Lady Vols basketball and Ole Miss have had some on and off-court drama this past year. Starting in Tennessee’s road loss in Oxford this past year, fans noticed that UT head coach Kim Caldwell and Rebels head coach Yolett ‘Coach Yo’ McPhee-McCuin’s handshake was brief.
Then, this offseason, McPhee-McCuin landed a pair of former Tennessee standouts. Both Talaysia Cooper and Jaida Civil committed to Ole Miss out of the transfer portal after strong individual years in Knoxville last season.
McPhee-McCuin is trying to put to rest any theorized animosity between the coaches, though. On her X account, she posted from SEC Meetings a photo of the pair with the caption ‘Twitter vs Real Life!’ and a handshake emoji.
Twitter vs Real Life! #SECMEETINGS 🫱🏼🫲🏽 pic.twitter.com/LEyywmP9sv
— Coach Yo (@YolettMcCuin) May 26, 2026
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After the postgame handshake debacle, McPhee-McCuin gave her thoughts on the podium. She noted that she likes Caldwell and doesn’t take that sort of thing personally.
“I think she was probably just really ready to go,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Because I like Kim. Sometimes, I don’t ever take stuff like that personally because the emotions — we’re competitive. She’s at Tennessee, and that’s a lot of history behind that place. So, maybe she was in a rush or maybe she was upset, and I respect both of them. For me, I was just glad we got the win.”
Cooper joins Ole Miss after three years at Tennessee and two on the court. Initially a South Carolina transfer, Cooper was Tennessee’s leading scorer and assister in the 2025-26 season, posting 16.0 points and 3.6 assists per game. This came on 42.9% shooting from the field and 34.3% from range. She also contributed 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals per contest.
