Ole Miss had a point guard crisis and turned to Madison Scott as a mid-season fix
When plans go out the window for team early in a season the damage control is compounded with the fact there is no downtime or offseason to regroup. This is the issue Ole Miss faced in late November.
Six games into the season Rebels head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin saw one of her three key transfers, and starting point guard, KK Deans suffer what became a season-ending knee injury.
Over the remainder of non-conference play McCuin and her staff tried to find the right formula to replace Deans but after trying freshmen guards and other rotation combinations she turned to her seasoned veteran.
Forward Madison Scott is not your prototypical point guard but for Ole Miss she has become their stop-gap for the rest of the season and results have been progressively positive two games into Southeastern Conference play.
Shifting from her role as a power forward to running the offense is not something McCuin wanted to ask of Scott but likes what the move causes for opposing teams.
“I’ll tell you one thing, she’s a nightmare for coaches,” McCuin said on Tuesday. “We have not had a coach yet and not talk about Maddie being at the point. Maddie loves playing at the point (but) we got to get her to understand, ‘You’re just playing the point. If you have someone smaller than you go post them up.’ …She’s loving the fact she hasn’t had to do that as much but that is a part of her game. She doesn’t look like she’s struggling.”
In the first two SEC games against Alabama and LSU, Scott averaged 12.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game. Against the Tigers she had a season-best eight assists.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Olivia Miles to transfer
ND star forgoes WNBA draft
- 2New
Fran Brown
Syracuse HC blasts NCAA
- 3
Elliot Cadeau
UNC transfer commits to Michigan
- 4
Bruce Pearl
Johni Broome injury update
- 5Hot
Kim Caldwell
Gets extension from Tennessee
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Related: Both Ole Miss programs continue to trend towards meaningful basketball games in March
Scott gets her next game at the point on Thursday when Ole Miss hosts Auburn looking for a second straight SEC win.
The Rebels missed out on a Top 10 win over LSU this past Sunday but can bounce back with two prime chances this week, starting with the Tigers followed by a trip to Mississippi State on Sunday.
In the transfer portal era it is becoming common place for players to jump teams and then face their former team the following season.
This is the case for forward Kharyssa Richardson as she takes on her former team in Auburn. Richardson acknowledged the first game against former teammates will be “intense,” but McCuin is not worried about it from a coach’s perspective.
“It’s not a big thing for me but I think it’s a big deal for players,” McCuin added. “I don’t know that is is normal, yet. They still leave somewhere. That’s like breaking up and you got your new ‘boo’ and you want to show them off. I think for her she wants to play well. For us it’s just as an important game for us as it is for Auburn. They’re coming off a two-game skid. We just lost a game and we don’t want a two-game skid. There’s a lot on the line as far as we’re concerned and that’s how we’re going to look at it.”
Ole Miss (11-4, 1-1 SEC) and Auburn (11-4, 0-2) tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
