What advice did Lane Kiffin give Coach Yo ahead of Ole Miss' Sweet 16 showdown with Louisville?
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team is rolling and in no hurry to slow down. Shocking No. 1 seed Stanford on Sunday and punching their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years the Rebels are riding high and Seattle bound.
Due to the surge of postseason success Ole Miss is having head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has been hitting the media circuit the last 48 hours, including a stop on SEC Network’s The Paul Finebaum Show.
McCuin’s appearance on Monday included her noting Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin even called her up after the big win.
“This journey that we’re on is celebrated by tons of people,” McCuin said. “Men, women’s basketball. I got a call from Lane Kiffin (Monday morning), giving me tips.”
This comes as no surprise to Ole Miss fans that the entire coaching staff throughout the athletics department roots for each other. Kiffin and McCuin made the trip to Omaha last June to support head coach Mike Bianco and the baseball team during their national title run in the Men’s College World Series.
Friday continues the magical run for No. 8 seed Ole Miss (25-8) as it takes on No. 5 seed Louisville in Seattle for the right to move on to the Elite 8. If the Rebels win it would their sixth trip to the Elite 8 round. No Ole Miss women’s team has made it to the Final Four or the National Championship game.
Kiffin has found himself in big games, including some at Ole Miss, and provide McCuin with some insight.
For McCuin this is her highest profiled game in her five seasons at Ole Miss and entire coaching career. The previous would have been Sunday’s win over Stanford.
While there are four days between that game and Friday’s Sweet 16 showdown, Kiffin reminded McCuin of the pitfalls of not re-centering after a major win like the one the Rebels are coming off of.
“Not that I have the answers, I just called her the other morning and just said, ‘Go to the next game,'” Kiffin said when asked about their conversation. “We’ve all been in situations where you focus too much on a big week the week before and a big upset. I just talked to her about, ‘They’re going to hear, the players, all week are going to hear how great we are and first time going to the Sweet 16 in so many years and all that stuff. You got to get them away from that. Focus and get them on to the next game.
“‘Upsets happen all the time and they’re a big story at the time. But if you don’t win the next one you forget about them. Just moving on to the next.’ Not that I have the answers but I was just thinking about her yesterday morning.”
Ole Miss and Louisville will tipoff at approximately 9 p.m. CT on Friday. The game will air on ESPN.
