Ohio State Star's Heated Handshake Amid NCAA Tournament Loss to Tennessee Turns Heads
Earlier this month, Ohio State women's basketball player Cotie McMahon went viral for comments about the Iowa Hawkeyes program after defeating them in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
"Not gonna get into all of it, but let's just say they're a little disrespectful as far as how they view us," McMahon said when asked where her team's competitive fire against Iowa comes from. "So we take that personal, I take that personal."
This didn't sit well with many Iowa fans. Criticism of these comments intensified on Sunday after McMahon's reaction to her team's loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In the final seconds of the game, McMahon decided to take a shot instead of dribbling the ball out (despite her team losing by 15 points), which seemed to upset her head coach. Right after that, McMahon was visibly frustrated in the post-game handshake line. When Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell tried to shake her hand, McMahon appeared to slap at her hand without looking at her and then screamed something out toward Tennessee's line of players.
Caldwell then turned her head toward McMahon in what seemed to be a combination of surprise and disbelief. A video of the interaction has since been clipped many times on social media, with one X post going viral that was captioned, "As the Tennessee coach tries to say something Cotie displays her usual lack of class and screams a four letter word #OhioState".
As the Tennessee coach tries to say something Cotie displays her usual lack of class and screams a four letter word #OhioState pic.twitter.com/6oGPyS1o2c
— C🅱️☢️ (@RadiologyHawk) March 24, 2025
Fans are not happy about this display from McMahon, which comes off as hypocritical after her previous comments about Iowa.
"Not to mention she shot the ball at the end of the game. Her coach didn’t appear to like the fact she didn’t just dribble it out. She is competitive, but she has to learn to turn it off when the game is over. Pull out the jersey and flip the switch," one fan wrote.
Not to mention she shot the ball at the end of the game. Her coach didn’t appear to like the fact she didn’t just dribble it out. She is competitive, but she has to learn to turn it off when the game is over. Pull out the jersey and flip the switch.
— Kimberly Schultz (@KimberlySchul16) March 24, 2025
Another added, "I like Cotie McMahon as a player, but she just has bad sportsmanship. Yeah y’all just lost doesn’t mean be rude to Tennessee coach in the handshake line. You slapped her hand hard as crap it looked. Say good game and walk away."
I like Cotie McMahon as a player, but she just has bad sportsmanship. Yeah y’all just lost doesn’t mean be rude to Tennessee coach in the handshake line. You slapped her hand hard as crap it looked. Say good game and walk away.
— TalksWithJae (@eccentricsole) March 24, 2025
What's for sure is that McMahon's past comments about Iowa didn't age well.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.