Mississippi State Commit Lani Smallwood Sparks Albertville’s Stunning Turnaround

This season could be described as a movie for Lani Smallwood and her Albertville High School teammates.

Smallwood transferred schools as a junior this year with her mother, Natasha, taking the job at Albertville. For the previous 10 years, Natasha was coaching at Susan Moore High School and led that program to a 227-70 record with six Area Championships and Sweet 16s, five County titles and Elite Eight appearances, three Final Fours and a State Championship runner up.

2023-24 brought the Smallwood’s a 26-5 record, Area Championship and an Elite Eight in Lani’s sophomore season. Making the move up several classifications from 3A to 7A was going to be tough. Doing it with a program that had won just 10 games the previous two seasons was going to be tougher, but they were up for the challenge.

“The style of play that my mom put in and the determination that she has is the difference,” Lani Smallwood said. “It’s been like that with every team she’s coached. We had so many games that we had to fight back to win and buzzer beaters and that came from my mom believing in them.”

The 2026 Mississippi State commitment helped her team to one of the great turnarounds imaginable. Albertville finished the year 29-4 with a Area 7 championship and an Elite Eight loss to eventual state champion Hoover.

Smallwood finished the year with 23.0 points per game, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 steals and 2.7 assists per game to spearhead the turnaround season. It was a school-record for wins and helped change the culture for good.

“It was really fulfilling. Even after that loss, I just felt fulfilled and we gave it our absolute best,” Smallwood said. “We did something historic that the school had never seen. It was a lot of fun and we built such a great team from the ground up.

“The beginning of the season had a little bit of pressure. Once I got used to it and we got into the season, I felt like me again. I’ve always been an underdog and I’ve never really had that spotlight so I played with a chip on my shoulder all year.”

Smallwood excited for future in Starkville

The mentality and style of play that Smallwood brings to the gym every game is a big reason why State coach Sam Purcell was drawn to her in the first place. The coach had Smallwood on his radar before last summer but got a chance to see her up close at his summer camp.

Shortly after that camp, Purcell knew that he had to have her a part of his program moving forward. Smallwood had picked up Mid Major offers from Samford, Belmont and Murray State, but was virtually unknown to bigger schools. Now, she’s making some noise.

Locked in with the Bulldogs as the first commit of that 2026 class, Smallwood was back in Starkville during the season and visited the game against Ole Miss.

“It was amazing and so much fun as always. It was really cool seeing the atmosphere there and seeing the game day experience that they had. I got a chance to go in the locker room and see Sam fire up the team pregame and really see the coaches in a different light,” Smallwood said.

“I still talk to them so much still and it hasn’t really died down much. We’ve grown our relationship and they’ve gotten to know me more. They had another 20-win season this year so I think he’s doing an amazing job. They had a great fight against No. 1 Texas and it shows that Sam wants dogs in his program. I’m very excited for the tournament and I think the future is bright.”

As the calendar now turns and Smallwood wraps up her junior year of high school, the clock ticks on it being her turn to start a college journey. She also isn’t satisfied with how her Albertville team finished this season.

This summer, Smallwood wants to take that next step as she prepares for the SEC. She’ll spend time playing with her AAU team the Southern Starz and spending plenty of days in the weightroom and gym as she gets closer to becoming a Bulldog.

“Working out a lot, getting stronger and training like I have been. We’re playing a lot of pick up too against guys and I’m working on getting bigger, faster and stronger and taking that to Mississippi State will be big,” Smallwood said. “I’m excited for our senior year. We’re all working so hard and haven’t stopped since the season ended. Everyone is back in the gym and working hard because we know what we have to do.”