Photo: Michigan State University Spartans head golf coach Sam PuryearLife coach: The Sam Puryear impact
Photo Gallery: Sam and the Spartans, http://www.golfweektv.com/gallery/SamPuryear
It’s been another frigid winter in central Michigan. Snowfall in East Lansing has been about 14 inches above average, which isn’t good news for Michigan State senior Nate Gunthorpe. The Spartans have putting practice at 6 a.m. three days per week, and it’s a few miles from his off-campus house to the school’s indoor Rearick Golf Complex.
“Waking up, getting snow off your car, warming it up and being there by 6 ready to putt,” Gunthorpe said. “We definitely know why we’re doing it.”
Waiting for Gunthorpe and his teammates is first-year head coach Sam Puryear. Standing 6 feet tall and dressed impeccably in Spartan green, Puryear is a man with a plan. His energy is palpable, and his preparation is relentless. Always approachable and never short on one-liners, Puryear is just nine months removed from his first college coaching job, a 1 1/2-year stint as Stanford’s assistant coach, in which he helped head coach Conrad Ray guide the Cardinal to the 2007 NCAA championship.
Now, as the first black head golf coach in a major NCAA Division I conference, Puryear has the reins of the Spartans, a team that rose into the top 20 earlier this season.
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Mini Bio:
Sam is a 1992 graduate of Tennessee State University. He served three years as the assistant golf coach at Stanford University, winning the NCAA Division I national golf championship last season (2007). Prior to joining Stanford, he served as Executive Director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, GA., where he managed the development of golf instruction and curriculum for an academy serving more than 1,000 youth. Puryear has a proven track record for fundraising, campaigning, and program support.
Samuel G. Puryear Jr. was born and raised in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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