Cotie McMahon picked up two major SEC honors Tuesday and it’s hard to imagine a cleaner snapshot of just how quickly she’s changed things for Ole Miss.
McMahon was named the SEC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All‑SEC by the league’s coaches. One season in Oxford, and she already looks like one of the most impactful players the program has had in years.
McMahon arrived with an already impressive résumé. She was two-time All‑Big Ten First Team, Big Ten Freshman of the Year but transferring into the SEC is still a different kind of test.
Instead of easing in, she immediately became the engine of Ole Miss’ offense. She’s the first Rebel ever to win the league’s Newcomer of the Year award and the first Rebel to make First Team All‑SEC since Madison Scott and Marquesha Davis in 2024.
That’s not just a good debut. That’s a player stepping into a new league and playing like she’s been here her whole career.
Her numbers tell the same story.
McMahon is averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 45.3 percent shooting. She’s been even better in SEC play, putting up 21.0 points per game, second‑best in the conference. She earned SEC Player of the Week three times during league action.
The volume of recognition she’s collected this season is almost its own stat line: 15 awards and watch lists, including finalist nods for the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, and Cheryl Miller Award.
That’s the kind of national attention that usually takes time to build. She did it in a matter of months.
And then there’s the scoring consistency. McMahon has 17 games with at least 20 points, which is tied for the third‑most in a single season by any Rebel and the most since 2009-10. She’s hit double figures in 29 games, also the most by a Rebel since 2009-10. She crossed the 600‑point mark in the regular‑season finale, becoming just the seventh Rebel ever to do it and the first since, again, 2009-10.
When you start showing up in record books that haven’t been touched in over a decade, it says something.
What stands out most, though, is how natural her impact has looked. Ole Miss didn’t have to reshape its identity around her. She just elevated what was already there.
She scores, she facilitates, she rebounds, she plays with pace, and she gives the Rebels a go‑to option in moments when games tighten up. For a one‑year stop in Oxford, McMahon has made it feel like she’s been part of the program’s core for much longer.
Ole Miss heads into the postseason next, but regardless of how March plays out, McMahon’s first season in Oxford already feels like one that will be remembered.
One year, two major SEC honors, and a long list of moments that show exactly why she made such an immediate difference.
2026 SEC Women’s Basketball Postseason Honors
Individual Awards
- Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Karly Weathers, Alabama
- Player of the Year – Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
- Freshman of the Year – Aubrey Galvan, Vanderbilt
- Newcomer of the Year – Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
- Defensive Player of the Year – Raven Johnson, South Carolina
- Sixth-Woman of the Year – MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU
- Coach of the Year – Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt
First Team
- Liv McGill, Florida
- Dani Carnegie, Georgia
- Clara Strack, Kentucky
- Flau’jae Johnson, LSU
- Mikaylah Williams, LSU
- Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
- Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
- Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
- Madison Booker, Texas
- Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Second Team
- Jessica Timmons, Alabama
- Tonie Morgan, Kentucky
- Grace Slaughter, Missouri
- Raven Johnson, South Carolina
- Tessa Johnson, South Carolina
- Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
- Madina Okot, South Carolina
- Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
- Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
- Rori Harmon, Texas
- Ny’Ceara Pryor, Texas A&M
All-Defensive
- Clara Strack, Kentucky
- Madison Francis, Mississippi State
- Raven Johnson, South Carolina
- Rori Harmon, Texas
- Ny’Ceara Pryor, Texas A&M
All-Freshman
- ZaKiyah Johnson, LSU
- Madison Francis, Mississippi State
- Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
- Mia Pauldo, Tennessee
- Aubrey Galvan, Vanderbilt
