Mississippi State adds former Georgia Southern coach Anita Howard to coaching staff
Sam Purcell added a new assistant coach to his women’s basketball staff on Monday as Mississippi State landed former Georgia Southern head coach Anita Howard.
The Alabama native stays close to home as she makes the move over the Starkville after spending the last five seasons leading the charge for the Eagles. She has a 144-55 record in seven years coaching college basketball.
“With over a decade of head coaching experience, Anita Howard is a phenomenal addition to our staff,” head coach Sam Purcell in a released statement. “She embodies all of the qualities of a proven winner; her knowledge of the game, energy and passion for our vision here are undeniable. She is a world-class person, mother, wife and mentor that will prove to be a great resource to our student-athletes and staff. She has grown through the coaching ranks, excelling at each stop, and there is no doubt that her experience and tireless work ethic will make her successful once more here within our program.”
Howard had her best season two years ago when she led the squad to a 21-10 record and produced the most productive year for the Eagles in 20 years. GSU had not had a 20-win year since 2002-03 before she helped the team notch that mark and produced the most wins since 2000-01.
That season marked four-straight years of progress for the coach. She took over an Eagle team that had one just seven games prior to her arrival and they won 10 in her first year, 11 in year two and then finished 18-10 in 2021-22 with the first season over .500 in conference play since 2009-10 when they finished 8-6. Her Eagles were 12-6 in 2022-23 which was the best record since that 09-10 season.
During her time in Statesboro, Howard had teams that were among the top 10 nationally in offense. Her 2021-22 team was fifth in the country with 79.3 points per game and 46.4 rebounds a contest.
Prior to Georgia Southern, Howard was the head coach for Division II Columbus State where she led the team to a 66-25 record over three seasons with two trips to a National Championship and an Elite 8 appearance. The coach also had stops as a head coach at Livingstone State and Salem College coaching Division III basketball.
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“I am very excited to be a part of such a proud program and conference. It is very clear that after I met with coach Purcell that our values and priorities aligned. His passion for this community, program, University and his vision for what we can accomplish here are unmatched. I know that my experience and work ethic will fit right in. I look forward to not only supporting this staff, but continuing to raise the standard here. I am truly blessed to be here and can’t wait to get to work.”
Howard is replacing the vacated spot left by former assistant Corry Irvin who left MSU last week to take the head coaching job at Chicago State. The Bulldogs are also replacing assistant Murriel Page who is expected to be replaced by former Eastern Michigan head coach Fred Castro.
According to sources, Castro is expected to officially be named the Associate Head coach of the Bulldogs this week.
The Bulldog staff is working hard in the transfer portal to turn over a roster that is losing several contributors from this past season. State hosted big names in the portal this week like Kentucky’s Eniya Russell, LSU’s Hailey Van Lith and Penn State’s Lailani Kapinus.
