Ole Miss has lived up to McPhee-McCuin’s ‘No Ceilings’ mantra. But it hasn’t always been easy.
Yolett McPhee-McCuin is no longer chasing hypotheticals as Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach.
She’s got stripes.
And scars, too.
The program battle cry since she arrived five years ago has been ‘No Ceilings,’ and she’s certainly lived up to it. Ole Miss went 14 seasons without reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels, under McPhee-McCuin, have now danced in back-to-back seasons, including their 11th all-time Sweet Sixteen appearance in the spring. Their 11 SEC wins last season tied a program record.
Put simply, McPhee-McCuin, both on and off the field, has more than earned her place in the top-tier of coaches in her sport. The contract extension she signed in the off-season, which pays her Top 10 money, is proof enough.
But defining for McPhee McCuin — as she discussed Thursday at the SEC Tipoff ’24 in Birmingham, Alabama — were her early Ole Miss years. The Rebels are 79-75 in her five seasons. They’re 48-18 in the last two.
“My character got tested in Year Two with the 0-16 season,” McPhee-McCuin said. UNC transfer Kennedy Todd-Williams and veteran Rebel forward Madison scott joined McPhee-McCuin at the SEC’s annual league-wide event. “I had to decide my reason for doing what I do. Was it for the wins? Or was it for helping young people? It’s okay to be for both, because I’m a competitor at heart.
“That allowed me to focus on building my zest, my character. It allowed me to go back to the drawing board time after time after time. If you looked at that year, we would play one team, lose maybe by 20 or 30 points, then we would play them again and lose by 10. I felt Year Two was my best coaching year.
“Those (early) teams were incredibly unforgiving with me. I appreciate them for it. It’s has made me self-reflect and has also made me and my staff say, ‘What are we going to need to go to the next level?’”
