It’s been more than a month since ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith made some comments about Ole Miss and certain players not wanting to play in Oxford, Miss.
Those comments didn’t sit well with a vast majority of people affiliated with Ole Miss, including women’s basketball coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin.
“I’m tired of the whole narrative, Stephen A. Smith and all these people coming in and making all these false narratives about Oxford and Oxford, Mississippi,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I live here every day and at some point, they have to be comfortable with knowing that Ole Miss has evolved. Whatever it was in the past, it’s not.”
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Most people know about the history of Ole Miss and what people like James Meredith went through. That left a lasting image of Ole Miss in many people’s heads that isn’t true. McPhee-McCuin agreed with a reporter’s question asking if Ole Miss was, basically, being punished because of its past.
“Yeah, absolutely. Why else would you treat us the way you treat us?” McPhee-McCuin said. “We’re being penalized for things that have…we’re in the Southeastern Conference, okay? I was born in the Bahamas, but I know my American history, okay? I know the teams in the Southeastern Conference, and I know the backgrounds that they have had. I know the schools that just moved Confederate flags maybe only 10 years ago from their state capitol building.
“It frustrates me because you have people that have these platforms that are saying that people of color don’t want to be in Oxford. Well, what are you saying about me? My whole team is of color, you know? I’m of color. My family, we love it here.”
McPhee-McCuin also had a message directly for Smith.
“You use your platform, Stephen A., because you’re controversial, and I love his stuff. I crack up every time, but I’m going to use my platform, and my platform may not be as big as yours, but there’s legitimacy in what I’m saying,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I’m saying we live in a world right now that there are all kind of racial disparities that are unfair all over, and don’t try to make it seem like it’s at all missed, and don’t create a narrative that’s not true.
“I was off social media at the time when he made that comment, but I was really upset, and I had a whole video in my drafts, but I didn’t release it because I knew people would throw up the past in our face. But I’m telling you, I’m here now, and I’m proud to be here. My players love it. We love it.”
