Jordan Dupuy is in his fourth season as the Northwestern State head women’s basketball coach, looking to continue adding bigger numbers to the win column.
The Lady Demons saw an increase in wins from year two to three of the Dupuy era, after a 13-win season and trip to the Southland Conference Tournament in his first season, the team’s fifth appearance in a row at that time.
In his first two seasons, Dupuy coached the first Academic All-American in program history and coached a school single-season record holder.
In the 2017-18 season, Libba Gilliam set a school record by sinking 94.9 percent of her free throws (56-for-59). Gilliam’s accuracy would have ranked second nationally had she had enough attempts to qualify.
Dupuy’s first season at the helm of the Lady Demons included their fifth straight trip to the Southland Conference Tournament and a program first as senior guard Beatrice Attura became the 15th CoSIDA Academic All-American in school history.
Dupuy and his staff helped Attura raise her game on the court and earn her first-team All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana honors.
In almost a decade as an assistant coach, Dupuy earned quite a reputation as a tireless recruiter and talent developer.
Dupuy added a new title to his name May 9, 2016, becoming the eighth head coach in Northwestern State women’s basketball history.
“The consensus was that Jordan Dupuy would be an excellent fit for our athletic program, university and community,” NSU Director of Athletics Greg Burke said. “He will be a quality leader for the young women in our basketball program.”
Dupuy came to NSU after eight seasons at Southern Miss, the final three of which were spent as the associate head coach on coach Joye Lee-McNelis’ staff.
During his time on the Lady Eagles staff, Dupuy helped lead Southern Miss to back-to-back Women’s NIT appearances (2014, 2015). With Dupuy on staff, the Lady Eagles reached the Elite Eight of the 2015 WNIT.
One season earlier, Dupuy aided the Lady Eagles in a school record-tying 27-win season that culminated in Southern Miss’ first national postseason appearance since 2007-08.
Dupuy spent the first five seasons of his second tenure at Southern Miss as the first assistant on Lee-McNelis’ staff. In Dupuy’s first season with the Lady Eagles, Southern Miss won 20 games and reached the Conference USA Tournament championship game.
Dupuy is a two-time graduate of Southern Miss, earning a bachelor’s degree in coaching in administration in 2002 and earning his master’s degree in sports administration a year later. Dupuy completed each degree with a 3.7 grade point average.
Dupuy began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Southern Miss men’s program in 2002. He was the director of basketball operations during the 2003-04 season and helped the program transition from the James Green era to Larry Eustachy’s tenure.
After spending the next four years coaching boys basketball, girls basketball and softball at three Mississippi high schools, Dupuy returned to the college ranks, joining the women’s staff at his alma mater.
Dupuy threw himself into various facets of college coaching, establishing a stellar reputation as a recruiter.
He helped Southern Miss land a pair of top-70 recruiting classes, including the nation’s 42nd-ranked group in 2013. Dupuy also helped Southern Miss land a pair of top-100 national recruits during his tenure.
Dupuy’s recruiting efforts mainly were focused in Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and junior colleges located east of the Mississippi River.
Dupuy did more than just recruit well. He helped develop players once they arrived in Hattiesburg.
In eight seasons, Dupuy tutored 11 All-Conference USA selections, four All-Conference USA Freshman Team picks, three All-Conference USA Defensive Team selections and two C-USA Newcomers of the Year.
Included among those players was Jamierra Faulker, who became the No. 34 overall selection in the 2014 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky.
In 2015, Kenny Kallina Scouting named Dupuy the top assistant coach in Conference USA, citing in part his recruiting prowess.
Dupuy’s attention to student-athletes’ classroom participation dovetails nicely with Northwestern State Director of Athletics Greg Burke’s pillar of classroom performance.
With Dupuy on staff, Southern Miss women’s basketball student-athletes produced a 100 percent graduation rate for those who stayed four years in the program.
Dupuy was the Lady Eagles’ program liaison with the academic department, monitoring both student-athlete academic progress and the program’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) performance.
Dupuy has two children - a son, Alex (13), and a daughter, Madison (11).
