Yolett McPhee-McCuin has had early discussions with Keith Carter regarding future at Ole Miss
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team is in the latter stages of its best season in 30 years and head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin could be rewarded for it this summer.
A report emerged earlier this week that McCuin and Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter have started an early dialogue about her contract and future with the program.
While speaking with member of the local media on Wednesday before traveling to Nashville for this week’s SEC Tournament, McCuin was asked about that report, but did not reveal any major details.
“(Carter) has expressed to me that he would like us to talk about what the future looks like here at Ole Miss,” McCuin said. “But, that is pretty much the basis of that conversation. As far as that kind of stuff is concerned I’m going to really block that out until the end of the season.
“Everybody knows how much I love Ole Miss. If you know me, personally, you know how loyal I am to people that believe in me and give me a chance. The University of Mississippi has done that.”
The Rebels are coming off one of their best regular seasons in program history with 22 wins overall and only the second time to finish with at least 10 SEC wins.
Due to the success of the regular season the Rebels earned a double-bye in this week’s SEC Tournament after finishing fourth in the SEC standings. They are also firmly inside the NCAA Tournament field according to projections which would end a 14-year drought.
McCuin had one goal this season and that was to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Having seemingly done that in her fourth season and two years removed from a 0-16 SEC record, her vision for what the program’s future looks like will be different when she and Carter meet.
“This is a different job now,” McCuin said. “When I first came the goal was to get the program back to having some respect and I think we’ve done that. Any conversations I have will be where we want to go next here at Ole Miss. Everyone knows I want to win a national championship at some point. That was not my goal when I first came here, so it’s just a different conversation that we will have.
“Keith has been an incredible supporter of me, even when we were 0-16. He never flinched. He never gave me any kind of sign that he didn’t have confidence in me. For that, I appreciate and just looking forward to having those conversations after it’s all said done. But after.”
McCuin received a contract extension that increased her annual salary to $750,000 on the heels of the Rebels reaching the 2021 WNIT Championship game.
