Yolett McPhee-McCuin is the new women’s basketball head coach, according to a statement released Wednesday. She is the ninth person in Ole Miss history to hold that title and the first black female head coach for the women’s team.
The former Jacksonville University coach will be publicly introduced on Friday at noon CT in The Pavilion.
“I am extremely humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be the women’s basketball coach at the University of Mississippi,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Once I stepped on campus, there was no doubt in my mind that Ole Miss had the potential to be a force to reckoned with — not only in the SEC, but nationally as well. I’d like to thank Chancellor Vitter and Ross (Bjork) for their complete vote of confidence in me, and I look forward to getting started.”
McPhee-McCuin’s last five seasons have been spent transforming the program at Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun Conference. In that time, the team had a 94-63 record (50-24 in ASUN play). The team made postseason appearances the last three seasons.
Athletics Director Ross Bjork said McPhee-McCuin was born to teach and coach.
“As the daughter of legendary Bahamian basketball coach Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee and her mother a teacher, ‘Coach Yo’ has coaching and leadership running through her DNA,” Bjork said. “Throughout our search process, it became clear to us: Coach McCuin is a star in the making, and we better secure her leadership before another program does.”
He said she can see the big picture of what it takes to be successful in both the SEC and on a national stage.
“Coach McCuin’s leadership, style of play, recruiting prowess, energy and passion is exactly what we need right now in order to re-establish Ole Miss Women’s Basketball back to competing for and winning championships,” Bjork said. “We want to welcome Yolett, Kelly, Yasmine and Yuri to the Ole Miss family.”
ANNOUNCEMENT | Rising star Yolett McPhee-McCuin named the 9th head coach in Rebel history. @CoachYoJU will be publicly introduced Friday at noon at The Pavilion. #NoCeilings
📰 https://t.co/kDLIbMJ4Kl pic.twitter.com/SOCzveWYFd
— Ole Miss Women’s BB (@OleMissWBB) April 4, 2018
In 2015-16, the Dolphins made history with McPhee-McCuin as their coach, capturing the program’s first ASUN Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth with an upset in the conference championship game. The next two years, the team had back-to-back 20-win seasons and the first two WNIT appearances in Jacksonville history. Last season, the team also broke the school record for single-season wins.
Before her stint at Jacksonville, McPhee-McCuin was an assistant at Clemson from 2011-13, where she was recognized as one of the top assistants in the nation by National Women’s Basketball Insider. Prior to that she was on staff at Pittsburgh for two seasons in 2009 and 2010, after she had coached at Portland, Frank Phillips College and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
McPhee-McCuin played basketball her junior and senior year at the University of Rhode Island after playing finishing her first two seasons at Miami-Dade Community College.
McPhee-McCuin has also served as the head coach for a successful Bahamian national team since 2013. She was also named the first female coach to win a CBC title in 2016.
McPhee-McCuin was the first Bahamian woman to sign a Division I letter of intent to play basketball, becoming a trailblazer in the process for other aspiring athletes from her home country. She is the first Bahamian woman to coach at a Division I program, and was the first black female head coach at Jacksonville.
McPhee-McCuin also has two Halls of Fame titles, the Bahamian Athletic Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
She does a lot of work off the collegiate courts, too.
McPhee-McCuin is a member of the “So You Want to be a Coach” program through the WBCA, and she holds membership in the Women of Color Association. In 2013, McPhee-McCuin joined the Center of Coaching Excellence’s yearly class.
She also developed a foundation in the Bahamas called Back2Basics, which helps the development of children through education and athletics. Additionally, she was involved in numerous community service projects at her other coaching stops.
