All-SEC Guard Jerkaila Jordan announces return to Mississippi State for final season
One of the SEC’s best players will spend one final season in Starkville playing for the Maroon and White.
Mississippi State announced on Tuesday that All-SEC guard Jerkaila Jordan is back for a final run with the Bulldogs in 2024-25. The announcement comes on the heels of State’s selection to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on Sunday as MSU will be playing at Humphrey Coliseum beginning Thursday night.
“I can’t even put into words what Mississippi State means to me,” Jordan said. “I am grateful for the relationships and memories that I have made here with my teammates, the staff and our fans over these last three seasons. I decided to use my fifth year to come back and finish what I started here, to leave a legacy and to help lead a team that has that same mindset.
“I know that Coach Purcell is building a special program here and we have a lot of goals still to achieve.”
Jordan’s return is huge for coach Sam Purcell’s vision of getting the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament next season. The New Orleans native is in the middle of, easily, her best season at MSU.
This season saw Jordan notch her career-high at MSU with 15.7 points per game and 5.9 rebounds in 33 games to this point. She led the team in points and steals this year as she’s already equaled her total of swipes with 72. Her 519 points scored are over 100 more than she’s scored in either of the first two seasons on campus.
As a senior, Jordan made 92-of-116 (79%) from the foul line and hit 44% of her field goals. Her work on the court has led MSU to a 21-11 record overall after an 8-8 finish in SEC play. She was named second-team All-SEC for her efforts.
Jordan has scored 1,307 points in her three seasons in Starkville and has a chance to run that total up next season as she returns for her fifth year in college and her fourth with State.
“Jerkaila Jordan’s decision to use her fifth season and return to Mississippi State is a statement to the special person, player and competitor that she is,” Purcell said. “She is invested in what we are building here and her teammates’ success both on and off the court. We are getting a great leader and teammate back in our program, who is excited to achieve every goal that we have set from day one.”
In her career, Jordan has already played for four different head coaches at two schools. She began her career at Tulane where she was the AAC Newcomer of the Year as a true freshman and All-AAC first-team honors after racking up 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals a game.
She transferred to play for MSU’s Nikki McCray-Penson before Doug Novak took over as interim head coach in 2021-22. Purcell has coached Jordan the last two seasons.
It’s good news for a State team that is hoping to end the season strong. The Bulldogs have lost six of the last seven games heading into postseason play after moving to a 20-5 start on the year and 7-3 in SEC play.
Earlier on Monday, State had a player that has decided to move to the transfer portal and leave the Bulldogs. Purcell told the media that junior forward Nyayongah Gony has decided to enter the transfer portal. The former Miami transfer played in 19 games with two starts and averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds.
