Kim Mulkey came to LSU to don one thing, win national championships. In just her second year with the program, she did just that, brining LSU women's basketball their first national title in program history.
Heading into her third season at LSU, Mulkey brought in the number one recruiting and transfer portal class in the nation on top of returning Angel Reese and others. The Tigers are expected to win back-to-back championships, but that's a feat that has only been done four times since 2000.
"If you're referring to winning it back-to-back, I don't think that many do that in any sport. It's hard, it's hard to win it period. As a player I've won it back-to-back, but as a coach, it's hard, I don't think I ever have, even when we were favored to do so. Why is it harder? I think if you're the underdog and win the national championship, you probably didn't get everyones best shot. I think if you're the favorite, you're gonna get everyones best shot. When you get beat, and we will get beat, you know that you got beat by a team that was dang good that night. We'll be prepared and we'll play hard, but sometimes they're just better than you. We understand, I can't hide any of that from these kids, they know the expectations."
Kim Mulkey
The college athletics world is changing everyday. With NIL and social media, the attention that LSU women's basketball got last season was unprecedented for collegiate women's basketball. Mulkey is one of the most decorated women's basketball coaches ever, but she's never coached at a school with as much recognition as LSU.
"The attention is obviously different and our world is obviously different with NIL and brands and social media. LSU being as big a brand as it is. It's different for me. I've been at Louisiana Tech, I've been at Baylor. I haven't been at a huge institution with this many kids. You add the brand and our social media department and how they compete with other women's basketballs social medias, it's just all bigger."
Kim Mulkey
LSU women's basketball currently has three of the top eight women NIL earners in the nation across all sports. Angel Reese, Flau'jae Johnson and Haley Van Lith have a combined NIL estimate of over 3.3 million dollars. Right now, LSU is the place to be as a college athlete, and no one is reaping the benefit quite like Mulkey.
"What is different than when I was at Baylor or Louisiana Tech? LSU is just a bigger deal, it's a bigger brand. The NIL, it's no secret, it's being discussed with congress now. In a lot of ways, the rich get richer. I don't know what's going to happen there...I want them to do whatever they can to sell their brand. I want LSU to do everything, within NCAA regulations, for us to put our brand out there for every student athlete. It's off the charts right now at LSU and I mean this in all sports."
Kim Mulkey
Mulkey is not just dominating the competition on the court, but she's doing it off the court as well. As I said earlier, LSU women's basketball had the number one recruiting and transfer portal class in the nation this past offseason.
With a bunch of new elite players comes a lot of big personalities, but big personalities are nothing new to Mulkey as last season Angel Reese became an internet sensation with her incredible play. Now, she has a bunch of new personalities to manage, but she doesn't think she'll have any issues with her new squad.
"I don't know that I'm going to have a problem managing it. You want those personalities to shine and make sure the shine in a positive light. You want that spotlight and I think everybody that's going to have that uniform on is going to welcome that spotlight. With it will come a lot of criticism, but also a lot of rewards. I don't anticipate them not being able to handle what comes with what people expect from them."
Kim Mulkey
Highlighting the new incoming players are Haley Van Lith, Aneesah Morrow and Aalyah Del Rosario. The top two transfers and top recruit came here to win and be on the biggest stage in women's basketball.
Mulkey talked about the new additions to the team and what roles they'll play with their new squad.
"[Aneesah] Morrow and [Haley] Van Lith bring experience. It matters. It's very obvious when you take a freshman and you take a transfer who has three years of college experience and you put them out there, you can just obviously see the difference, and it has nothing to do with talent. Aalyah [Del Rosario] will be the biggest one you see on the floor. I think Aalyah and Sa'Myah Smith have to really, really understand their value to our team. We lost LaDazhia [Williams]. LaDazhia was so good with Angel Reese. I think they must understand that you don't have to be LaDazhia, LaDazhia was a fifth year senior. They're a freshman and sophomore, I will be fair with them and judge them based on their progression, not on how do you compare to LaDazhia, but they do understand what LaDazhia's value was, particularly throughout the playoffs. Sa'Myah stayed here all summer, she got in the weight room and understands she wants that position. Aalyah came here in the summer, had her ankle cleaned up, made one of the USA basketball teams and chose to come here and work this summer. Those two kids have different personalities than LaDazhia, but I'm going to make sure they understand that I know you're just babies, but we still need production out of you."
Kim Mulkey
Mulkey is ready to try to take this team back to the promise land. They have the players, the brand and the coaching staff to do it, but they have to be ready for a tough road back to the championship.
