SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAYS

October 14, 2026

Sam Purcell

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Women's Media Day Press Conference

SAM PURCELL: Thank you. First of all, let me start off by saying it's great to be here. Year five. It's a blessing in the best conference in the country, but most importantly I work for one of the best universities, which is an absolute honor. I could not be more fired up and excited to talk about this team.

Clearly we have a lot of new faces, but the standard doesn't change. I love the heart of this group. I love where we're at today. But I also understand who we can become in March. That part excites me.

The team motto for this year is "attack the gap." What that means to us is understanding where we're at today, but most importantly where we got to be tomorrow.

As we enjoy this journey, there's going to be three values that we hang our hat on every single night that our team can expect. Number one, that is toughness, discipline, and most importantly connected.

Our goals are simple: We want Mississippi State back in the NCAA tournament. I said this five years ago and I'm going to say it again today. I took this job because I understand the expectations that come with this program. I embrace it. I honor it. Speaking of honor, thinks 10-year anniversary of shot. Shot out to Morgan Williams, who hit a shot that we'll never forget. It's one of the major reasons why I took this job. It's why I sell on the phone. This is not fake dreams. This program has been there before and it's my determination with my All-Star staff that we work harder than anybody in the country to make sure this program gets back.

Women's basketball matters in Starkville. It's a special brand and special people. I can't wait for everybody to see it open up here on Sunday in an open exhibition in Philadelphia that we have partnershipped with Pearl River Casino. I couldn't be more excited for that opportunity come here in October.

With that, any questions.

Q. Obviously you bring Reese Beaty here today. What were the main things you saw in her, bringing her in from the portal? What have you seen from her in this off-season that excites you?

SAM PURCELL: First and foremost, it's funny, I mention this all the time how relationships matter. That was a young lady I recruited really hard in the high school period where I saw her play at the highs of high, played free, just a gifted individual.

Sometimes in the portal we hate it. Sometimes at coaches, we love it. When her name in the portal, she was the kid I stayed up till midnight and made sure I called. The same vision and energy I had for you in high school, it's still here. Where you are a dynamic point guard who has high IQ and you can make my team better.

It was an easy sell. When Favour and Madison said early in March and late February that they were coming back. Us sitting down and painting a picture, her believing in that vision, then what she's been getting out of me is the keys to the car.

Go be who you were in high school. Go in open spaces and make the right plays, whereas a freshman she had a hundred assists, which is outstanding. So I'm ready for the Southeastern Conference to see what that young lady can do night in and night out.

Q. You're always here on campus supporting the students. What does this university and the fan base mean to you and this team?

SAM PURCELL: A lot. I hear people. What I hear is the hardships that cause athletics has provided with so many new faces and kids leaving. I understand that, especially when you have a fan base like mine who has been in the top 25 for 10 straight years. It's awesome.

So I take that with a lot of pride as the head coach of this program, that I'm asking you to step up every night and impact our program by continuing your support.

But you know what, I can't keep demanding something out of you that I don't demand out of myself. As much as I ask you to impact our program, I want to impact you. Whether it's picking people up with golf cart rides to talk to football, shout out Jeff Lebby and us back in the top 25. There's an excitement like no other at Mississippi State. Volleyball, we got things rolling again.

We just want to be a small part of what makes Mississippi State special. That's why we did the golf cart rides.

Q. One of the your mentors, Jeff Walz, coming up on his 20th season. Talk about what he's meant for you.

SAM PURCELL: Louisville was a special place. I don't know if you know this. In Mississippi, spelled the same, but it's pronounced Louis-ville. I was quickly informed by my people back home.

I appreciate the question. The question was about Jeff Walsh. Obviously I wouldn't be standing here today without him. The thing that I'm anxious and excited for him as he celebrates his 20th year coaching, which you're seeing coaches retire left and right, Jeff still has another 20 years in him.

My call for him is again it's time. I hope you get this out. It's time for him to be in the Hall of Fame, right? Too many times in life we celebrate people when it's over or they're deceased or passed on. Jeff Walz is still alive, great for the game. I hope he gets the flowers for what he's done, not only for me but for so many people.

I appreciate that question.

Q. How have you seen Favour and Madison grow as leaders?

SAM PURCELL: Wow, a lot, all right? Especially in a time where you see the transfer portal, you're seeing super team, right? When you join a super team, how much real weight is put on your shoulders? How much real weight and responsibility are you given?

So for those two young ladies to be given a lot last year, we had a winning season, but them to stick with Mississippi State, for them to stick with the process, means the world to me.

What people don't understand is when you're in this portal era right now, I'm in charge of selling a vision, but that vision is a lot easier when your top two players are coming back.

So now when I'm in the portal and I'm asking players to transfer to Mississippi State, they see that the top two players are here, it sets the foundation for who some of those leaders are going to be. They want to come play with them.

I'm excited for the roles that they'll be given this year and the responsibility that I know they'll take, like true pros.

Q. What were some of the qualities that you were looking for this season in recruiting so many new athletes?

SAM PURCELL: Yeah, this one is easy: character, right? What I mean by 'character', I always ask this question: do you like basketball or do you love it? If you love it, Sam Purcell and Mississippi State is for you because this league is an absolute beast. This league is probably going to produce the national champion with possibly two out of the four Final Four teams.

You got to embrace this, you got to accept it, be crazy enough to believe you know what, it's time for a new story. That's the opportunity that we have in front of us, that we're going to work hard, that you're going to have great character because we're going to spend a lot of time together, all right? That matters, especially when I talked about the three values of our program, one of that being connected.

I got to make sure in a team sport that we're all connected and we have this thing rolling in the right direction to take on the tasks that will be thrown at us every single night.

Q. The football team are having so much success, but I feel like a big reason has been the retention. You also retained a lot from last year. Do you feel like the retention in this portal era will do some great things for your team this year?

SAM PURCELL: 100%. Again, in a microwave society, we want, want, want, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. You can't replace experience. For my two leading scorers to come back. We went through some stuff where we were right there. I want to take ownership as the head coach of the program. We just did not finish.

My staff, shout-out to them, did a phenomenal job of identifying our weaknesses, making sure we got the right pieces to put around them, to establish our culture for what it needed to be early, knowing we have three players who are returning that know and understand what it takes. Absolutely crushing some workouts, fall workouts. Makes me very excited as a head coach because are we clearly the team that I know we can be here in October? No. But I know one thing: what they've shown me from diving on the floor, holding each other accountable, most importantly having hard conversations, makes me excited for the team we can be in March.

Q. So many new faces, what has been maybe the most rewarding part of trying to put those pieces together and build the best team you can? What have been the challenges with that?

SAM PURCELL: First and foremost, when you have new faces, especially my fifth-year, the biggest thing I understand is there might be new faces, but it's not new standards. They understand what they're signing for when they come in here. That's what gets me excited as a head coach.

Our ceiling can be really high this year. What I mean by that is first and foremost I have two high-IQ point guards. I have length, I have athleticism according to my strength coach, that has informed me this is the best I've had in four years. We're going to utilize that and get after it like you haven't seen before.

Then again, just embracing the journey, right, as a coach. That's where I'm so excited of understanding the task at hand.

I mentioned it just in the last question, helping my team understand. We are definitely going to go through some stuff with so many new faces, but embrace that. Take a one-day-at-a-time mentality. Let's be better with attack the gap, understanding who we are today, but more importantly who we have to be tomorrow. It's been a very rewarding process at this time.

Q. What is one thing that you think fans should know about this year's team?

SAM PURCELL: I say the 'wow' factor. You know what, yeah, you've been given some cards that should on paper look like are not in your favor. When they see us live, that's what I'm excited to see. A team that's already diving on loose balls like no other before. A team that, you know what, is connected, really love each other off the court. It's my job on the court. We have hard conversations to hurry and move that needle so we're ready for play.

But most importantly feel really good that, you know what, this staff did a phenomenal job of matching the DNA of Mississippi State and our state of blue-collar, hard-working kids that we can take a lot of pride in night in and night out when we watch your team play, that they look like us, but most importantly they feel like us. That's what I'm excited for this season.

Thanks, everybody.