Kim Mulkey On Naismith Coach of the Year Watchlist

Mulkey On Naismith Coach of the Year Watchlist

ATLANTA – LSU Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kim Mulkey was named on Wednesday’s Naismith Coach of the Year late season watchlist.

In her second season in Baton Rouge, Coach Mulkey has lead LSU to a 23-1 record with four regular season games remaining. With nine new players and only one returner who played significant minutes last year, the Tigers have used the motto ‘Piece It 2gether’ to blend all of the pieces into a solid unit. After LSU went 26-6 in her first year at LSU and she won AP Coach of the Year, Coach Mulkey brought in an elite class of freshmen and transfers to allow the Tigers to continue to build a championship contender in Baton Rouge.

Alexis Morris, who scored 15.0 points for LSU last season, was the only returning player who had major contributions last season. After signing an elite freshmen class that included Flau’jae Johnson who has started every game this season and Sa’Myah Smith who has seen significant minutes off the bench and is only beginning to tap into her full potential, Coach Mulkey and her staff hit the transfer portal hard. They also signed Last-Tear Poa, to top rated JUCO player in the country who has seen significant minutes coming off the bench.

Angel Reese was ranked as the No. 1 Impactful transfer who came to LSU from Maryland. She began her career in Baton Rouge with a program record 23 consecutive doubles-doubles. Jasmine Carson came to LSU from West Virginia, Kateri Poole came from Ohio State and LaDazhia Williams came from Missouri and Coach Mulkey brought in all of the pieces to put a successful team on the court.

As a group they have meshed well. LSU began the season with a 23-0 record, the best start in program history and the longest win streak in program history. LSU was one of two remaining undefeated teams in the country and its first loss came to the only other unbeaten team in No.1 South Carolina, the defending National Champion.

Excitement around LSU Women’s Basketball is at an all-time high and continues to climb under Coach Mulkey’s leadership. There have been two sellouts this season in the SEC both games that LSU played in. On January 30, 15,157 fans packed into the PMAC to watch LSU take on Tennessee to set a PMAC record in its current configuration regardless of sport. The on February 12, Colonial Life Arena in Columbia was soldout to watch the Tigers play against the Gamecocks. The LSU vs. South Carolina was the most watched NCAA Women’s Basketball regular season game since 2010, averaging 1.6 million viewers and peaking at 1.7 million viewers.