Coastal Bend College

"ll in love with basketball many, many years ago. When I came to CBC, I had very high hopes, as Coach Pursewell assured me that I would be a key part of his program. His assurance was short lived and as a result, I found myself in a very unsafe and hostile environment. I am not a disrespectful person. It was instilled into me to always show respect and be appreciative where my coaches and educators are concerned. I have been fortunate to play for coaches that impacted me in a positive way. I dealt with the discouragement of coaches that were mediocre. Then, I played for coach Nate. I once came to him regarding a difference that I had with another teammate. Instead of neutralizing the situation, I was told "I don't want to deal with your drama, and to keep it out of the circle". Let me be clear that feeling safe is not something you encounter at CBC, and I am not speaking of the location. It is the teammates that make you feel unsafe. There was one occasion during the 22-23 season where an actual fight broke out, not an argument, but an actual fight. One of the players was being choked by another player, and she almost fell from the second story balcony in the dorms. When another player tried to come to her aid, she was hit in the face and sustained a black eye. Be mindful that the player that initiated the fight is VERY introverted. She literally has NEVER bothered anyone. It was a chaotic free-for-all. I did not attempt to break it up. She was in a rage, so I did not want to compromise my safety. The bad part was that there were really no disciplinary measures taken. The aggressor was never given the opportunity to tell her side of the story or voice her concerns. She sat out 2 games, and was back on the court. I’m not bitter because she played, I’m bitter because coach Nate didn’t try to get to the root of the problem. Everything was swept under the rug, so as a result, the tension continued to escalate. This is a problem, a real problem. How can a team play together when they harbor so much resentment? What would have happened if the player fell from the balcony? This was a very frightening thing to witness. Why didn’t a meeting as a team take place? Why didn’t our coach enforce a stronger punishment and neutralize the situation? Instead of feeding my desire to play, I stayed consumed with the “what if’s”. I’ve always worked hard, and I take pride in being a player who has a great work ethic. My previous coaches always encouraged me to never stop working. I craved the desire to learn, and they had a passion for teaching. Fast forward to the current day. Imagine working your butt off for a coach that only focuses on favorites instead of building the team. It does not matter to him how dedicated I am, I will never be good enough. Imagine being insulted in front of your peers while the favorites snicker at your humiliation. My excitement I once had before practice suddenly turned into despair. I literally get horrible waves of anxiety, fearing that I might make a mistake that will cause public ridicule. Then I would dread class because the negative energy would spill over to the classroom. I want coach Pursewell to know making me feel bad and insecure about myself will not make me want to play hard for you. Telling me that my hard work is paying off but not keeping your word doesn’t make me want to work hard for you, for the team. I spent countless hours of my day avoiding eye contact with coach Nate because I constantly felt like I was going to cry. I put up a front and made him think I was okay with the way he treated me. The feeling I encountered is indescribable when I was asked by my peers why I didn’t play more. I lost all trust in coach Nate because he talks about players to other players. We have compared stories. Things that were told to him in confidence was passed around to other players. He will never have a team if he does not respect, correct and guide his players. it was also brought to my attention that coach nate did not want to coach us the first half of angelina, he even said it hisself “i should’ve coached the first half that’s on me, but i can’t go back in time i just have to keep moving forward” that’s very upsetting considering it was the sophomores last home game as a cbc player. Coach nate does not care about these incident that’s happens he cares about good reviews so his name doesn’t get tarnished and doesn’t want to lose recruits. instead of bringing us together as a team to talk about it he cares about what makes him look good. He has all the power in the world as a head coach but doesn’t use it to his full potential. i watched a 18 year old girl get bullied by a 23 during the 2021-22 season and nothing was done about it when Coach Purswell knew about it. i think coach nate is an incredible human being just not a good coach i was sold a dream. "

"I played under coach Collins for 2 years. He did not deserve to be the assistant coach, he deserved to be the HEAD coach!! "

"I was fortunate enough to earn a scholarship at CBC through Coach Purswell. I met some life long friends that I will cherish forever. But my time at CBC was anything but pleasant. I was in the worst mental state I’ve ever been in, I was isolated and far from home, I was bullied because of coach Purswell’s lack of discipline within the team, members who clearly didn’t deserve to keep their spot after multiple skipped practices, lies to the coach about where they were, or breaking curfew. Yet these players played over me even when I was at every practice, respectful and hardworking. When I informed coach Purswell that I would not be returning to CBC the next year, but that I still wanted to continue playing he benched me the remainder of the season. I ultimately decided to quit basketball as I knew being recruited elsewhere was very unlikely due to my lack of minutes played and no assistance from a coach who promised he cared. This decision was right for me in the end but I am not the first player whose dreams have come to end after attending CBC, and at this rate I will not be the last. I urge any athlete considering playing at Coastal Bend college to look at his win-loss percentage. This is not the program you go to to win titles or rings. Along with a coach that will look over you to boost his own ego, it is not worth your time, money or effort. "

"Great coach Cares about his players !!! "

"Coach Nate is one of my favorite coaches not only because of how caring he is but because he’ll push you out of your comfort zone when you need it the most. Coach Nate allowed me to become the player that I wanted to become. Not a lot of coaches allow you to do that. Coach Nate also opened my eyes to the kind of player i could be and more! He was there as a coach but also as a mentor outside of the sport. Let’s not forget he’s a great tutor of college algebra! Helped me with my homework multiple times even though I wasn’t his student! "