Florida A&M went 9-22 last season, but the Rattlers still think they are closer to contending than that record shows.

Florida A&M Rattlers Football Head Coach Bridgette Gordon laid out the theme for 2026-27 at the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Basketball Tipoff Media Day in four words. 

"This year is about unfinished business."

FAMU finished 7-11 in conference play and entered the SWAC Tournament as the eighth seed. Then it beat Bethune-Cookman in the first round, the program's first tournament win ever.

The run ended with a 72-68 loss to top-seeded Alabama A&M, but coming that close to the conference's best gave the team a benchmark it has carried into the offseason.

FAMU kept every player with eligibility remaining, which rarely happens in the transfer-portal era. The SWAC preseason poll still projected the Rattlers to finish seventh among 12 teams. Gordon waved it off. 

"No matter where they pick us, what they say, we're not worried about that. We're not listening to outside noise," she said, as published by the Tallahassee Democrat. "We're going to put our heads down and get to work. So if we can stay healthy, the sky is the limit; I'm going to bet on us."

The backcourt is where the experience sits. Tahnyjia Purifoy and Shaniyah McCarthy were both named to the Preseason All-SWAC First Team. Purifoy averaged 10.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.1 steals last year, and McCarthy added 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Roles are also shifting around them. Cornelia Ellington is expected to take on more as a combo guard, Miya Giles-Jones brings athleticism on the wing, and Brooklyn Swann moves back to guard after spending last season at power forward.

What's ahead for the Rattlers?

Early tests come in non-conference play, including a Nov. 8 road game at Florida State. SWAC play starts Jan. 2 at home against Bethune-Cookman, the same team FAMU beat for its first tournament win.

Furthermore, they have some new additions to the team. The biggest addition is Breasia Coit, the reigning CIAA Defensive Player of the Year, who arrives from Division II Livingstone College. At 6-foot-2, she averaged 13.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks last season. She's expected to fix a clear weakness, since FAMU ranked eighth in the SWAC in rebounding.

Kamryn Grant, a 6-foot guard from Dayton, is the other one to watch. Gordon calls her "the glue" for her ability to play and defend multiple positions.

For a program that just got its first taste of March success, this season is about making the win against Bethune-Cookman a starting point. Gordon and her players believe they have what it takes. Now they have to show the rest of the conference.

Do you think FAMU can outperform its preseason ranking and make a run in the SWAC this year? 

Written by

Zaid Quraishi