The process of bringing Victoria Vivians back to Mississippi State women’s basketball actually began a decade ago.
Sam Purcell, now MSU’s coach, was an assistant at Louisville at the time. He recalled Thursday when he tried to recruit Vivians to play at Louisville but failed. What resulted was one of the most decorated careers in MSU program history. She was a four-time All-American from 2014-18, led the team to four NCAA tournaments and two national championship game appearances.
Vivians, 29, is still playing in the WNBA for the Seattle Storm but just began a new offseason position as an MSU assistant coach and director of scouting. The hiring was announced in June and her first day was Tuesday.
“I told her I see a rising star,” Purcell said. “And that’s what I want for her, is when I hired her, is, one, get back to my young women, but just like people did for me and my mentors, let me get back to you. Because at one time, I’m going to eventually — and I got a lot of years ahead of me — stop coaching, and she’ll be that next generation. She’s going to be that next star, and I’m glad that she’s able to come back to her alma mater and give back to these young women.”
There are three aspects where Vivians can help Mississippi State, Purcell said.
“What great recruiting opportunities for me that when I call, they know that she’s on staff,” he said. “She’s a great connector for my young women on the team that when we talk about playing for championships and getting to deep Final Four runs, she did that. But she’s also a great connector for life.
“The first thing that always everybody told me was that her nickname was the queen. So listen, there’s two queens that I know of: Beyonce and Coach V, so I’m fortunate to get one of them.”
Victoria Vivians is part of a revamped Mississippi State coaching staff
Purcell enters his third season as Mississippi State’s coach. The Bulldogs reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 but missed last season with a 23-12 record.
The Bulldogs hired three new assistant coaches in addition to Vivians. Fred Castro is the associate head coach and offensive coordinator; Anita Howard is an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator; Samantha Williams is an assistant coach.
Castro and Howard were most recently head coaches — Castro at Eastern Michigan and Howard at Georgia Southern. Williams was an assistant at Tennessee but wasn’t retained when Kellie Harper was fired in April.
“Automatically, I’m a better head coach because now they understand what they can take off my plate,” Purcell said. “They understand how the small things are really big things.”
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Mississippi State also has five transfers and three freshmen, but leading scorer Jerkaila Jordan returns for a fifth season.
“I feel like the chemistry is good on the court,” she said. “And to help strengthen the chemistry, we take team trips off the court just to make sure we know each other’s ins and outs, we know each other’s tendencies, we know how to communicate with each other.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State women’s basketball: Star Victoria Vivians on staff
