Grateful for the Moment: Coach Yo Reflects as Ole Miss Women Dance for Fifth Straight Year
OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss women’s basketball team is headed to its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament after earning the No. 5 seed in the Sacramento regional, where they will face off first against the No. 12-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Rebels held a public watch party for Selection Sunday, and when their name flashed on the screen, the team, the fans, and everyone in attendance erupted into a frenzy inside the SJB Pavilion.
The moment Ole Miss announced into their fifth straight NCAA Tournament! pic.twitter.com/mKXkukhv8B
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 16, 2026
The minute @OleMissWBB finds out where they’re headed for March Madness! #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/2Lq5089Ln9
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 16, 2026
Following the official announcement of the bid, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin spoke with media, giving thanks throughout her entire press conference, including in her opening statement, where she immediately expressed her gratitude and her mentality towards March Madness.
“I don’t know that this time of year will ever get tiring to me or old to me. I woke up still with butterflies this morning,” she began.
Coach Yo continued the message when asked what her emotions were on receiving her fifth consecutive bid to the tournament.
“It’s hard to get to the tournament, and not everybody gets to dance in March. And the fact that we’re able to do that, it just gives me just a great amount of gratitude… all the people that were involved in what we’re doing just really humbles me and makes me be incredibly grateful.”
Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on earning a bid to the NCAA tournament
However, the Rebels’ head coach also went on to explain that the NCAA Tournament is the standard she and her teams set for themselves.
“With that being said, you know, I want that to be a normal thing that we do every single year, but I don’t take it for granted, so I’m just excited about the opportunity,” McPhee-McCuin added.
Team 51’s leader continued to talk about her team, but when asked about the team, she made sure to note why they are so special, believing this year’s team arrived at exactly the right moment in her career.
After 13 years as a head coach and eight seasons in the SEC, Coach Yo says the perspective she brings to the job now is far different than when she first stepped onto campus in Oxford.
“This team has really just caught me at a really good time of my career,” she explained. “I’ve been in the league eight years and I’ve been a head coach for 13. So I guess you could say I’ve got some seasoning on me.”
When she first arrived at Ole Miss, Coach Yo felt the pressure to prove herself, and Sunday she explained she felt a responsibility to justify the faith placed in her by the university’s leadership.
“I felt like when I first came to Ole Miss, I had so much to prove as far as my worth and why this was a great decision for (then-AD) Ross (Bjork) and then for (current AD) Keith (Carter) to continue to support me when he took over the helm,” Coach Yo noted.
Now, McPhee-McCuin says her focus centers on her players and helping them become the best versions of themselves.
“They just got me at a place where my sole purpose is to help them grow and be their best self.”
And for Coach Yo, that growth goes far beyond basketball.
Coaching nowadays can become transactional, but that’s not why I got into the business. I got into the business so I could be a transformational coach.
While the landscape of college athletics continues to change, the Rebels’ head coach says the relationships she builds with her players remain the most meaningful part of the job.
“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. I just really appreciate Team 51 for allowing me to still hold on to a piece of that. The talks we have in our office, the hugs, the tears, the excitement they share when they get internships and all of those things. The joy that they bring me and my kids and my family every day is something that I really appreciate.”
Coach Yo on what she appreciates about Team 51
A Look Ahead
Coach Yo and Team 51 will begin their chase to glory on Friday as they travel to Minneapolis to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the round of 64, with tip-off set for 2:30 P.M. CT.
Billy Kuhl
Billy Kuhl joins The Rebel Walk as a sophomore at Ole Miss majoring in Journalism with a Sports Media concentration. He is from Jefferson Township, New Jersey and graduated from Jefferson Township High School where he played varsity baseball, and soccer, and swam competitively in his summers. You can contact him at wpkuhl88@gmail.com or DM him on X @Billykuhll or instagram @Billykuhll_
