Mississippi State joins college basketball teams making midseason additions

The Bulldogs announced the signing of France native Melissa Guillet on Monday and she is expected to join the team for the rest of 2025-26.

Mississippi State Head Coach Sam Purcell, Mississippi State Guard Awa Fane (#8), Mississippi State Forward Kharyssa Richardson (#33), Mississippi State Guard Trayanna Crisp (#4) and Mississippi State Assistant Women's Basketball Coach Samantha Williams during the game between the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, MS. | Mississippi State Athletics

A new twist has been introduced into college basketball and Mississippi State is joining in on the action.

Midseason additions isn’t something new, but there has been a significant increase in the number of players joining teams in December. Most notably, that includes Baylor signing James Nnaji who was a 2023 NBA Draft Pick.

There have been others, too, but most of the attention is paid to players who were drafted professionally, but never played in an NBA game.

Mississippi State women’s basketball won’t draw nearly the same amount of headlines for its midseason addition, but it is noteworthy.

The Bulldogs announced the addition of Melissa Guillet from La Roche-sur-Yon, France. She is currently planning to join the Bulldogs for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.

"Adding Melissa this late in the year is an awesome opportunity," Purcell said. "She has been playing the game at the highest level, and her international experience will be huge for us as she joins the program and helps us chase championships."

Guillet, a 6-1 guard with Basket Club La Tronche Meylan, has played in all 13 games of the current season and is averaging17.7 minutes per game, 7.0 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game. She scored a season-high 15 points at a 50 percent clip in her season debut.

Guillet is no stranger to competing in the international circuit, as she played in the 2024 FIBA U18 and 2022 FIBA U16 Women's European Championship and guided Team France to the Championship in each of those. In the 2024 edition of U18's, Guillet averaged 7.4 points and 1.6 rebounds.

Immediate Impact

There are some logistical hurdles Mississippi State still has to clear to bring Guillet to Starkville and it’ll be interesting to see when Sam Purcell puts her into a game for the first time. That will likely depend on how quickly she can adjust to the collegiate game and form bonds with current players.

However, this doesn’t strike me as a “uh oh, we’re in trouble” type of addition. At 13-1 and riding a nine-game win streak into SEC play, the Bulldogs are playing much better than the last-place in the SEC prediction earlier this season.

The Bulldogs also have some experience with international players getting quickly acclimated and significant contributors.

Favour Nwaedozi is from Delta, Nigeria by way of Nishinomiya, Japan. She’s in her first season in Starkville and is already averaging a double-double each game (14.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg).

Again, I don’t think Guillet was signed to fill a glaring need. Rather, she was signed because Mississippi State wanted, to put it simply, be even better than it is right now.