2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 53
53
Three-time national
champion coach Kim Mulkey
takes over as LSU women’s
basketball head coach.
A
massive addition to LSU’s catalog of head coaches
was announced after the circulation of rumors
throughout the last few weeks. Former Baylor
and three-time national championship winning head coach
Kim Mulkey was named LSU’s next women’s basketball coach
after the resignation of former Head Coach Nikki Fargas was
finalized earlier this week.
Mulkey is a native of Tickfaw, Louisiana, and was a
force both as a player and coach at Louisiana Tech, where
she participated in 11 Final Fours and three national
championships in her time in Ruston.
She led Baylor to four Final Fours in her tenure, missing
the tournament only once in her 20 years there. Mulkey
was the fastest coach in both men’s and women’s Division 1
basketball to reach 600 wins, as she accomplished the feat
in just 700 games. She will be inducted into the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame in May.
This is an enormous move by Athletic Director Scott
Woodward as a sign of re-investment into LSU’s women’s
basketball program, which made five straight final fours
from 2004 to 2008, but has not made it to the Elite Eight
since. With the program faltering after missing the
tournament every year since 2018, Woodward made it clear
with this move that LSU will no longer neglect their women’s
basketball team and will look to compete for a national
championship.
“Kim Mulkey is a champion and a Hall of Famer, and
we are thrilled to welcome her home,” said Woodward.
“Her accomplishments are unprecedented, her passion is
unrivaled, and her commitment to winning in all aspects of
life – in the classroom, on the court, and in the community –
is unparalleled. We look forward to working with her as she
instills that championship culture at LSU.”
LSU fans are naturally aware of Mulkey’s direct connection
to the university via her son, Kramer Robertson. Robertson
was the starting shortstop on LSU’s College World Series
Runner-Up team in 2017 and was a Tiger fan favorite with
boisterous play and eccentric hair. Robertson is now in the
St. Louis Cardinals organization as he pursues a career as a
major league baseball player.
mulkey’sprogram