Ole Miss' Cotie McMahon is a 'true players coach' and the SEC Player of the Week

Yolett McPhee-McCuin knew she landed a special player in Cotie McMahon when the eighth-year coach got her to transfer from Ohio State to Ole Miss as the crown jewel this offseason’s transfer class.

There was not much of a concern in what McMahon could do, individually, but it was the task of getting her acclimated to McCuin’s system that she’s spent nearly a decade implementing with the Rebels.

Turns out there should not have been much of a concern, at all. Case in point: McMahon being named this week’s Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week. Her first weekly honor in the SEC after picking up seven weekly honors in the Big Ten (6 Freshman of the Week, 1 Player of the Week).

She is sharing the honor with Alabama’s Jessica Timmons.

McMahon helped lead No. 16 Ole Miss (16-3, 3-1 SEC) to wins over a top-five Oklahoma team on the road in Norman then a 25-point win at home over in-state rival Mississippi State this past Sunday. She scored 22 points to go with four assists and four rebounds against the Sooners and then 21 points against the Bulldogs.

She is now up to 10 games with at least 20 points scored this season and leads the Rebels in scoring with 19.2 points per game.

“Cotie is the ultimate competitor. Everyday she comes in and works,” McCuin said on Sunday. “I just really enjoy coaching her. Her personality is one that is infectious and she is a true players coach for a coach like me. Just someone that is ultra competitive.

“This game (against Mississippi State), she really wanted to come out and do something special for Debreasha (Powe) and Denim (DeShields) and then obviously for where we’re trying to go.”

Ole Miss is once again a Top 20 team and trending towards being one of the top four host seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

McMahon has been part of that success along with a transfer class that was one of the top in the country this past offseason.

With eight transfers this season it is a roster that once again required McCuin to exercise patience until the team started to jel. She always takes the approach of wait until March for her team to play at its full potential, but January is getting off to a strong start.

“You’re going to continue to see us evolve,” McCuin said. “I didn’t realize the challenge that I have until someone brought it up again and said, ‘Do you realize you have a brand new team?’ Sometimes, if you want to do something special, you have to be oblivious to all of that. And this whole time, like I’m not thinking that. But you know, we have a brand new team. …We’re not even where we’re going to be in March. But we’re going to just continue to climb.”