BAHAMIAN national team standout Valerie Nesbitt (in action above) will become the first local player signed by Yolett McPhee-McCuin in her tenure as the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels women’s basketball programme.
#By RENALDO DORSETT
#Tribune Sports Reporter
#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
#BAHAMIAN national team standout Valerie Nesbitt will become the first local player signed by Yolett McPhee-McCuin in her tenure as the head coach of the Ole Miss women’s basketball programme.
#Nesbitt, a sophomore at Chipola College, committed to join the Rebels for the Fall 2019 campaign.
#As a freshman, Nesbitt was awarded a postseason accolade following her first season of collegiate basketball. She was named a Panhandle Conference first team selection as a freshman in the NJCAA ranks.
#The 5’6″ point guard averaged 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 46 per cent from the floor in 26 contests.
#She also totalled a team-leading 50 steals on the season. She finished with 18 points and five assists as the Lady Indians finished their season with a 69-65 loss to No.2 Gulf Cast State.Chipola finished the season 14-13.
#It was her second 18-point performance of the year following a 96-48 win Over Arkansas Baptist in December. She set a season high with 19 points in just her second game of the season, a 72-69 loss to Florida Southwestern.
#She dished a season high eight assists in an 87-51 win over Hillsborough Community College in November.
#Last summer, Nesbitt made her senior national team debut at the FIBA Women’s Centrobasket 2017 in the St Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.
#The Bahamas opened the tournament with a closely contested hard-fought loss to Mexico and went on to also drop decisions against Jamaica, the USVI and Puerto Rico before they won the finale against Guatemala.
#McPhee-McCuin was named the Rebels head coach in April.
#“I am extremely humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be the women’s basketball coach at the University of Mississippi,” McPhee-McCuin said at her appointment in April. “Once I stepped on campus, there was no doubt in my mind that Ole Miss had the potential to be a force to be reckoned with — not only in the SEC, but nationally as well. I’d like to thank Chancellor Vitter and Ross for their complete vote of confidence in me, and I look forward to getting started.”
#The Rebels ended last season with a 12-19 record and a second round loss in the SEC Tournament.
#The daughter of legendary Bahamian coach Gladstone “Moon” McPhee and educator Daisy McPhee, she became the ninth head coach in Rebels history.
#McPhee-McCuin will be publicly introduced during a press conference at Ole Miss on Friday.
#She completed an historic tenure with the Jacksonville Dolphins where the programme accomplished several new feats.
#In her final game at JU, the Dolphins saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the WNIT when they were eliminated with a first-round loss to the University of Central Florida Knights.
#It was the second consecutive season the Jaguars came up just short in a bid for the NCAA Tournament but earned a berth to the WNIT. McPhee-McCuin also signed a Bahamian player – Shalonda Neely – to join the programme while at Jacksonville.