Ole Miss women's basketball completes staff overhaul, appoints four new assistant coaches

OXFORD — Ole Miss women's basketball will have an entirely new assistant coaching staff when it takes the court for the 2024-25 season.

The Rebels announced Thursday afternoon the addition of four assistants: Empress Davenport, Kayla Gordon, Joy Smith and Jake Whitehead will join coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin's staff.

None of last season's crop of assistants — Chris Ayers, Patrick Henry, Bojan Jankovic, Erika Sisk and Jaida Williams — were retained.

Davenport arrives following a three-year stint as an assistant at UTSA. The Roadrunners finished fourth in the AAC last season.

Gordon played for McPhee-McCuin at Jacksonville. A native of Meridian, Mississippi, she spent three seasons with the Dolphins under coaches Special Jennings and Darnell Haney.

Smith has been an assistant coach at the power conference level since 2011, with stops at Duke, Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Clemson. A former WNBA player, Smith's time at Clemson yielded one NCAA tournament appearance in 2019. She went to the tournament twice while at Ohio State and three times while coaching at Duke.

Whitehead was elevated to the role of assistant coach after two seasons as the Rebels' coordinator of video operations. He'll continue to work with video following his promotion.

Those four will join former Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman on staff. Hillsman resigned from his post at Syracuse after the university opened an investigation into allegations of improper behavior and bullying from Hillsman's players and managers.

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The investigation found that numerous players had positive experiences within the program, but "a concerning number of players and managers who came forward described an unhealthy environment and culture."

The Rebels went 24-9 last season and won 12 SEC games for the first time in program history. They reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they fell to Notre Dame.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss basketball, Coach Yo overhaul with 4 new assistant coaches