Piedmont College Women's Basketball

Purdy, a former standout student-athlete for the Lady Lions herself and a member of the PC Athletic Hall of Fame.  During her more than a decade as the leader of the womens basketball program at Piedmont, Purdy has established herself as one of the most successful coaches in the South at the Division III level standing just outside the top 50 of winningest active coaches in the nation.   After being promoted to the top position on July 12th, 2005, Purdy quickly guided the Lady Lions to back-to-back NCAA postseason appearances and GSAC championships during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.  Adding another NCAA berth and GSAC title in 2011 to bring the head coachs totals for both categories three a piece in her first six seasons on campus, Purdy experienced a milestone victory during the 2010-2011 season earning her 100th career victory as the leader of the Lady Lions with a February 1st decision over Agnes Scott College in the Cave.   Not more than five years later, Purdy would earn her 200th career victory with an 81-60 win over Covenant College at home on January 28, 2015.  With 31 of her 224 career victories coming in her junior college coaching career, all 193 of her victories at the NCAA Division III level have come at Piedmont as the leader of the Lady Lions averaging more than 17 wins per season since taking over the program.   During her time in Demorest, Purdy has amassed an 193-101 overall record for an outstanding .656 winning percentage while also mentoring five GSAC All-Freshmen selections, 21 All-Conference honorees, and more than 60 All-Academic award winners. The Piedmont alum has also coached two GSAC Players of the Year (Nikki Sosebee in 2007-08 & Sada Wheeler in 2011-12) as well as a conference Freshman of the Year (Kayla Duncan, 2005-06) while Purdy herself was honored as GSAC Coach of the Year for the 2007-2008 season.   Purdys second GSAC Player of the Year, Gainesville native Sada Wheeler, was also was the programs first WBCA (Womens Basketball Coaches Association) All-American honoree in the schools NCAA era earning honorable mention during the 2011-12 season.  Under Purdys guidance for three seasons, Wheeler was also a first-team All-South Region selection by D3hoops.com becoming the first such award winner for Purdy as the leader of Lady Lion basketball.   The 2015-16 campaign was Purdys most successful of the teams first four years in the USA South Athletic Conference as the Lady Lions posted a 13-3 mark in conference play to go with a 20-8 overall record, Piedmonts fifth 20-win campaign in the Jamie Purdy era.  With the Lady Lions posting a 14-game winning streak during the season that tied the NCAA Era record, Piedmont was named HERO Sports Team of the Month for January of 2016 after a stellar showing that included a win over top-25 Maryville College in a packed Cave Arena.   Piedmont would finish as the runner-up in both the league regular season standings and conference championship tournament in the 2015-16 season, the best showing for the Lady Lions in their USA South membership thus far.  Additionally, three players would earn USA All-Conference status, the most in a single season for the Lady Lions who saw Mary Kate Rushton take 1st team honors while LeShaunda Jones earned 2nd Team status and Brianna Barrett added Honorable Mention. In its third year as member of the challenging USA South, Purdys team continued to make strides finishing the year with a 19-7 overall record after racing out to wins in 13 of their first 14 contests.  Piedmont won its first five conference contests of the year as well finishing with a 11-5 mark in league play to place in a tie for 2nd in the South Division of the league making a second straight postseason appearance.    Purdys 2014-15 squad also produced a pair of All-Conference performers for the first time since joining the league with local product Brianna Barrett earning a spot on the listing along with teammate LeShaunda Jones.    In 2013-14, Purdy helped her team recover from a disappointing campaign in a strong way leading the Lady Lions to a 17-9 overall record including an 11-5 mark in USA South play.  Purdy also led her team to the programs first appearance in the USA South Championship Tournament after falling short of the 8-team field in the teams debut season in the league.    Piedmont ended the 2013-14 regular season on a three-game winning streak before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the USA South tourney.  However, the squad lost only one to graduation with the departure of Lauren Hamel who scored a season-high 17 in her final game with the team.  Purdy also saw a half dozen Lady Lions earn Academic All-Conference accolades from the USA South as Piedmont has placed no fewer than six on the prestigious list since joining the league.   2012-13 was one of just two losing seasons in the ten-year career of Coach Purdy as her team felt the effect of losing an All-American center and a pair of All-Conference performers.  The Lady Lions finished 2012-13 with a 10-14 overall record but showed promise finishing in the top five of the league in five statistical categories including points scored per game, assists, steals, three-point field goals made, and field goal percentage.   Piedmont saw another 20-win season under Purdys leadership in 2011-12, the fourth such season since the head coach arrived in Demorest to lead the green and gold.  Overall, the Lady Lions went 21-5 including a 13-3 conference mark garnering a national ranking after beginning the season a perfect 12-0 to reach #19 on the ESPN USA Today D-III Coaches Poll after knocking off #12 Greensboro by 12.   The 2011-12 season also saw a Lady Lion named Conference Player of the Year for the second time in Purdys tenor with Sada Wheeler taking the honor as two Piedmont players made the All-Conference list with four more being named to the All-Academic Team.  Purdy also coached her first WBCA All-American award winner in Sada Wheeler and saw a Lady Lion named an All-South Region selection for the first time to add to the seasons individual accolades.   The 2010-2011 season brought a 20-9 overall record (.690 winning percentage) to the womens basketball program at PC as well as the GSAC tournament title care of a dominating 25 point victory in the conference championship game.  A pair of Lady Lions was named to the All-Conference team while five were placed on the leagues All-Academic honor roll in a 20-win season, the programs second such season in the previous four under Purdy.   Taking on their head coachs tough-as-nails mentality, the Lady Lions were also one of the best defensive teams in the nation during the 2010-11 campaign ranking 15th amongst NCAA Division III programs in field goal percentage defense.  It was that commitment to defense that helped the Lady Lions take the countrys #1 ranked team to a five point game in their own building during Piedmonts third appearance in the NCAA National Tournament since becoming a member of Division III in 2003. The 2009-2010 version of the Lady Lions finished the season on a tear winning nine of their last twelve contests on the way to an appearance in the GSAC tournament championship game.  PC also demonstrated their offensive prowess finishing second in the league in field goal percentage shooting just under 40 percent for the season, a mark that was also good for a top 30 national ranking in NCAA Division-III. Purdy came to Piedmont from Middle Georgia College where she served as the head coach for two seasons. After inheriting the junior college program with no players returning for her first season of play, Purdy led the Warriors to the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association championship game in just her second year at the helm. Overall, the head coach tabulated a 31-21 record in her two seasons in Cochran, GA for a winning percentage just shy of .600. Prior to her time at Middle Georgia College, Purdy was the assistant women's basketball coach at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) helping to guide the Golden Stallions to a 21-7 finish during the 2002-2003 season.   Before joining the staff at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Purdy began her coaching career at Statesboro High School where she coached the Blue Devils girls basketball program for two years while attending Georgia Southern University as a graduate student.   In addition to her duties as the head coach of the womens basketball program, Purdy also serves as the director of the Piedmont College High School Hardwood Classic, a high school tournament held annually in the Johnny Mize Athletic Center over the Thanksgiving break.    Having spent time on the camp circuit herself as a staff member of the Lakeview Academy basketball camps, Purdy also just finished up hosting her third summer camp during the off-season as the co-director of the event along with Piedmont Head Mens Basketball Coach Greg Neeley. Purdy earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Piedmont College in 2000 before moving on to Georgia Southern University where she was awarded a Master of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology in 2002. The PC alum was a familiar face around Lady Lion athletics long before taking the reins of the womens basketball program. Purdy earned four letters in basketball at Piedmont under legendary former head coach Charles Cooper while also lettering twice in softball under current PC head coach Terry Martin.     In softball, Purdy won a Georgia Athletic Conference championship while also developing her commitment to defense under Cooper as one of basketballs toughest defensive players.  For her efforts in the green and gold as a student-athlete, Purdy was honored as an inductee to the Piedmont Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Prior to her enrollment at Piedmont, Purdy spent her playing days at Statesboro High School in Statesboro, GA where she was a successful multi-sport athlete playing basketball and softball while also competing for the cross country and track teams throughout her high school athletic career. Purdy and her husband Ben have three daughters together, Jalyn Charlise, Jayci Bailey, and Jansyn Lynette, as well as a pair of sons in Issac and the latest addition, Jerzy Benjamin, born in November of 2013. Coach Purdy Year-by-Year Coaching Records (2003-04 Season to Present) Coach Purdy Coaching Record by School (2003-04 Season to Present) Coach Purdy Career Milestones 100th Career Victory - February 9, 2009 at Spelman (73-68)  200th Career Victory - January 28, 2015 vs. Covenant (81-60) 1st Career Victory as Coach of Lady Lions - November 18, 2005 vs. Texas Lutheran (86-72) 100th Career Victory as Coach of Lady Lions - February 1, 2011 vs. Agnes Scott (69-51)