By Tanner Marlar
When Debreasha Powe committed to Mississippi State out of Meridian High School, she knew she made the right choice. What she couldn’t have known, though, was where that path would take her.
After leading Meridian to a 6A state championship in 2022, Powe was a hot commodity in the recruiting world, especially in the Magnolia State. Standing at 6-foot-1 with a smooth jumper to match, Powe knew that wherever she committed, she could expect minutes, and minute’s she’s gotten.
Those minutes proved to be valuable, but for Powe, the leadership role she’s taken on within the building has propelled her to new heights, namely representing Mississippi State on the 2023-24 SEC Women’s Basketball Leadership Council.
“I feel like I’ve always been a leader, but I’ve really just stepped into [these new roles] and fully embraced it all,” said Powe. “You know, if my teammates need anything, just making sure that I’m correcting them on the court, just leading by example, but also being willing to voice it, too, so that’s been really amazing to just see myself come from my freshman year to now.”
By the Numbers
Powe has started 66 of the 67 games she’s played in during her time at Mississippi State, and since has amassed a laundry list of accolades. From the 2023 All-SEC Freshman team to the 2023-24 Winter Academic Honor Roll, Powe has shown the ability to improve both on and off the court, and the numbers back that up.
Powe shot a respectable 30.2 percent from three point land in her freshman season, but took that number to new heights in her sophomore campaign when she finished the season at 40.8 percent from behind the arc – good enough for one of the best marks in the SEC. Now, coming into her junior season, Powe said the only direction to go is up.
“Basketball wise, of course, I’m still trying to increase my three point percentage because, you know, I was 30-something percent my freshman year and grew that to 40 percent,” said Powe. “I’m trying to get it to 45, 46 percent, because why not? Why not try to be better at that? But I’m also making sure I’m confident in putting the ball on the floor, too, because my scout is that I’m a great shooter, but make her put the ball on the floor, and I’m going to show them that I can do just that.”
With a solid chunk of inherited players graduating this past spring, this is the first year that head coach Sam Purcell’s roster has begun to look truly like his own, and that’s come with some additions to the pace of play, according to Powe.
“This team, I think we have a lot more faster guards, so you’re going to most definitely see us be a transition team,” said Powe. “I think it’s going to be really good to see, but [Coach Purcell] has been really heavy on making sure that, yes, we’re a transition team, but under control. We don’t want turnovers, and he hates turnovers, so that’s what we’ve really been working on.”
With Jessika Carter leaving the program, Powe and company have adjusted to new post players in the rotation, like 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman Rocío Jiménez, 6-foot-6 junior Madina Okot, who boasts a team-best 8’8″ standing reach, or returning 6-foot-5 forward Quanirah Montague. According to Powe, another major focus of this offseason has been getting those bigs out in transition and creating mismatches in which they demand for the ball.
“Your guards can eat when your post players are dominant,” said Powe.
“Basketball is not what I am, it’s what I do.” – Powe
All of that work took place over the course of a busy summer for Powe. The junior forward detailed exactly what she had been up to during the offseason from working with children to staying in the lab.
“Well, this offseason, I’ve most definitely been taking care of myself, really, and working hard” said Powe. “But basketball is not who I am, it’s what I do. So I do this camp every summer where I go over to Missouri, it’s called KAA, Kids Across America, and I go be a counselor to the kids. I go and disciple to them while I’m getting discipled to. It’s just been really great. I got to work with a group of girls, they brought their high school team there, and I was with them for the full week. I taught them basketball three out of the five days, but also implementing God and and just a lot of teamwork, a lot of sportsmanship, a lot of implementing how God uses basketball, so it’s really good to see. It’s beautiful, yeah.”
That’s a powerful sentiment from someone with many a young woman looking up to her, but Powe’s plans for the future are just as clear cut off the court as they are on it. After her playing career is done, Powe says that she is adamant that a career in broadcasting is for her. As Mississippi State’s representative at SEC Media Days, Powe spoke to several people in the broadcasting world about potential internships and even got to do some reporting of her own during the event.
“I look at a lot of reporters like Andraya Carter,” said Powe. “I love watching LaChina Robinson, you know, just what they do before the game, halftime, they’re sports analysts, and that’s what I want to do.”
The Mississippi State women’s basketball season tips off against Memphis on November 7 at 6:30 p.m. from Humphrey Coliseum.
