One of the top junior college women’s basketball players in the country is coming to Mississippi State.
Northwest Florida’s Destiney McPhaul announced on Monday via her social media accounts that she will be signing with the Bulldogs. McPhaul was in Starkville in March for an official visit and also took officials to Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
This comes on the heels of McPhaul and her Raiders’ team making a run to the National Championship game this season.
That was a game in which head coach Sam Purcell and former assistant coach Corry Irvin attended in person last month. In that 88-80 loss in overtime against Hutchinson Community College, McPhaul dropped a career-high 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting with 10-of-12 makes from the free throw line.
The four-game run inside the NJCAA Division I Championship tournament saw her average 25.5 points per game with three games of 25 points or more.
McPhaul started in all 33 of the games she played this season and averaged a team-best 14.4 points per game in 26.5 minutes. She made 49% of her shots on the year while drilling 36% of her 3-pointers and making 82% from the foul line. The 5’9 guard was third on the team with 4.2 rebounds per contest and led the team with 4.2 assists and 2.1 steals a game.
McPhaul ended the year with the fourth most points in a single season in school history with 475. She became the sixth player in program history to earn first-team All-American honors by the NJCAA after her work this year and she was named the No. 2 player nationally by JUCO World Exposure this season while coming in as the top guard on their list.
As a freshman, McPhaul started in 32 of 33 games and averaged 12.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals a game. She transferred to NWF from Temple where she redshirted her first year on campus. Out of high school, the Philadelphia, Pa., native played her ball at West Catholic and averaged 26 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per contest during her senior season.
With the addition of McPhaul, the Bulldogs are now at 11 roster players for the 2024-25 class including three incoming freshmen. Notable returners are Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe with rising sophomore Quanirah Montague set for a big jump in minutes in the post.
The Bulldogs have added Kentucky’s Eniya Russell out of the portal as well as a Sunday commitment from Chandler Prater from Oklahoma State. There was also news last week of the addition of Kenyan center Madina Okot who brings a 6’6 presence to the team.
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