OXFORD – Talaysia Cooper is more than gaudy statistics. She’s already putting her leadership imprint on the Ole Miss program.
Cooper, ranked by ESPN as the No. 7 transfer in the 2026 class, is a key piece in a transfer portal haul ESPN rated as one of its five “transfer portal winners” in the latest cycle. The redshirt senior guard was a five-star recruit in the 2022 class and McDonald’s All-American who played her freshman season at South Carolina. She transferred to Tennessee and redshirted her first year and started 52 games over the next two seasons for the Lady Volunteers. She averaged a team-high 16 points per game in 2025-26 and was a second-team All-SEC selection.
The Rebels also added the No. 12 player in the portal, former LSU guard Jada Richard, who averaged 9.5 points per game last season for the Tigers.
“I’m just doing everything right, coming in everyday (even) when I don’t feel like it, putting the work in, head down, being coachable,” Cooper said. “ … Holding myself accountable. Just doing things the right way.”
Ole Miss returns just two players from last season – sophomore guard Lauren Jacobs and junior center Desrae Kyles – and has 10 newcomers. Off to the WNBA ranks are forwards Cotie McMahon, Latasha Lattimore and Christeen Iwuala, who combined to average 42.9 points per game. McMahon was the No. 11 overall pick (first round) in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics while Lattimore was taken 21st overall (second round) by the Chicago Sky. Guard Sira Thienou, who averaged 9.7 points per game as a sophomore, was initially expected to return to Ole Miss but transferred to Auburn.
“It’s the summertime, (chemistry is) what we work hard (on) now. We work hard now and build that chemistry, put in all the extra work that we need,” Cooper said. “Physicality, come in every day, head straight forward, just being disciplined, holding each other accountable. We know (there are) pretty tough teams out there in the SEC. But we’ve seen it before, and we just have to be prepared for it.”
Cooper figures to play a major role in helping the Rebels return to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season. The Rebels made the Sweet 16 in 2023 and 2025. They defeated Gonzaga in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament before falling to Minnesota in the second round.
“She’s super talented. She has like – I say this with respect – like an old man’s game,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “She just knows how to get to spots. She’s a vet, she’s played in the league a long time, so she gets it. She understands what getting a bucket looks like. But she’s also paid surprisingly a lot of attention to what we’ve been doing. She wants everybody, her and all of the ladies from the Southeastern Conference, they kind of have an inclination of what it should look like.”
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