Former Ohio State Women’s Basketball star Cotie McMahon entered the transfer portal this offseason and took her talents to Ole Miss. As a Buckeye, the forward averaged 15.3 points, 2.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game over three seasons. A high-profile player like McMahon had her hands full when making her transfer decision.
“I think coming out of college and then seeing how well I did in the past years, it just opened the door a lot more for me to have more opportunity to really go wherever I wanted. So it was a lot more hectic,” McMahon said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian.
McMahan garnered interest from several schools — which made her decision difficult.
“I would say I had a lot of opportunity, which is great, but … it was kind of overwhelming,” McMahon said. “I wanted to make my decision quickly, so just that whole process of getting everything narrowed down as quickly as possible was kind of hard.”
Transfers often struggle to fit into their new programs upon arrival. After three seasons with the same coach and school, McMahan faces the challenge of adjusting to a new team while hoping to maintain her performance quality from her time at Ohio State.
“It’s my last year, so I don’t have as much time to get acclimated to the new program,” McMahon said. “But luckily for me, once I’m pretty locked in, I can pick up on things pretty quickly.”
While the portal may seem like a great way for a player to get a fresh start at a new school, it is also a major source of stress for athletes, which fans cannot always see.
“I feel like fans would probably look at (the transfer portal) as a fun opportunity because you get to go through the whole recruiting process again,” McMahon said. “You get to go on visits, you get to talk to all these coaches. But really, that’s the most stressful part. They ask a lot out of you because they’re trying to do so much for you in a small amount of time.”
Despite the rigor of the process and her initial hesitation, McMahan believes Ole Miss is the right place for her.
“I know God led me here, because the process was kind of crazy,” McMahon said. “I wasn’t really open to it at first, but, just how my recruitment process ended up, everything pointed back to Ole Miss.”
McMahon offered advice to other players thinking about transferring.
“Honestly, just do it. I feel like when you’re already having those thoughts (of transferring) that’s obviously a sign that maybe things aren’t going the way you want it to … or maybe you’re second guessing if you know this is the place to be,” McMahon said. “But I think when you have the right people around you … you’re making sure that you’re making the right decisions, and you know everybody’s on the same page, I say just do it.”
