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'July is important': Bridgette Gordon proctoring first offseason as FAMU women's basketball coach
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- 'July is important': Bridgette Gordon proctoring first offseason as FAMU women's basketball coach
This time last year, Bridgette Gordon was an assistant coach on New Mexico State's women's basketball staff .
However, on July 28, 2023, Gordon was hired as Florida A&M's head women's basketball coach after only a month and a half with the Aggies.
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With a short turnaround between her hire and the Rattlers' season tipoff, Gordon had to make do with what she had.
Gordon coached her inaugural FAMU women's basketball team of inherited players and walk-ons to its first Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament appearance last March , breaking a five-year drought of Rattlers' postseason play.
Now, in her first full offseason with the Rattlers, Gordon oversees a six-week program synonymous with FAMU's Summer B courses.
Starting on June 26, FAMU began eight hours of weekly training, with four hours reserved for basketball activities and four for strength and conditioning, with the Rattlers' Director of Sports Performance, Cole Forney .
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"July is so important. This is a month I didn't have with the young ladies last year," Gordon said.
"It's just about getting to know each other and learning familiarities. I keep emphasizing to them every day that we're in the oven ― we're cooking, baking. The best is yet to come."
FAMU women's basketball will have a new-look roster for the 2024-2025 season.
This offseason allowed Gordon her first recruiting cycle as she netted seven new players with transfers from the junior college to Power Four ranks.
So far, so good for the newbies, Gordon says.
"Their impact has already been felt," Gordon said of the FAMU newcomers.
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"Observing practice, you can see a whole different atmosphere. You can already see their bond with each other. It's all positive energy. They're so transparent and authentic."
FAMU lost its star point guard and the SWAC's 2023-2024 Player of the Year Ahriahna Grizzle to graduation.
So, Gordon searched for prospects to fill Grizzle's void and landed the "smallest and mightiest" person on her team in former Chipola College point guard Tahnyjia Purifoy .
Purifoy was an All-American Honorable Mention for National Junior College Association Division I after averaging 19.2 points and 6.6 assists for the 24-8 Chipola Lady Indians.
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Gordon classifies Purifoy, nicknamed 'Lil Mama,' as a "floor general" and has identified the transfer as FAMU's leader moving forward.
"It means a lot coming from Coach Gordon being at the level of basketball she's been on," said Purifoy, a junior. "Since day one when she recruited me, she told me that would be a priority."
After a turnaround season, FAMU women's basketball aims to reach the next level
Tennessee guard Kaiya Wynn (5) drives past Florida A&M guard Olivia Delancy (30) during a game between Tennessee and Florida A&M in Knoxville on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
FAMU women's basketball broke the ice last season in its first season under Gordon's tutelage.
The summertime grind sets the framework for continued growth when the Rattlers open their season on Nov. 4, hosting the Howard Bison. FAMU delves into its SWAC schedule in Jan. 2025.
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"We're coming for the SWAC this year," said Olivia Delancy , FAMU's shooting guard who placed second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game last season.
"We're working hard already in the summer. And we're only going to get better."
The new SWAC basketball schedule is women playing on Thursdays and Saturdays and men playing on Mondays and Saturdays, starting in 2024.
Gordon believes the SWAC's modifications are a nod to women's basketball's growing popularity.
The FAMU coach also hopes the change will help the Rattlers' attendance. She said she'll get her team in the community and encourage them to be classroom models to strengthen fan interest in FAMU women's basketball.
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"I think they were thinking about the platform the women's game has been on," Gordon said of the SWAC's new basketball schedule.
"The most disappointing thing was us averaging the least amount of people in our home crowd. We need to fill the seats of this beautiful Al Lawson Center . So, everybody come out and raise the roof."
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee .
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Basketball: Rattlers coach Bridgette Gordon overseeing 1st offseason
