Cotie McMahon will never forget her first practice at Ohio State. She was only 17, a mid-season enrollee and the star of Ohio State’s 2022 class. The top-25 recruit arrived on campus in the winter of 2022 knowing that coach Kevin McGuff was going to hold her out that semester to preserve her eligibility; she couldn’t play and wouldn’t travel with the team.
She was content with the idea of using practice as a way to get a head start on her freshman season. But after that initial practice she called her mother. Stacey McMahon answered the phone to her daughter, who is usually upbeat and not rattled by much, on the verge of tears.
McMahon was emotional because she was frustrated with herself. Practice was tough. It wasn’t too hard nor was she second-guessing her choice to join the Buckeyes. She just demands greatness from herself, and she learned that day that she had a lot of room to improve if she was going to make an impact at Ohio State as a freshman.
An impatient person, McMahon refused to sit on the sideline her freshman year, so she had to get better. “I don’t want to wait for something to be given to me,” she said. “At that point you’re unsure if you’re going to get that opportunity. If you’re not working for it, then what are you doing? For me, coming…
