Women's basketball team

[basedog]

I agree (26 points 17 rebounds per game)

She also has good size. If she does half of those stats for a first-year player, that would be very good!

[NCMSTFAN]

https://x.com/SamPurcellMSU/status/1940121447822991683

This is our new pickup. Yes it's a football but you can see the athleticism Sam and Castro were talking about.

Our Freshman Madison Hayes can also dunk a basketball, one thing we wont lack is athleticism

[jdelta02]

Favour Onyinye Nwaedozi had a game where she scored 36 points and had 28 rebounds in an international tournament during the summer of 2024. Had 30 points and another 28 rebounds in another game during the same tournament. Her team went 5-0 and won the whole thing. Also, she was named Tournament MVP.

[Pancho]

what type competition did she face in this tourney?

[basedog]

what type competition did she face in this tourney?

I can tell you w/o knowing probably not good BUT anyone scoring 36 points with 26 rebounds has the "it factor".

[Pancho]

maybe she can get 10 and 10 a game

[NCMSTFAN]

what type competition did she face in this tourney?

There's just not enough out on her to know how good the competition was or how good she is. We do know she played some College ball in Japan and averaged over 20 ppg and double digit rebounds. She is 21 years old and is listed as a Junior.

What Purcell said about her:

"Favour has a wow factor. She's a versatile post player that can score inside and outside," Purcell said. "She's extremely skillful on the court and can defend the full length of the floor. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing our fans fall in love with her million-dollar personality.

What Castro said:

"Favour is a freakish athlete that has a nose for the ball. She attacks the rebound like few I have ever seen," associate head coach and offensive coordinator Fred Castro said. "Her combination of power and speed makes her a tough matchup at 6-3. She can blow by defenders or bully weaker ones."

She sounds like she has alot of good tools, at a minimum she will be a huge rebounder and a great athlete, she barely jumped to dunk a football. Purcell and Castro did a good job recruiting Okot here and no one knew who she was so I trust that we got another steal in Favour.

[jdelta02]

I can tell you w/o knowing probably not good BUT anyone scoring 36 points with 26 rebounds has the "it factor".

28 rebounds😊

[jdelta02]

I recently read an article where it was indicated that Okot was primarily playing against these university teams as well before signing with Miss. State. Good competition, many players from the FIBA national teams, ect go to these various universities. Coach Schaefer took Miss. State women's basketball team to the World Universities Games back in 2019..a team with Jessika Carter, Rickea Jackson, Yemiyah Morris, Jazzmun Holmes, Sidney Cooks, Xaria Wiggins, JaMya Mingo Young, Aliyah Matharu, Andra Espinoza -Hunter, and others..and they pretty much were in tough battles game in and game out. They were in really tough down to the wire battles with the asian teams especially. They beat Japan in a tough battle to advance to the finals against Australia. Then blown out by a loaded team from Australia in the championship game to win the silver. The pool of players that participate on these World University Games teams come from these various university teams internationally including the US and Canada. A good bit of the teams that Favour plays against are very similar to the Japanese team that Miss. State barely got by in 2019 except not stacked or as stacked with select players.

Coach Schaefer spoke throughout the tournament on how tough these university teams were, especially Australia (stacked handpicked roster) and how unprepared his team was, including short amount of time to prepare..

[basedog]

I think Purcell has recruited pretty good this year. I’m not sure his team chemistry wasn’t all that good. In Basketball, that is very big with 5 staters and 12 or 13 players.

[NCMSTFAN]

I think Purcell has recruited pretty good this year. I’m not sure his team chemistry wasn’t all that good. In Basketball, that is very big with 5 staters and 12 or 13 players.

He's done a pretty good job replacing needs in the portal and adding a top 10 Freshman class. I think we will have a solid team. We also have another top class in the making coming next year. 247 has our 2026 class as #4 in the Nation:

https://247sports.com/season/2026-wo...lteamrankings/

So before people bash Sam too hard about "supposedly being a good recruiter" He is showing that he's one of the best, he may not have hit the portal as hard this year, but he is bringing in top High School talent and really good International talent, his hardest thing now is just keeping them at State (everyone is struggling with this) and coaching them up. Some people aren't huge fans of Purcell, some love him.

[CaptainObvious]

He's done a pretty good job replacing needs in the portal and adding a top 10 Freshman class. I think we will have a solid team. We also have another top class in the making coming next year. 247 has our 2026 class as #4 in the Nation:

https://247sports.com/season/2026-wo...lteamrankings/

So before people bash Sam too hard about "supposedly being a good recruiter" He is showing that he's one of the best, he may not have hit the portal as hard this year, but he is bringing in top High School talent and really good International talent, his hardest thing now is just keeping them at State (everyone is struggling with this) and coaching them up. Some people aren't huge fans of Purcell, some love him.

Seems Sam is recruiting well. But don't put much stock in that 2026 recruiting ranking. The 3rd place team has three 3 stars, State has two 4 stars and everyone behind State just has 1 recruit. Long way to go on that recruiting cycle.

Let's see if he has gotten better at "coaching".

[NCMSTFAN]

Seems Sam is recruiting well. But don't put much stock in that 2026 recruiting ranking. The 3rd place team has three 3 stars, State has two 4 stars and everyone behind State just has 1 recruit. Long way to go on that recruiting cycle.

Let's see if he has gotten better at "coaching".

Why shouldn't I put much stock in the 2026 ranking? I'm well aware that its only 2 players but to start the class with 2 four star top 100 girls is a really good start. We are also in on several other high recruits for 2026 to include Lola Lampley who is Jaylah's sister. She is rated as the #20th best player in the nation regardless of position. The 2026 class will turn out to be a good class even if we only sign another player or two.

I do agree about the coaching, I won't say he's a bad coach because he isn't but he definitely has some improving to do.