Mississippi State coaches have eyes on Starkville standout PF Jada Gay

There was a time where Jada Gay felt like her basketball career might not be in the cards.

After going down with a torn ACL in the middle of the playoffs her sophomore season, Gay was devastated. Her journey back would be a tough one and it wasn’t without some rusty moments last season. Naysayers didn’t believe she was cut out to be a star, but the Starkville forward proved them wrong during this year’s postseason.

Nearly one year after tearing her ACL, Gay went to work in the Class 7A, Region 2 championship at Tupelo. Gay took off her knee brace and played for the first time and the response was a 34-point showing on the way to a district title.

“Everybody used to doubt me when I had that brace on. People would say on social media that I shouldn’t be playing and talked bad on my name,” Gay said. “When I finally came out of that brace, I wanted to show people that I was ready. My mom was there for me and there were some days that I came to her crying because of the things being said about me. Basketball and my mom got me through that. It was time to show everybody that I wasn’t what they were saying.”

Strong finish to junior season sets tone for Gay

Gay finished her junior year with 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, but her playoff run showed a player that is hitting her next step. The removal of that knee brace was the opening of the floodgates in Gay’s basketball journey and it’s been a ride from there.

After helping shut down one of the top sophomore post players in the country in Biloxi’s Zaniya Johnson in the state semifinals, Gay scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in a heartbreaking overtime loss against Tupelo.

Even with the loss, Gay set the stage for what’s to come this year and beyond. The two-time Starkville Daily News All-Area member now readies for a special senior year and offers and interest from around the country are coming through for the talented forward.

“It’s been real crazy,” Gay said of her last few months. “I haven’t expected to blow up like this, especially after my surgery. It’s just crazy seeing how all of this is coming together. It was a battle, but I feel like I’ve gotten over the hump and I’m hitting my stride.”

So far, Gay has picked up offers from Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Jackson State, Chicago State, Austin Peay, Howard University, Charlotte and many others. That’s just the beginning of what appears to be unfolding.

SEC schools are beginning to take notice of the talent that Gay possesses with Alabama and Ole Miss in contact, and the hometown school is making a run as well. Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell saw Gay in person at an event earlier this month and had his antennas raised. It led to the coach inviting the talented athlete on campus this week for a visit.  

“It was very fun. My experience was great,” Gay said of his State visit. “My brother went to Mississippi State so for him to go there and me possibly getting a chance, it would be awesome. My family was there and loved all of it.

“We just got to know the staff really well and even went and ate lunch with them. They made me feel like it was home they told me about the family aspect and how they’ll be there for me. They won’t just be like coaches, I can come to them any time and talk to them about anything. I loved it.”

The brother Jada speaks about might be familiar to State fans – it’s former Bulldog linebacker Willie Gay. A Starkville standout himself, Gay made big plays during his time with State and then was drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs where he won two Super Bowls with the team.

Now with the Miami Dolphins, Willie hasn’t stopped following his sister’s progress. He went through a hectic recruiting process of his own but he continues to give his sister some words of wisdom as she goes through her basketball career.

“Mainly his advice to me is that he wants me to be a dawg,” Gay said of her brother. “You see him playing and everybody calls him a dawg on the field and that’s the same mindset that I try to have. He wants me touching the basketball every day and developing my game the best I can.”

It’s been a big summer already for Gay but she’s winding things down on the court. Her AAU team Mississippi ALL-N is going to Arkansas this weekend for a tournament and will wrap up in Chicago next month for the Nike EYBL. Purcell and his staff have already told her they plan to be in attendance to get another look.

While no formal offer has been thrown Gay’s way to this point, the Bulldogs are in heavy pursuit and a strong finish to the summer could do the job. Purcell is intrigued with the versatility but the mentality that Gay plays with on the court has been what has really caught his attention.

“They want to build a relationship right now, but they told me that an offer is coming, and I think I’ll have it before the end of the summer,” Gay said. “They told me that I have a chance to be one of the first to come out of Starkville to Mississippi State in women’s basketball and that I can create my own legacy.”