam Purcell

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

Noah Basketball

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mississippi State Bulldogs, Auburn, Louisville, UCLA

Places: Dalton, Georgia, Wadley, Alabama

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