Sam Purcell reveals he promised daughters a pool if Mississippi State beat LSU

Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell is going to have to dive into his savings after the Bulldogs’ upset of No. 9 LSU on Monday. In a tradition he started last season, Purcell allows his three daughters to pick one game on the schedule.

If Mississippi State happens to win the game they choose, Purcell has to buy his daughters a gift. They received a trampoline last season after the Bulldogs took down Tennessee. This year they chose the defending national champion Tigers, asking for a pool if their dad’s team were to pull off the win.

They did exactly that, holding on down the stretch to hand LSU its second straight loss, 77-73. Now Purcell has to honor his promise and foot the bill for the bill, but he certainly doesn’t mind.

“I always pick one game on the calendar with them because it’s just hard,” he said Tuesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I’m traveling and recruiting so I try to do the best job I can at home. But we have a lot of fun with it. So they chose Tennessee (last season) and we beat them in double overtime and they wanted a trampoline. So I thought, ‘why don’t we do it again?’ This year I pulled out the schedule and I said, ‘what’s the one game that you are really looking forward to?’ They’re like ‘dad, LSU.’

“I was like, ‘OK, defending national champs. Let’s do it. What do you want if we beat LSU?’ They’re like, ‘a pool.’ I was like, ‘sure, why not?’ So my kids are undefeated right now. They’re loving life. This morning my youngest child, Lily, jumped on the bed right away without brushing her teeth and asked right away, ‘can we add a slide and a diving board too?’ So this is a lot of family fun at the Purcell house right now.”

Mississippi State used a big second half to pull away on Monday, outscoring the Tigers 28-17 in the third quarter to take a 63-57 advantage into the fourth. LSU came back within three points before Darrione Rogers hit the dagger 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining.

Jerkaila Jordan led Mississippi State with 24 points in the win while Rogers chipped in another 19 off the bench. Jordan scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half, including 12 in the third quarter where she went 4-for-4.

It was a rowdy environment all evening and Bulldogs fans have plenty to celebrate. But perhaps nobody came out better in the whole ordeal than Purcell’s daughters, who not only get to see their dad happy, but now get something the whole family will always remember out of it.

Purcell isn’t sure where he’ll go to get the pool build yet, but thanks to the gratitude of the Mississippi State community, he’s already got a few offers.

“I’ve already had like 10 text messages,” he said. “It’s hilarious. That’s why I love this job. There’s special people down here and if they can help, they’ll do it in any way. I’ve got 10 different calls to make this week because my wife was like, ‘they’re not playing. You’re gonna make this happen and it better not be plastic.’ So after the Kentucky game, I’ll work on the financial plan and see if we can’t figure this out.”