Purcell 'excited' about new Bulldog team in year three
MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. – Sam Purcell had been through the media ringer before Wednesday morning's turn at SEC Media Days and he came prepared to have fun.
Dressed in a custom suit from Kinkade's Fine Clothing complete with a custom maroon suede jacket, he looked the part. But the coach was also flanked by his two biggest leaders in Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe.
Jordan enters year four with the Bulldogs and is close to stamping her legacy as one of the all-time greats to wear maroon and white. Purcell used his time on Wednesday in front of the SEC media to stump for his star guard as an All-SEC player but she'll have a chance to once again prove people wrong with a big season.
As for Powe, it was her first trip to represent the Bulldogs at the big event. Both were easy picks as Purcell was readying for the event earlier in the summer.
"First of all, they deserve it. What great ambassadors of Mississippi State," Purcell said. "Jerk has graduated and Debreasha is going to graduate in three years. It's unbelievable what they've done for this program. Their commitment to Mississippi State, their commitment to getting this program back on top and their commitment to stay here and see this thing out means everything to me and I know it means everything to our Bulldog family."
For Jordan, Wednesday was nothing new. She had a chance to come to Media Days a year ago and has been seasoned inside the conference for several years now. While Powe was new to the media frenzy, she has become a natural behind a microphone and in front of a camera.
The Meridian native has already begun preparing for her future in broadcasting and has even started interning with the Mississippi State radio station with her own sports talk show as well as doing sideline reporting for high school football games on 107.9 in French Camp.
Getting a chance to be around some of the cameras was a privledge in Powe's mind. It let her know that her coach and his staff have the utmost trust in her representing her team and she's ready to lead.
"It means a lot to know that they believe in me," Powe said of the staff. "I just want to continue to be a leader on and off the court and being more vocal. Being Bulldogs is what we do. I'm excited for the season. We've been putting in the work day in and day out."
Powe and Jordan are two veterans on the team but the line ends with them.
Purcell has almost an entirely new team outside of those two multi-year starters with sophomore center Quanirah Montague the only other player returning that had any minutes a season ago. Despite that, Purcell is optimistic about the progress to this point
"Excited, I can't say it enough. I have a lot of great individual talent. With 20 something days out, we're trying to work hard to build a team," Purcell said. "We came here for a purpose. Obviously, it can be anybody's night, but we're trying to put them in situations where they can fail quickly and learn fast. If we can fail in practice to avoid failing in games, I like our chances.
"Let's get some rotations going every day in practice. Obviously, we've been completing for that playing time, but roles are really being established. We've got to understand our strengths and weaknesses and most importantly we've got to turn down those turnovers. We've got to be dogs on defense which I think we've been doing the last couple of weeks."
With Media Days now complete, the season is on the horizon. Both the men and the women will take part in Junction Jam outside of Davis Wade Stadium on Friday night at 7 p.m. After that, Memphis will be the first opponent as State hosts the Tigers on November 7 at 6:30 p.m.
"To have it at home, I'm asking all of our fans to come out on that day because it's not our normal opening tip," Purcell said. "With the transfer portal, they've done a phenomenal job to improve that roster. Last year that was a close game. They play hard and get after it and I'm expecting an absolute war on opening day."
