As March Madness nears, Ole Miss women continue program growth with landmark NIL deal
Now, Ole Miss women's basketball coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin says she won't have any issue with players buying her dinner when the Rebels gather for team fellowship.
The Rebels have finalized a team-wide NIL deal with Oxford Orthopaedics, with all 12 players on the roster taking home a portion of the total pool. The deal runs for two years, making it something McPhee-McCuin can sell to potential recruits.
"I think it's incredible," McPhee-McCuin said Thursday, speaking to the media on Zoom from Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.
"I think all players that play this game deserve to be compensated fairly as long as it's legal," she continued. "I'm really glad that people – businesses – have gotten behind our players and supported them, for sure."
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The deal breaks a few barriers for Ole Miss in the NIL space. It's the first team-wide corporate NIL deal for one of the Rebels' women's sports teams. It's also the first NIL deal run through Ole Miss' multi-media rights partner, Learfield.
As a result of that Learfield partnership, players are now free to use Ole Miss marks and logos in their promotion of Oxford Orthopaedics. The players will post on their social media channels endorsing Oxford Orthopaedics as the official orthopedic team for Ole Miss as part of the deal.
"My players don't even have a (money) limit on Secret Santa anymore," McPhee-McCuin said.
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 women's basketball continues program growth with landmark NIL deal
