‘Give’: Inside the Spirit Fueling Ole Miss Women’s Basketball’s March Run

MINNEAPOLIS — Every season, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin chooses a word for her Ole Miss women’s basketball team. Not as a slogan for a T-shirt, but a word that defines everything.

This year for Team 51, that word is simple — but powerful: Give.

And as Ole Miss prepares to open the NCAA Tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Friday, that word is not just something written on a board inside the practice facility. It’s actually something almost tangible you can feel when you’re watching them, as I am this week in Minneapolis.

Coach Yo speaking to the fans before heading to Minneapolis!
(🎥@ParksBurcham) pic.twitter.com/9zpJwQ2ulC

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 18, 2026

More Than Basketball

In today’s college athletics landscape — where NIL, exposure, and opportunity have transformed the experience of student-athletes — McPhee-McCuin has challenged her team to think differently.

She’s asked them to give: to give effort, to give energy, to give to each other — and to give back.

Because for Coach Yo, leadership doesn’t start with what you receive. It starts with what you pour into others.

“You know, coaching nowadays can become transactional,” McPhee-McCuin said after her team was selected for its fifth straight NCAA Tournament bid this past Sunday.

“But that’s not why I got into the business. I got in the business so I could be a transformational coach.”

Her mission has always gone beyond wins and losses. It’s about preparing her players for life — for a world where fulfillment isn’t defined by the accolades they achieve, but by the impact they make on those around them.

“So while there is a business side, right, and a lot has changed, there’s still a part of the transformational part that I just enjoy,” she said. “And I just really appreciate Team 51 for allowing me to still hold on to a piece of that.”

And that message has obviously taken root with this team.

A Joy You Can See — And Feel

Being around this group right now, there’s something different. There’s a lightness and a tightness. A connectedness. A genuine joy. (Yes, ‘Joy’ was Team 50’s word last season — but those roots have taken hold and are still growing in Team 51.)

It shows up in the small moments — in the way players interact during practice, in conversations between coaches and staff, in the energy that fills the gym even during routine walkthroughs. I watched practice today at the University of Minnesota basketball practice court, and the words Coach Yo offers are neither forced nor manufactured. They are lived.

“They just got me at a place where my sole purpose is to help them grow and be their best self,” McPhee-McCuin said — as she lives out the word for this season, giving her all to this team. They, in return, are doing the same for her.

From Coach Yo, to her assistants, to the support staff, to every player on the roster, the word “Give” has become part of the culture.

And it shows.

This is a team that obviously celebrates each other and leans on each other. They seem to understand something bigger is at work than just the next game on the schedule.

Fifth Straight — But Not Taken for Granted

Ole Miss enters this NCAA Tournament having earned its fifth consecutive trip to March Madness, a milestone that speaks to the consistency McPhee-McCuin has built in Oxford.

But if you spend any time around this team, you quickly realize something: They don’t act like this is routine. There’s gratitude in the room and excitement in the air. There’s an understanding that this moment — this opportunity — is something to be embraced, not expected.

“The talks we have in our office, the hugs, the tears, the excitement they share when they get internships and all of those things,” McPhee-McCuin said. “The joy that they bring me and my kids and my family every day is something that I really appreciate.”

And that mindset traces directly back to their head coach.

The Test Ahead

On Friday, the Rebels will take the floor against Gonzaga in the first round, beginning what they hope will be a deep March run.

There will be pressure. There always is this time of year. There will be moments where adversity hits and where composure is tested. But if this team has shown anything, it’s this: They will give all they have and they will respond together.

Because that’s what teams built on giving do. They don’t fracture when things get hard. They lean in.

More Than a Word

For Ole Miss women’s basketball, “Give” isn’t just a theme. It’s an identity. It’s in the way they practice, the way they compete and the way they care for one another.

And now, as March begins and the stakes rise, it may just be the thing that carries them forward. Because in a tournament defined by pressure, unpredictability, and moments that define seasons, the teams that give the most often have the most left when it matters. And right now, Ole Miss looks like a team that still has plenty to give.