Ole Miss women’s basketball is still more than two weeks away from its exhibition debut for the 2026-27 season, but in some ways the season begins Tuesday.
Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin spoke Tuesday at SEC Tipoff ’27, with Talaysia Cooper, Lauren Jacobs and Jada Richard also representing the Rebels. The three players are also speaking with reporters, and we’ll share their comments separately.
Here’s everything the Rebels’ ninth-year head coach had to say.
Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Head Coach
Opening statement…
McPhee-McCuin: When I heard Tiffany say year nine, I just started to think how lucky I am because, you know, it’s rough out there for coaches. So I’m just really blessed to be in my ninth season at the University of Mississippi. I think a lot of that is credited to my administration for their belief, the staff and players that have joined me for their belief, and basically everybody that had a hand in me being there and being able to sustain at Ole Miss, adopting the four ins, which is believe in, buy in, be all in and locked in. I’m really excited about this season. Obviously, I have great respect for the Southeastern Conference. The depth in our league is self-explanatory. Last year, I think the ninth-place team made it to the Sweet 16 and was ranked 16th in the country. So there’s just a lot of parity, a lot of talent, and I’m excited about taking Team 52 to wherever they want to go this season.
On how this year’s roster is different with 10 newcomers and only two returning players…
McPhee-McCuin: We’ve always had about eight new players because I’m very active in the portal, but this year is different because we don’t have any returning starters. So we have 10 newcomers and two returners that didn’t play a lot of minutes. Basically, I have a brand-new team. The difference is one of the things that I think my staff and I focused on was making sure we diversified the roster. I think we’ll look different offensively, and then hopefully we can maintain the same intensity and what we’re known for defensively. We have height, we have shooting, we have point guard play. We have scorers. We have a little bit of everything, and that’s something that we focused on building with this roster. Another thing with this roster, we’re not as old as we used to be. Ask me in about four months how I feel about that. Usually, I prefer to be old and gray, but sometimes you just get tired of getting on that hamster wheel. So we decided to go a little younger so that we can focus on retention moving forward. And I’m excited. I enjoy coaching them every day.
On what advice she would give herself after struggling during her first two seasons in the SEC…
McPhee-McCuin: Hold on. Hold on, because it was a rough ride. I kind of talked to our staff about that. Anytime you’re taking over a program, when there wasn’t a transfer portal and players couldn’t play right away, we didn’t have all those things. I did it the old-school way, my staff and I. So we kind of just had to believe in what we were doing and just stick to coaching the game as we know it.
On what it takes to remain at one school for nearly a decade in the SEC…
McPhee-McCuin: First of all, I’m proud of that. I consider myself one of the deans of the Southeastern Conference. I think it’s just having an administration that believes in what you’re doing and makes you feel comfortable enough to stay in that space. Most times coaches don’t want to leave. Most times it’s the opposite. So for me, I just feel really blessed that we’ve had an opportunity to still be there. I was thinking about that the other day. Oh my God, I have been at Ole Miss for nine seasons. I hadn’t been anywhere for nine seasons except for my marriage. So I’m really grateful for it. Oxford is home for me. I’m really bought into the community. I’m a part of the community, and I just think it’s a blessing every single day, for sure.
On the team’s word of the year, “RISE,” and what it represents…
McPhee-McCuin: When I thought about the word rise, every year I get a word. So R is resiliency, I is intensity, S is sacrifice and E is execution. When I thought about the word, I was like, OK, what’s next for this program? Five consecutive NCAA tournaments, two Sweet 16s in three years. What’s next for us? The only thing we can do is continue to level up. The word rise just stuck with me. Really, it has nothing to do with the outcome. It’s just a process every single day for my young women to focus on being their best selves. No ceilings is our motto. So there are no ceilings for what we want to accomplish. The only thing we can do is continue to rise. That’s why the players come to our program, and that’s what the word in its essence means.
On her relationship with Jada Richard and why she recruited her out of the transfer portal…
McPhee-McCuin: I recruited Jada out of high school, and she chose to go somewhere else. So for me, it was a no-brainer once she got in the portal that I would want to recruit her, just because I believed in her before she even got to college. Obviously, we hadn’t had a chance to communicate in those two years, but it felt like we just picked up where we left off. I enjoy having her. This is a different role for her coming here with us. So I’m excited about that. I’m excited about growing with her. With the five-for-five rule, she has three years. So to me, she’s still kind of young, and she’s definitely PG1. She’s the leader of the team, for sure.
On the biggest lesson she’s learned during her nine years at Ole Miss…
McPhee-McCuin: You’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are. Just stay even-keeled. Sometimes when we have a big win, everybody loves you. And then if you don’t, the energy shifts. But I can say this. At first, I thought that was the lesson, but that’s not really the biggest lesson. My biggest lesson is be where your feet are and love the place that you’re at. I just love being in Oxford. Honestly, if I’m being fair, they treated me the same even when we were losing. The community really wrapped their arms around me. One or two trolls, but that’s just a part of it in our new world. Other than that, it’s just been a lot of support. I’m just really happy that I’m at Ole Miss, and I think that would be the biggest lesson. Don’t get too high or too low, but also be somewhere where they believe in you.
On competing against South Carolina and how her relationship with Dawn Staley has evolved…
McPhee-McCuin: It’s been great. I see her as a mentor on most days, except for when we compete. I was thinking the other day, out of the 16 teams, there are only two I haven’t beaten, and she’s one of them. So she knows every time the ball goes up in the air, we want to win. But she’s the standard as far as I’m concerned. She’s been pretty consistent. She’s reached out. We talk all the time. Now I consider her a friend. At first, there was no friendship. I was little sis. But definitely now there’s a friendship.
On selling Ole Miss’ success to recruits while emphasizing community involvement and personal development…
McPhee-McCuin: The first thing is, when people consider us, I was talking to Coop the other day, and I said, “When you went in the portal, what schools did you consider?” And I don’t know, she was gassing me up, but she said, “Honestly, Coach, I just thought about you. I’ve seen the work.” So the proof is in the pudding. We’re kind of up-and-coming, but not. We’ve been consistent. Like I said, five winning seasons in a row, 20-plus-win seasons, two Sweet 16s. Look at the math. Not a lot of teams are doing that, and it’s very hard to sustain in this era. So when people think about or consider Ole Miss, they think about success. They think about the WNBA. They think about going pro. They also find it intriguing that they get to work on who they are as women by being in the community, by leading, by giving back and making sure that it’s not just about basketball, but it’s the total person. And for that, I’m proud.
