Dawn Staley sees ‘a change agent’ in Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin

GREENVILLE, S.C. — As soon as Yolett McPhee-McCuin hung up from a call inviting her to interview for the Ole Miss job five years ago, she knew the next number she needed to dial.

The position was going to be a big leap from mid-major Jacksonville. She knew she was not the Rebels’ first choice, either. And this wasn’t exactly a turn-key coaching gig given Ole Miss’ struggles.

McPhee-McCuin needed a trusted voice.

“My first call was to Dawn Staley,” McPhee-McCuin said. She had one question at the top of her mind for the South Carolina coach: “What do you think?”’

That McPhee-McCuin, now 40, sought the counsel of Staley, now 52, should come as no surprise. Staley was — and still is — one of women’s basketball’s greatest winners and fiercest advocates. Staley has long spoken up for equality for women’s basketball coaches, and after South Carolina won its 2017 national championship, she sent every Black woman head coach in Division I a piece of her championship net, including McPhee-McCuin.

She had no doubt McPhee-McCuin was up for the challenge at Ole Miss, which was coming off a one-win SEC season and hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament in 11 seasons. “(Staley) said, ‘Yo, it’s a tough job, but if anybody can do that job, it’s you,’”…