Each offseason, college basketball teams go through changes. For the lucky programs, it’s limited to the addition of new freshmen, maybe a player transfers in, and the graduation losses are minimal. This offseason was not one of those kinds of transitions for Ohio State women’s basketball.
For the Buckeyes, the transfer exit that looms the largest is Cotie McMahon, an Ohio native who now dons the red and blue of the Ole Miss Rebels.
Over three seasons, McMahon was known for highlight reel drives to
the basket. McMahon was not concerned with taking contact as she threw herself at the hoop with sometimes reckless abandon.
It began in McMahon’s first game, a start against the then No. 5 ranked Tennessee Volunteers team and it followed through an upset over the UConn Huskies in the 2023 Sweet Sixteen and heated rivalry victories over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Off the court, McMahon’s personality followed suit and the forward was not afraid to speak her mind. That came in the form of post-game interviews that the media loved and the coaching staff probably did not, and even a public middle finger to the Maryland Terrapins student section in McMahon’s final regular season game in scarlet and gray.
Through the ups and downs of a Big Ten regular season championship and blowout defeats in big games, the way McMahon went – the team followed. Now those days are over.
“We had three really good years with Cotie [McMahon]. She’s a great kid and I wish her nothing but great success at Ole Miss, outside of us potentially maybe playing them down the line,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “I think it was in her mind, once again wouldn’t speak for her, but just wanted one more opportunity to maybe showcase her skills and talents before she tries to move on to a professional career. And I think Ole Miss will be a great place for her to do that.”
McMahon heads to an Ole Miss team that is known for stout defense under the leadership of Yolett McPhee-McCuin, not the pressing, run-and-gun, play of the Buckeyes. It leaves a gaping hole for Ohio State as they head into the 2025-26 season.
“Generally speaking, we’re probably not as athletic as we have been in the past,” said McGuff.
The Buckeyes’ head coach went on to clarify that it does not mean his current squad lacks athleticism, no. It means the skillset of the players taking McMahon’s place are not going to line up with what Ohio State fans watched over the last three seasons.
Instead of bringing in a group who can fill in those now gone blistering runs into the paint, McGuff has a trio of shooters and players who will help the Buckeyes where they have come up short over the last four seasons – interior size.
While not forwards, McGuff’s system feeds on people who can shoot from three-point range and T’Yana Todd is that player. In three seasons at Boston College, Todd averaged 2.9 shots made from deep per game, and hit 3.9 per game last season. Not only does she hit them often but was the most efficient shooter in the ACC at 45.9 percent.
Todd joins a returning backcourt group including point guard Jaloni Cambridge, shooting guard Chance Gray and bench guard Ava Watson, who showed her ability from deep late in the season but injury hampered Watson down the stretch.
Outside of Cambridge and Gray, three of five starting slots are up for debate. Todd could fill either a third guard position or slide into a more shooting-focused four position, with Kennedy Cambridge a strong fit for a third, more defensive, guard position. Similar to the role Rikki Harris occupied.
McGuff added two freshmen who can also shoot. The first is Dasha Biriuk, who won a state title with the Webb School in 2025 with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the title game. Then there’s Bryn Martin who decommitted from the Washington Huskies after the NCAA season concluded, out of Springsboro, Ohio. Martin scored the most points in Springsboro High School history and is a two-time Ms. Basketball finalist.
Both Biriuk and Martin are also each 6-foot-1, giving them comparable height to other taller backcourt players.
The most intriguing name to watch for the starting forward role is Kylee Kitts. At 6-foot-4, the younger sister of South Carolina Gamecock Chloe Kitts brings size and shooting for the forward position. Seen as more of a traditional big earlier in her AAU career, Kitts worked on dribbling the ball up the court and shooting to make her not only a dangerous threat on the court but a strong fit for McGuff’s system.
Kitts is listed as the same height as former Buckeye Rebeka Mikulášiková, but has a stronger inside game. Combine that with the continued growth of 6-foot-7 center Elsa Lemmilä and the duo turns the paint of Ohio State from a weakness to an area teams will need to plan against.
In other words, there is not a replacement coming for McMahon because she is someone that is tough to replace.
Defensively, the press will not change, despite not only losing McMahon but All-Big Ten Defensive Team guard and current WNBA player Taylor Thierry. Despite not having either player, who were each key in frustrating opponents in the press, the system was around before either McMahon or Thierry established themselves and it returns this fall. That means while other teams were spending the summer focused specifically on conditioning and building team chemistry, the Buckeyes got into their system early.
“Maybe more so than other programs, we have to work on some of that stuff earlier than other people to make sure that we’re ready when real games start in November,” said McGuff.
How that work comes together still has a month and a half before it becomes public knowledge on Nov. 6 against Coppin State. No matter which way it goes, one thing is certain – this team is not the same Buckeyes.
