Meet Cotie McMahon: One of the biggest, most honest personalities in women’s NCAA basketball

The Ohio State junior who is part intensity and part annoying — to opponents and teammates

Monday, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced its watchlist of 50 women’s college basketball stars for its National Player of the Year award. Within that list were the usual names like USC’s JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.

Another name was Ohio State junior forward Cotie McMahon, who joined the national conversation through a few big moments in her first two seasons. Despite being recognized by avid women’s basketball writers, her name might not be as well known as others who are successful in the sport.

However, McMahon is not only a hardworking Ohio-native and skilled on the basketball court, but also has arguably the most honest and transparent personality in the game.

Freshman star power

McMahon debuted on Nov. 8, 2022, starting as a freshman for the Buckeyes when they welcomed the No. 5 ranked Tennessee Volunteers to Columbus. Ohio State won, with McMahon scoring 10 points, including drives to the basket that have become commonplace for Scarlet and Gray fans.

After the game, McMahon took part in her first college post game media availability, and addressed picking up fouls as the first question after her first collegiate game. McMahon not only answered it, but set the tone for the two plus years to come — clearly showing that she will say what is on her mind.

“This is kind of what happens to us,” said McMahon. “We’re not the most liked with the refs and the Big Ten so we kinda went into the game, the refs weren’t going to be on our side.”

McMahon went on to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year, averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Big Ten Tournament and shocking the UConn Huskies with 23 points. This UConn game was a matchup that McMahon wanted “so bad” all season. Despite the accolades, teams still weren’t expecting much from the freshman, like UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.

“A lot of times in these games the players that get all the attention throughout the season, the key players on your team that everybody focuses on,” said Auriemma. “And then invariably it’s somebody else that steps up and ends up being the difference-maker in the game, right?”

Call it lack of preparation or disrespect, but it was the first time McMahon hit the larger basketball conversation.

Undeniable energy

Last season, McMahon was back starting for the Buckeyes in majority of their games. Against Iowa, with nearly 20,000 in Columbus’ Schottenstein Center, McMahon scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a stunning overtime upset over Clark and the Hawkeyes.

Playing in the shadow of program favorite Jacy Sheldon, McMahon continued to charge at the basket, take contact and reach another level when she heard the referee’s whistle go in her favor.

“It’s like an out of body experience,” said McMahon. “I feel like an “and one” is just like the best thing in the world, especially when you have this kind of crowd. It’s just, like, everyone is rooting for you. You make the bucket and you get a foul, that’s just, that’s LeBron (James) stuff right there.”

McMahon has felt countless out of body experiences, to the point that referees allow more contact for the forward flying at defenders than others on the court. Something McMahon and head coach Kevin McGuff shared publicly over the past two seasons.

However, this year McMahon is different. Not in how the forward answers questions for the media or tones down her on court emotion, no. McMahon is still an open book on and off the court, but now McMahon is an even better player in year three.

Every offseason, McMahon wins gold medals. Before McMahon’s first and second seasons, it was with Team USA youth basketball, playing in five-on-five tournaments in South America and Europe. In the summer of the 2024, McMahon started it by playing 3×3 against WNBA All-Stars at the WNBA All-Star Game.

Despite a national audience, and all the best professionals in the world watching from the sideline, McMahon was unfazed. The Ohio State forward controlled the game early before the WNBA players adjusted and pulled out a win in the exhibition.

McMahon went on to win gold with Team USA’s youth 3×3 team and brought improved one-on-one defense and deep shooting to her game.

Competitive spirit

With Sheldon and two other starters gone due to expiring eligibility, McMahon’s leadership is more upfront this season, but it doesn’t come with a filter.

As the calendar turned to 2025, the Buckeyes played their first road trip of the year up north, facing bitter rivals from Ann Arbor. Before the matchup against the Michigan Wolverines, local media asked McMahon if she feels the rivalry between the two teams.

Now, in this situation, most players give a standard athlete answer, touting the rivalry in unspecific terms, and getting the fanbase engaged. Not McMahon.

“I don’t,” said McMahon. “The fans kind of make it more serious than it needs to be, but I mean, ‘hey, go bucks!’”

Despite these feelings, McMahon’s mind can be changed once she hits the court. In the game, McMahon missed a shot, prompting an engaged student section to chant “air ball” each time the junior touched the ball. The chant followed her through the end of the game and impacted McMahon, but it wasn’t clear until the final buzzer.

The Buckeyes came back from a 16-point second quarter deficit, and once the clock hit zero, McMahon leapt in the air and blew a big kiss to the student section in the Crisler Center.

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Leading in the good times is easier than when it doesn’t go your way. The lone blemish on the Buckeyes’ record this season came in State College, Pennsylvania. Facing the winless in Big Ten play Penn State Nittany Lions, McMahon had 19 points, six assists and five rebounds. The junior also stole an inbound pass in the final seconds to give the Buckeyes a second chance to tie the game, finding an open teammate who missed the final shot. Hardly a poor performance from McMahon, but after the game she was as clear as she is after a victory, and knew why her team lost.

“Our want to really win, honestly,” said Cotie McMahon. “We had no fight. We had no grit. We have stretches of it, but those are some things that you can’t have stretches of. You’ve got to have the full 40 minutes.”

Ohio State responded, winning their next three games, but now the stakes hit another level when the No. 8 Buckeyes travel west to face the No. 1 UCLA Bruins and No. 7 USC Trojans.

On facing UCLA and USC

Last season, the Buckeyes got ahead of the game, scouting wise, when they scheduled games against both the Bruins and Trojans in the non-conference slate. They both resulted in losses. USC’s Watkins scored 33 points in her NCAA debut and then Lauren Betts and the Bruins dominated the paint in Columbus.

McMahon scored 14 combined points in the two games. In the offseason, and whenever asked during the regular season, McMahon hasn’t looked forward to the trip to California, and its not because of the basketball.

“Am I excited? No, because you know we gotta be there for a whole week,” said McMahon. But, as far as playing the games, yeah this is a great opportunity.”

The opportunity is huge for Ohio State, a team that hasn’t been too challenged throughout the regular season. Coach McGuff’s non-conference schedule featured no ranked teams, with a one-sided win over the unranked Stanford Cardinal as the lone marquee matchup.

Ohio State enters the week in the top 10, with a 20-1 record, but won’t face a stiffer challenge than this until possibly the postseason.

“For me it’s kind of personal. I was in a [slump] when we played UCLA,” said McMahon. “My outside shot was not developed at all so I was really struggling, honestly. So I’m really excited to kind of just have another chance at that and then USC as a team we just did not play good.”

Through the junior’s offseason work, McMahon is no longer only running or spinning her way through the paint. Now, McMahon hits midrange turnaround jumpers and shots from deep more this season than her first two years combined.

McMahon already eclipsed her previous season high of 15 made three-point shots, with eight regular season games remaining. They’re also falling at a career-high 31.6 percent. McMahon is also playing the most responsible basketball of her career, averaging a personal best 1.9 turnovers per game.

It will take more than McMahon for the Buckeyes to pull off two, or even one, upset this week, but having the junior is a good start. Even if McMahon isn’t always putting her teammates in the best of moods. Best represented by her travel essentials for the cross country trip.

“Snacks and then honestly, myself,” said McMahon, with a smile. “I just like to annoy people on long flights so I don’t really need much, because I’ll just find something to do and usually annoy the staff up front or just make my rounds through the plane.”

Outside of coach McGuff, whose 30 years of coaching experience and six kids at home make it easy to tune out McMahon’s off-court “activities”, no one on the team is safe.

The antics aren’t reserved only for travel. McMahon uses her time wisely to mess with her teammates and coaches in practice too.

Now, McMahon and Ohio State hope the most annoyed people this week are the two teams in Los Angeles. If the Buckeyes pull off a pair of upsets, it puts them in the drivers seat for a second consecutive Big Ten regular season championship.

Another accolade in the underrated, and maybe annoying, career of Cotie McMahon.