Cotie McMahon keeps adding lines to a résumé that was already overflowing, and on Sunday she picked up another big one: she’s officially on the Wooden Award National Ballot.
Only 15 players in the country make it this far, and McMahon is now one of them. At this point, it feels less like a surprise and more like the natural next step in a season where she’s been everything Ole Miss hoped for and then some.
The Wooden Award National Advisory Board trimmed the list down to the final group, the players still in the running for the Wooden All‑America Team and the trophy itself.
It’s the kind of recognition that usually goes to players who’ve been building toward this moment for years. McMahon managed it in one season in Oxford.
DOWN GOES 2-SEED VANDERBILT 🤯
7-seed @OleMissWBB is movin' on to the semifinals! pic.twitter.com/SuaF9hgNir
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 7, 2026
That’s been the story all year. Every time you think she’s reached the peak of her impact, another honor shows up. Cheryl Miller Award watch list. Naismith late‑season team. SEC Newcomer of the Year. First Team All‑SEC. Nineteen individual honors and counting.
It’s not noise. It’s confirmation.
And the numbers back it up. Nearly 20 points per game on solid efficiency, plus five rebounds and three assists. Then she raised everything once SEC play hit, which is usually when players fade, not flourish. She’s sitting at 675 points and climbing, already fifth‑most in a single season in program history.
Nineteen games with at least 20 points, tying Bianca Thomas for second‑most ever. That’s not just production. That’s a player reshaping what’s possible for a team in real time.
The Wooden ballot is just the latest reminder of how special this season has been for her and for Ole Miss. Transfers aren’t supposed to settle in this quickly. They aren’t supposed to carry this kind of load while still defending, facilitating, and playing with the steadiness she brings every night.
But McMahon has done all of it, and she’s made it look sustainable, not streaky.
Whether she wins the Wooden or not almost feels secondary. The ballot spot alone puts her in the company she’s earned.
It’s another sign of what Ole Miss has had in front of them all season: a player who didn’t just fit into the program, but elevated it.
John R. Wooden Award 2025-26 Women’s National Ballot
- Raegan Beers – Oklahoma
- Lauren Betts – UCLA
- Mikayla Blakes – Vanderbilt
- Madison Booker – Texas
- Jaloni Cambridge – Ohio State
- Audi Crooks – Iowa State
- Joyce Edwards – South Carolina
- Azzi Fudd – UConn
- Rori Harmon – Texas
- Hannah Hidalgo – Notre Dame
- Flau’jae Johnson – LSU
- Cotie McMahon – Ole Miss
- Olivia Miles – TCU
- Olivia Olson – Michigan
- Sarah Strong – UConn
