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2026 Mississippi State Women's Basketball Season Preview w/Sam Purcell · Johnny's World

• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Johnny's World Podcast.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's Johnny here.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: My co-host, BW, is out today checking people's eyeballs.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm doing this interview solo today, but so honored and thrilled to have our guest come on today.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is his first time on Johnny's World, and he is when you hear this guy talk, man, you get fired up.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're excited to have him on here.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, Coach Sam Purcell, welcome to Johnny's World.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Johnny, thank you, man.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is awesome, man.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And let's have some fun.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, I've heard Robbie Falk refer to you as the ultimate hype man.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I get that, man.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: I heard you last night at the start of a quarterback club.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fired up for basketball season.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: You just put people in a good mood when talk listening to you.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate that, man.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's what that's what what it's all about, having fun and you know how to do it.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And let's talk about it, man.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go in.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, I'm gonna start this interview out by basketball.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to hear about that.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why basketball?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: How did you get into coaching and go into that?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so first and foremost, um, I'm a man of faith uh and always have fallen back on the good Lord, just giving me signs and uh, you know, trusting the voice up above.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And uh started off in third grade.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Parents didn't play basketball.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably why I'm successful today, because you know what?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: They just supported me and they didn't get in the way.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I just always chased, you know, whether it was going to the best high school in the county, um, trying to become a major division one player, which obviously I fell just short.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: I went to junior college and realized I didn't have the talent to play at the highest level with the athleticism needed.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so then I went to the gas station and I went to get a sports illustrator.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is before social media in 2000.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I said, Who's the number one program in the country?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it was Auburn men's basketball at the time.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, called the coach up there and said, Hey, I want to be a student assistant, had a job lined up.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it's funny how the good lord works.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, about three months before school started, they called back and said, Hey, we got a problem because the senior manager um can't come is coming back, so we don't have the money to pay you.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't come from money, so I took two jobs a telemarketer selling vacuum cleaners uh and working at the gap.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's funny how selling clothes and selling vacuum cleaners apply in my profession now, right?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but obviously I'm selling a lot better product.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then technology came into sports.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they put a flyer up one day for a scholarship for a video coordinator.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, what?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: The girls are in my class.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love girls' basketball and got in it for the right reasons and just worked my way up the ladder and blessed to be here talking to you today on this podcast.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, now Megan has uh your wife has a relationship with basketball, right?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wasn't her dad a coach, all right?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I know.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another funny part of the story.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm working for two months.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it's it's today's time you can find out a lot about somebody in one hour, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Just like me and you.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: If we become friends and I follow you on social media, you can follow me, you can go through my profile, you can learn a lot.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Where again, we're dating ourselves here, right?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: 20 years ago, you didn't have that access.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm working for the guy.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not no nosy person.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know if he had daughters or anything.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just, you know, sweeping the floors, doing all the gyms, trying to, you know, stay in that film room.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And one day he knocks on the door and says, Hey, you know, I want you to go play golf.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, okay.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Yeah, you know, uh, with my daughter.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, sure, no problem.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, she plays on the golf team at Auburn.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, for real?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so we went out and played.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And not only is she an unbelievable golfer, she was also beautiful.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then I told myself, uh-oh, I'm in trouble.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's just funny.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think he he had a nose for you know me, and he knew that that we would be a good fit if if we hit it off.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, after working with him two years, we did, and then, you know, obviously had the courage to take it a step further.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just again blessed by the good Lord to put right people.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then also there's no doubt, you know, you know, marrying her, you know, and having him as my father-in-law is huge.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would tell anybody who's listening to this podcast, all of us, whether it's a friend, a coworker, a church member, um, a member of the community, is going to get that break.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but once you get that break, what do you do with it?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because you only can ask for favors so much or or get someone who speaks on your behalf.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where I take a lot of pride in is once given that opportunity, I've worked very hard to get in this position today.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've worked hard.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh let's go back to to Louisville when you're your time at Louisville and then transition to Mississippi State.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: You got to be, I know you talked about last night, it's the 10-year anniversary of the shot, Morgan Williams 2017.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you y'all were you were at Louisville at the time when all that was going on, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about that uh and being part of the staff then.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man, talk about heart strings right now, right?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: I meant one, it's you know, you we're we worked so hard in this business to get your first national championship.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I truly believe that was my best chance to as of to date.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that team was loaded.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we beat Notre Dame, who won it that year twice, one time by 36, and then the other time in the ACC championship by seven.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was a game against Mississippi State that I'll never forget.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're up, but that fan base, man, y'all, you know, obviously now as the head coach, uh man, we just we're there's just a blue-collar dog DNA about us that is special.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you could just constantly feel them have Mississippi State's back, us not seizing the moment, us getting towards the end, and all we had to do was switch a simple play at the end of the game, and we didn't.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: They hit a huge shot, and then you realized, uh oh, we're in trouble.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then in overtime, they were just unbelievable.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously Morgan hitting the shot to beat UConn.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's just there was a magic about Mississippi State during those two years that you know, that showed, right?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: That sometimes you put a label on somebody, but you know what?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about a label, it's about an opportunity.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that team seized the moment with not five-star athletes, but a group of young women that were committed as one and did something special.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it was really cool.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so when given the opportunity for this job, I I I took it without even visiting.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Are you kidding me?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what what this program represents, the fan base that represents for women's basketball, but just the DNA of the people and that community and most importantly, that state is every reason why I want this job.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been uh it's been an awesome experience this last five years.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really has.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, um, I mean, I was in college 25 years ago, and the women's program back then was was good and everything, but it just went up to the next level with with uh with Coach Schaefer.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then with you taking over the momentum and the fan support, it just really, I don't I like I don't see that happening anywhere else.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I'm not following women's basketball everywhere, but the fan support in Mississippi State and women's basketball is just unbelievable.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said last night, you know, Choctaw Central last week, you had it packed out, and that just shows shows what the fans love about you and your staff and everything that you're doing at Mississippi State.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just really, really special.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh talk a little bit about that, Choctaw Central, Phil Philip Philadelphia, Mississippi.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how did that come to be?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And talk a little about that experience.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'm a real big believer.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm blessed to have two great parents who raised me right.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to believe one being my mom, who's my hero, um, just a drug and alcohol rehab counselor, where you could imagine in that field touched a lot of people, right?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: She has a heart.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: She true.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I know a lot of people say their mom's an angel.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: My mom really is an angel, um, just because of the line of work she is and just who she is as a person.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing she's always taught me is uh you can't expect people to uh invest in you unless you invest in them.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so this program means a lot to me, obviously, the community of Starkville, but also the state of Mississippi.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, in a creative time with NIL, um, I wanted to do something different.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to take our product on the road.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the Native American community has a special place in my heart because I got to coach two young ladies from Oregon who are Native American.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And just to give you a little fact here on this podcast, um, Native American women have the highest depression and suicidal rate of any ethnic group in the United States.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of them live on reservations and just don't get off.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: They have families at early age, and unfortunately, some of them get straight to alcohol.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I asked Chief Ben if we could partnership and do something special of community service events, uh, bring my young women to an area where there's a lot of hardworking people in that area that just don't have the funds to load up their family to come up to Starkfield to watch a game and bring our show to their show uh and play in a high school gym, which was unbelievable with 2,500 people.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: There was a line sold out an hour before it tipped off.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was great for them, but I think it was even better for our team.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So just really excited to be a part of that.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool, man.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Real, real cool.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, let's talk about you you mentioned this last last night.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: I always think it's fun to talk about how you had the uh your girl dad.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: I want to I want to hit on that about your girls, your girls are so special, and about how they picked that game.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh it was uh I I I keep going back to that.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: I I remember I was at that game, and man, you know, I was at the game back when Vic was here with South Carolina and it was loaded, packed, packed up.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was great atmosphere.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But that LSU game, Kim Walkie coming in the that night, man, that that was up.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put that up there with that South Carolina game with Vic.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was the intensity and to get that win, man, talk a little bit about that game.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of my that's one of my favorite games I've been to since you've been the coach here.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about that.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, just a special night.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it started off, you know, it's hard being a dad.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously I'm I'm I'm living the dream of a profession uh that I, you know, I feel like I never work a day in my life, but there's clearly hours spent like no other at the college level where you feel uh you feel a little neglect for your family, right?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody's got to sacrifice.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm constantly working year-round, working, you know, crazy hours and traveling the world, which is a blessing.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: But the ones who have to suffer is the ones I'm supposed to be taking care of at home every single night.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's my own family.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So for me to do something special with them, we we sit down at the table every year and I say, pick one game.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if dad wins that, dad's gonna do something really nice.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they were really young at the time.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I wasn't worried about them saying a car or anything because you know, when you're young, you know, probably Legos or, you know, something small.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it started off dad, we want Tennessee.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: If we beat Tennessee, we want a trampoline.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Bet.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: First year, you know, double overtime, we knock off Tennessee at the hump.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I said, All right, next game.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And they could have picked an easy non-conference game, which, you know, if they use chat GPT now in technology, you know, chat would have told them the answers.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: But my kids, I know I raised them right.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: They said, Dad, we want the smoke.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: We want the defending champions, LSU.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking to myself, look, I believe I can win every game.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: So whatever these kids say, I probably would be ready for this, knowing that he might not win this game.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, you know, so I said, What do y'all want?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, we want a pool.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, and at the time, LSU is the number one team in the country.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know me, I ain't gonna show my kids no fear.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, come on, man, let's go.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: We beat the number one team in the country that defended national champs at the hump.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's on.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that day was special because the administration made it a white out.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was 7,000 tickets already sold, and I kind of put myself out there.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I went on social media and I told our fan base, I said, guys, I'm 3,000 short from having my first sellout.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: We're on ESPN.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: The magic here in this building's already magical.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I did a video to show them the t-shirts that were already laid out by our administration.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I said, help me get this first one and let's show the world why this is a special place.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And man, Bulldog Nation jumped in the car.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: They packed out.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'll never forget I'm in the locker room.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a I'm a big locker room guy.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Listen, ain't no speech tonight.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: You playing at home in a sold-out, wideout building on ESPN.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: I said, all you got to do is go out there and play the way you do because this fan base, they got your back, and you ain't losing this game.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: And boy, it was everything about that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and like to your point, it's just a special night that I'll never forget.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: We beat the legendary Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey, L S U E S P N, and my kids got a pull.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: So what a night.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think I remember uh talking to Reagan uh one day with my mom.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: We were down there, and I said something.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: She says, she said, uh, I can't remember if we said, what's the next thing?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember her saying a lazy river.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember Megan's like, we're not doing a lazy river, no, no lazy river.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: But uh that's so cool, man.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I just love I love your family, man.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And my mom got to got to uh teach at uh Starbucks academy and just fell in love with Reagan and y'all's family just so special and uh just such a big asset to the Starbucks community.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know you say the starful community loves y'all, but I mean you're just you're loved, and your whole family is, and I I know you feel it, and it's just it's really special that the way that everybody comes together to support women's basketball because I don't think it's like that everywhere.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think out west and everywhere it's like that.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: But here, I mean, they're back, they've got your back, and it's really cool.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about kind of what you talked about last night, this year's team.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: I know people who are listening to this podcast want to hear about this coming of the year's roster.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know you you said you got some uh international players on there.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just talk about the roster this year.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so first of all, retainment is a big word in college athletics, but like I joke, you can retain bad players and still be a bad team.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: The key to retainment is retaining your best players.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we did that.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Our two best players are back from last year, my leading score, so that sets a great foundation.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we did a great job as a staff identifying why we didn't make the NCAA tournament last year.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't run from the smoke, the standards to be in there.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: We fell short, so let's own it.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we signed the number 11 transfer portal class.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: We've got uh young lady Callie Smallwood, who's one of the best shooters in the country.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: I got a freshman who was a backup point guard on an NCAA tournament team that was one of only two freshmen in the country to have a hundred assists last year, um, who I'll have a larger role this year.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I've got some great freshmen along with some great foreign players that you know what makes a great special team.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I and I kind of compare it to a car engine.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if I gave you a Ferrari, boy, that engine can roar, baby.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: But if you got one or two loose screws or not the right parts, that thing can't move.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's that's that's the visual I'm trying to give my young ladies is understand this is a fast engine that if we're all clicking and playing our roles can do some special things.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when we hit some bumpy roads along the way, you better believe it because we haven't played together.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't experienced.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: So every day matters.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the team that we're today is not gonna be the team you're gonna see in March.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: So enjoy the process, uh, have a growth mindset.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Every day is a learning opportunity, and if we build off that, we can have a magical season.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, I think so.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm really excited about it.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um let me ask you this.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, what what I really like about you is each year it seems like you've had a theme for the year, you know, why not us?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one, do you have have you announced what it's gonna be this year?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or how do you come up with stuff like that?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, so I when I first got the job, you know, obviously first year, you could feel the energy in the building.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, y'all, I came here because this place is special.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the kids went through some hardship.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: You got to remember, Vic, I didn't replace Vic.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: After Vic retired, they had a young lady who was the coach who passed away with cancer.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was hard, right?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: God bless her soul, praying for her and her family, um, Nikki McCray.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then they had an interim coach uh Doug, who did a great job.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I watched the tape.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think they finished 17 and 17.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: He had the kids playing hard, but the administration just wanted to go in a different way.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to come in and do CPR.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: So the first year was all about why not us?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all, I know you've been through some hardship, but again, I was raised by a drug and alcohol rehab counselor to think three to one.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of positive here that if we focus on the positive and not the negative things that have occurred, we can turn this around and get this back in the NCAA tournament in year one.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And we did.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: We were five points away from the sweet 16, uh, which was awesome.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then after that, I just try to feel the climate.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: What's the storylines?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right now in college athletics, there's a there's a negative taste for what's going on with NIL and so many transfers.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm really on that bandwagon right now with these chapters in my life.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, don't let that hamper what we can have because college should be the best four years now, five years of your life.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so the theme this year is attack the gap.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that gap is understanding where we're at today, but most important, where we got to be tomorrow.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that growth mindset that I'm talking about with so many new pieces that I need to embrace that this will be hard.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: But if we attack this and make this a lifestyle, whether it's in the classroom or on the court, you're gonna be a winner.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that's my job as your head coach is to create winners.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're you're 100% right on that.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, another thing I like about you is I saw on social media not too long ago at the uh football game, you had a little uh, was it a golf cart or something?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: You give it a car, you're giving rides around campus.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about that.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so again, just man, I I hear the fan base, right?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I probably I'm gonna give myself a pat on the back.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm probably more plugged in with our fan base than any other coach in the country because I listen.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Some people avoid emails, some people avoid social media because you know, fans are gonna write what they want to, but I embrace it, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's our program, it's not mine.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and one thing I keep hearing is just coach, you know, we gotta we gotta relearn new people.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I say, you do, but you know what?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna meet you halfway.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so again, you know, I can't ask you to invest in my young women like you did with 2500 sold-out crowd, unless I invest in you.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm personally gonna get behind the wheel.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: When you come to our football team, which right now they've been kicking butt, they've been fighting their butt back and they're back in the top 25.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'll pick you up.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'll help make your experience good because I know you've probably been drinking before you got here.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: All right, or that hot Mississippi heat's gonna hit you.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if I can help share that you can get that cowbell and have your voice ready for our football team, that's just me investing in you.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then all I ask in return is continue to invest in my team.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where my heart is, and it's really cool.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: A funny thing is, after I did it that weekend, they're still texting me every weekend to see if I give golf rides.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes they catch me at the right time, and I'm still giving them.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, man.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's the cool thing about you.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love about you, man, because you like to have fun, but but also it's it's about winning and and and teaching these kids, but also you can have fun along the way.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and and you gotta have that mixer, you know.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and and you bring you bring the you bring the momentum and and uh talk let's talk about Jimmy and and uh what he what he means to your staff.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love that guy.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: He's a he's an awesome dude.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about that.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's Jimmy's a legend.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Jimmy's the hardest working person I've ever met in my life.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: So let me tell you the backstory how I got tied in with Jimmy.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Me and my old boss, Jeff Walls, went to go recruit the number one player in the country, Megan Walker, in high school.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is probably 10 years ago.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: We get there early for the game, and all of a sudden we get there early and we see this kid just up the sideline working, doing like 12 people's jobs, tail the picking up towels, wiping the floor, high-fiving all the kids.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we were like, Do you see this kid?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: And my coach was like, Yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Man, I can't keep my eyes off of him.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Game goes, we see him doing the same thing.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we weren't even watching the game, we're watching a manager on the bench.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the game ends, we go to the hallway, and the coach goes, Well, you know, what'd you think about Megan Walker?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we go, I don't know about Megan Walker, but who's that kid?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: She goes, Jimmy?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And we're like, Yeah.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he said, I don't know if we're getting Megan Walker, but we'll take Jimmy.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Megan Walker goes to UConn.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Jimmy comes to Louisville and is our manager.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it was awesome.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: First day on the job, my coach got mad because the girls used to wipe their face with towels and they would drop the towel on the floor.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And he was like, We got to fix this because it's nasty.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Jimmy hears them out loud, goes to Home Depot and spends money out of his own pocket and gets plastic hooks.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Next day they're hanging up.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: He comes in and he was like, Who did this?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, me as an assistant, I should have said me, because that's what good assistants do.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Coach, it wasn't me.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: And Jimmy goes, I did.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, Well, who gave you the money?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, Nobody, coach.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: You said you were mad, so I just went and fixed it.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's Jimmy.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Jimmy doesn't need to be told what to do.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: He has a nose for life.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: He listens to people, he knows how to do things without being asked.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's a hard gift for a lot of people in society, no matter what industry you work on.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: But cool, but Jimmy, too, is a he's a reflection of me.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: He's like my little brother.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: He cares about this community.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's active in pickleball.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: I call him the flying squirrel.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's got a nickname out there.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: That boy's all over them courts.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but he's also all over this community.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Again, just we're really big on trying to give back, and he's a huge part of it.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're you're you got just such great staff and and great players and great support.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, the sky's the limit for you.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really excited about this season coming up.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um when when is uh I guess when's the first game?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh November 3rd.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: November 3rd, okay.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk it up.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: November 3rd.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody who's listening to this podcast, get your butts in the hump, November 3rd.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's what I ask.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you've been a longtime fan uh and supporter, thank you.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Continue supporting because that's why I'm able to go get the best players in the country.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and they come here because of that sport.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And if you haven't, I'm challenging you.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Come one game.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: But all I ask is give them one try.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't like it, don't come back.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm not promising you wins.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm promising you one thing that my young women are gonna play together as one, they're gonna play hard, but most importantly, they're gonna represent that Mississippi State jersey with a lot of pride.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so come show them a lot of love because they're from all over the world and they could use your support.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said last night, you're not only not only is it college basketball, it's in the entertainment business, also.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: You and you you got a player.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: I meant to ask you this, I'm gonna ask you right now.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: You you you got a player that on YouTube, you can Google it.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Google it last night, a dunk.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's a woman's basketball player that can dunk.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about that.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Will we see a dunk this year, hopefully?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: You will.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's coming.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, the young lady is special.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, she's by far the best athlete I've ever coached.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she had a situation where she broke her nose in high school, was mad, and just flushed it like a man.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I love about women's basketball, is especially our age.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, 20 years ago, women had an unfair label of non-athletic.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't want to go to the game because they couldn't make plays.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Them days are done.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Women are just as athletic as men.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: They can do things that have changed the landscape of college athletics, and I've got one of them on my team.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I she tried last year, missed it.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: This year I expect her to flush it home.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: She's special, she plays with a lot of heart.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: She was team USA basketball coming out of high school, and she led the nation in blocks as a freshman.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: So not only do I have a good team, but I got some of the best individuals in the country.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's just gives you another reason to come to the games.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: So y'all heard the man right there that we got a girl that can dunk.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see some dunks this year, and and uh well, it's gonna be awesome.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be fired up, coach.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I know all the people out there listening to this are fired up and ready to get back in the hump.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And what we say, you know, when the hops rock and there's not another place in the world like it, it's uh really, really special.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you, my guy.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, it is.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's the best arena in the country with the best fan base.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: So most importantly, Hill State.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely hell state, coach, and we'll see you around and good luck this season.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thank you, everybody.