Coach Yo "Blown Away" That Vic Schaefer Left MSU

Yolett McPhee-McCuin didn't see this coming.

The Ole Miss women's basketball head coach, entering what will be just her third year at the helm of the Rebel program, never thought her rival coach would leave.

But Vic Schaefer is gone from Starkville, leaving Mississippi State to return to his home state of Texas to lead the Longhorn program, rivals of his alma mater Texas A&M. It's a move that shocked Coach Yo, as McPhee-McCuin is oft referred.

"I was blown away, blown away when he took (the Texas job)," McPhee-McCuin said. "I was kind of sad. I'm thinking, 'finally we're going to be able to go at them.' I was blown away, but I understood, because he's a Texan and it was always said that he wanted to get back at some point."

In her time at Ole Miss, Coach Yo is 0-4 against Mississippi State, losing by an average of 28.8 points in those four contests. But this year was supposed to be different; this year is still supposed to be different.

With Ole Miss signing the SEC's No. 1 recruiting class this season, and picking up some big wins in the transfer market, the Rebels should be able to compete every game in the SEC, including against their rival. With Schaefer gone, that rivalry game will feel a little different.

But Coach Yo is still pretty familiar with the new coach on the opposite end: Nikki McCray-Penson, who came over from Old Dominion.

"Funny, when (Schaefer) left I called Nikki. I said, 'why don't you just come to the SEC? Let's have some fun,'" McPhee-McCuin said. "She was like 'oh nah, that's coach talk.' But I honestly don't think at the time that they have contacted her, so I think she was being honest."

McPhee-McCuin and McCray-Penson are close. Back when McPhee-McCuin was coaching Jacksonville, she used to make the drive to Columbia, S.C. to observe practices of her mentor, Dawn Staley at South Carolina. McCray-Penson was an assistant coach on those USC teams from 2008-2017.

Regardless of their relationship, they're still going to be going hard at each other this upcoming season. There's no animosity, but they want to win that rivalry game.

"I understand the rivalry. Nikki's a competitor; I'm a competitor," McPhee-McCuin said. "So when we play, we want to beat each other. But there's definitely no bad blood. I've known her forever, so I'm excited she got the opportunity and got the job."

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