How Yahmani McKayle has elevated UMass in Rookie of the Year season

“He was always the one that would tell me, like, ‘oh yeah, you’re the golden child, you’re gonna go this far, you’re gonna do this,’” McKayle told The Next. “And he was always the one that was pushing me and always … bringing me closer to the sport ’cause he wanted it for me.”

She eventually joined a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) team — though at first, she wasn’t keen on the idea of playing on an organized team. She just wanted to play to have fun. From the beginning, shooting and shooting with confidence was the easiest part of the game for her. 

She played three seasons of basketball at South Shore High School (the COVID-19 pandemic canceled her freshman season at Forest Hills High School). As a junior, she averaged 17.3 points and 5.2 steals per game. 

Senior guard Stefanie Kulesza welcomed McKayle to UMass with open arms and showed her how the program does things. “I feel like it was really easy for me to transition here, because … everything seemed … like it was meant for me,” McKayle said. “… I just fit perfectly here, I’d say. … the system, the coaching staff, my teammates.”

McKayle was able to get in sync with her teammates at UMass more quickly than she anticipated and leads the team with 3.3 assists per game. She averages 13.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game and takes pride in bringing energy on defense.

Her scoring, ball handling, mentality and aggressiveness stood out to head coach Mike Leflar when he was recruiting her. Though he tries not to have expectations for freshmen, he knew there was an opportunity for someone to take the reins at the point guard position ahead of this season.

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Leflar was pleasantly surprised by how vocal McKayle was in the team’s early workouts. “[I remember] thinking that she was gonna be successful and we were gonna be successful with her at the point because she was vocal on the court when I asked her to be,” he said.

McKayle has helped the team improve from a 5-27 record (2-16, Atlantic 10) and the No. 13 seed in the A-10 Tournament last season to a 16-13 record (11-7, A-10) and the No. 7 seed this season. 

“She’s certainly a huge reason why we’ve taken a step as a program,” he told The Next on Feb. 28. “And I want her to understand there’s plenty of opportunity to make individual plays, and she made some great ones the other day. … But there’s also time to get teammates involved. … That’s something that she and I talk about weekly and something that’s important for us as we keep having opportunities ahead the next couple weeks.”

After starting the Minutewomen’s first seven games of the season, McKayle was moved out of the starting lineup for the next 13 games before returning for good on Jan. 29.  

“My main thing is doing whatever … is best for the team,” she said. “So if me coming off the bench was best for the team, then I was good with that. … There’s obviously more things for me to learn. I’m only a freshman. There’s a lot to learn on the bench. So that’s how I kind of took it, and I just — whenever it was my time, my name was called, I was ready for it. And I guess that’s how I got back in the [starting] lineup, just continued proving it.” 

Leflar has seen growth in McKayle’s decision-making since he took her out of the starting lineup in early December. “I think she’s learned the importance of every possession and the importance … of her decisions down the floor with the ball and the responsibility and how a lot of the game is in her hands,” he said.

He’s also seen McKayle grow in how she controls the tempo of the game and her situational awareness, noting, “that’s who we really want her to be, not just a scoring point guard, but a point guard that can command the floor, and then, as a benefit, can really score at all three levels.”

While the focus in-season has been on improving her decision-making, reads and coverages, in the offseason, Leflar is planning on the focus being sharpening her individual skills. 

As a senior in high school, McKayle was named to the third cohort of the Jr. NBA Court of Leaders. She wishes the program could have lasted longer and enjoyed meeting people in the sports industry as well as players with the same mindset as her. 

“It taught me selflessness because not everything is about you,” she said. “And I learned that when you put into other people, and when you trust in other people, it can get you a long way.”

While McKayle felt like high school was more like a “free-for-all,” she has learned the importance of togetherness and that it’s okay to rely on and communicate with her teammates at UMass. 

One of her favorite moments of the season was the team’s Jan. 29 win over George Washington in which all five starters scored in double figures because it was a turning point in the team looking for each other more. “We win like that,” she said. “If we could all get in double digits, we could win every game. So I think that kind of made us want to play more together.”

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One lesson she’s learned from basketball is how to pick herself up, which has helped her be calmer as she navigates situations that aren’t going the way she’d like.  

“I think, here, I’ve gotten to a point of maturity … [where] I’m gonna just play hard no matter what,” she said. “No matter what’s happening, whether I’m making shots, missing shots, I’mma play hard and I’mma do what’s best for the team and get us the best shot.”

Over the next three years, McKayle wants to continue to grow on and off the court, having already seen an impact on her game and herself in less than one year at UMass. 

On March 4, McKayle was named the 2024-25 A-10 Rookie of the Year after four Under Armour Rookie of the Week nods. On Feb. 24, she said the weekly award accolades mean everything to her. 

“The recognition I’m getting now, I didn’t really get in high school,” she said. “… I feel like now being here, it just gave me room and more opportunity to be myself. And it finally feels like it’s paying off.”