Hubbard, McMahon named Mississippi’s top college basketball players

Mississippi has formalized this past season’s most prolific men’s and women’s basketball players.

Starting with the Howell Trophy, which is presented annually to the top men’s hooper at one of the state’s universities, Josh Hubbard took home the award for the third straight year. The Madison native and Mississippi State standout earned the honor over Jackson State’s Daeshun Ruffin and Southern Miss’ Tylik Weeks.

Hubbard continues to rank among the program’s all-time greats with 1,947 career points, a school-record 311 three-pointers, and a historic 2025-26 season that included multiple 40-point performances while becoming the first Bulldog to record at least 700 points and 100 assists in a single year.

He is the first player to win the Howell Trophy three times in the award’s 22 year history. Hubbard continues a long line of Mississippi State dominance in earning the honor. Bulldog players have accounted for the last five Howell Trophy honorees and 13 all time.

As for this year’s Gillom Trophy, which is presented to the top women’s hooper in the state, Ole Miss forward Cotie McMahon was named this year’s recipient, being chosen over over Mississippi State’s Madison Francis and Southern Miss’ Jakayla Johnson. McMahon was honored with the award just two days after being selected by the Washington Mystics with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the WNBA Draft.

An Ohio State transfer, McMahon made an immediate impact on the court and was recognized as an All-American and the SEC Newcomer of the Year. In her lone season at Ole Miss, McMahon averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and three assists per game. Her best performance came against Tennessee on Feb. 17, where she logged a season-high 39 points.

McMahon continued a recent trend of Ole Miss dominance in the Gillom Trophy presentation. The Rebels now boast five of the award’s last six honorees.

About the Howell and Gillom Trophies

The Howell Trophy is named after Bailey Howell, a two-time All-American at Mississippi State and a six-time NBA All-Star who played on Boston Celtics world championship teams in 1968 and 1969. Howell, a 1977 inductee to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the first male Mississippi player inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame, still holds nearly a dozen records at Mississippi State.

The Gillom Trophy is named after Peggie Gillom-Granderson, Ole Miss’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder. She coached in the WNBA and the Olympics and retired after a seven-year stint as associate head coach of the women’s basketball team at Ole Miss.