Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Coach
- Email:
- samp@GoCards.com
- Phone:
- 852-3840
COACHING RESPONSIBILITY: Associate Coach
YEAR AT LOUISVILLE: 9th
BIRTHDAY: October 5
EDUCATION: Bachelor's Degree (Auburn, '03)
HOMETOWN: Dalton, Ga.
FAMILY: Wife - Meghan; Daughters – Reese, Rylee, Reagan
ATHLETIC CAREER
Two-year letterman on the men’s basketball team at Southern Union State Community College
COLLEGIATE COACHING CAREER
2017-present: Louisville (associate coach)
2013-17: Louisville (assistant coach)
2009-13: Georgia Tech (assistant coach)
2007-09: Georgia Tech (video coordinator)
2005-07: Tulsa (assistant coach)
2003-05: Auburn (video coordinator/administrative assistant)
2000-03: Auburn (student coach)
COACHING HIGHLIGHTS
Sam Purcell has spent the past 19 years climbing the ranks from a student coach at Auburn all the way to an associate coach at Louisville, one of the top programs in the country.
Listed as one of the Top 30 up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches in the country by High Post Hoops and as one of the 50 most impactful division 1 assistant coaches by Silver Waves Media, Purcell is a rising star in the coaching world. He was elected to serve on the 2019-2020 WBCA Assistant Coaches Committee and participated in Next Chair, a professional gathering of the top assistant coaches and administration in the country.
During his journey, the Dalton, Ga. native, has worked under some of the greatest minds in women’s basketball, including Jeff Walz, the current Louisville head coach, Nell Fortner, the former Auburn head coach and current Georgia Tech head coach and 1996 Olympic head coach and Joe Ciampi, the former Auburn head coach for 25 seasons and 2005 Hall of Fame inductee.
In what is already a decorated career, Purcell has been a part of 14 teams that have participated in postseason play. His teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, making one appearance in the Final Four, three in the Elite Eight, five in the Sweet 16, and he was also a part of a WNIT Championship.
In 19 years, his teams have combined to post a 470-189 (.713) record, while posting 13 20-win seasons and three 30-win seasons. He has helped lead his teams to five regular season conference championships and two conference tournament championships.
Purcell served his first four seasons as an assistant coach and was promoted to associate coach by Walz prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
Although a lot of his work is done behind the scenes, Purcell has played a pivotal role in the success of the Cardinals. His game scouts are as descriptive and detailed as there are in the country and they have helped Louisville defeat some of the best teams in women’s basketball, including Stanford, UConn, Notre Dame, LSU, Oregon, Oregon State, Duke, and North Carolina.
In addition to his meticulous game scouts, Purcell also focuses much of his time with game planning, player development and recruiting. He also prides himself on his ability to develop relationships with his players. He understands the importance of being there for a student-athlete whenever his guidance is needed to ensure them that they are successful in the classroom, as well as the basketball court.
In his eight seasons on Walz’s staff, Purcell has helped lead the Cardinals to an impressive 237-43 (.846) record, which is the best eight-year stretch in program history. He has helped guide the Cardinals to a Final Four appearance in 2018, an elite eight in 2014, 2019 and 2021 and six trips to the Sweet 16.
He played a critical role in guiding Louisville to a program-best 36-3 record in 2017-18. That season, the Cardinals opened the year with a 20-0 record, which marked the best start in program history, and following a 100-67 win over Notre Dame, they moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, which then marked the highest rating in program history. Louisville won both the ACC regular season and conference championships, and then in four NCAA Tournament games, they defeated opponents by an average of 27.5 points to advance to the program’s third Final Four.
In addition to team accomplishments, Purcell has had success coaching both guards and post players.
At Tulsa, he played an integral role in developing post player Jillian Robbins, who went on to attain All-America honorable mention accolades, along with being named Conference USA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
At Georgia Tech, he worked closely with guards and had several players earn postseason accolades. Alex Montgomery was named All-ACC First Team, Sixth Player of the Year, ACC All-Defensive Team, and was then the 10th pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft. Tyaunna Marshall was named Associated Press and WBCA All-American honorable mention, All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Defensive Team, ACC All-Freshman Team and Third Team Freshman All-American by the Full Court Press.
While at Louisville, his focus has been on guard play and he had tremendous success with Shoni Schimmel during her senior year. She earned several All-American honors and was the eighth overall pick by the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Draft. He also worked closely with Asia Durr, the second overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty, who was named WBCA All-American as a junior and a senior and twice was named ACC Player of the Year.
Purcell played a pivotal role in the recruitment and development of Jazmine Jones, who became just the fourth player in program history to be selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft when she was picked with the 12th overall pick by the New York Liberty in the 2020 Draft. She was named All-ACC First Team, All-ACC Defensive Team, All-ACC Tournament Team and All-ACC Academic Team during her senior season and played more games than anyone in program history and her senior class is the winningest class in program history.
He also worked closely with Dana Evans who became the second player in program history to win conference player of the year honors multiple times, joining Durr. As a junior, she became the first player in ACC history to be named ACC Player of the Year after being named Sixth Player of the Year the previous season. She is the third WBCA All-American in program history, joining Durr and McCoughtry.
During his tenure, 10 players have been selected in the WNBA Draft, including six in the 2019 (Durr, Arica Carter, Sam Fuehring), 2020 (Jones, Kylee Shook) and 2021 (Evans) drafts, which is tied with Baylor for most in the country.
Purcell has shown the ability to recruit across the globe and has a remarkable talent to connect with elite prospects. On two occasions, with two different teams, he has helped programs land the top recruit in the country. Most recently, it was Durr, who committed to Louisville in 2015, and Kaela Davis signed with Georgia Tech in 2013.
All eight signing classes that Purcell has helped recruit at Louisville have been ranked in the top 15 by ESPN, including the No. 1 class in 2015, No. 4 class in 2017, No. 6 class in 2016 and No. 8 class in 2014. Has helped recruit 13 of 15 McDonald's All-Americans to attend the University of Louisville.
Purcell has a passion for giving back, volunteering in the community and speaking at numerous events, including the FCA and fundraising efforts. He also enjoys sharing his experiences and giving advice to young coaches at the WBCA roundtable at the Final Four.
Purcell is a graduate of Auburn University, 2003.
He and his wife, Meghan, have three daughters, Reese, Rylee, and Reagan.
