5 things to know about LSU coach Kim Mulkey, including her legendary stint at Baylor
Kim Mulkey #KimMulkey
Former Baylor coach Kim Mulkey shocked the nation in 2021, announcing that she was leaving Waco to coach LSU in her home state of Louisiana.
In 2023 at the women’s Final Four in Dallas, she did it again, defeating Iowa to win the national championship in only her second season with LSU.
It was Mulkey’s her sixth championship as a player or coach and fourth as a head coach, now ranking third among women’s head coaches in titles.
Here are 5 things to know about the former Baylor Bears coach.
1. Louisiana born and bred
Mulkey began her college basketball career as a point guard at Louisiana Tech, winning two championships while playing. She began her coaching career as an assistant at Tech in 1985 and was promoted to associate head coach in 1996.
While there, she posted a 430–68 record and advanced to seven Final Fours, winning an NCAA championship in 1988.
2. Legendary run at Baylor
After her time at Tech, Mulkey left in 2000 to become the head coach for a Baylor program that finished 7–20 and last in the Big 12 Conference. The Bears had never made the tournament up to that point, but that would soon change.
In her first season, Mulkey took the Bears to their first NCAA tournament. They won their first NCAA title in 2005 against Michigan State, making Mulkey the first woman to win NCAA Division I basketball titles as a player and a head coach.
Mulkey would win two more championships at Baylor, including a legendary season in 2012. Led by Brittney Griner, the Bears took the college basketball season by storm, winning every game and defeating Notre Dame for the title.
No. 2 Stanford’s 59-47 loss was the closest any team came to beating Baylor. It was the first time in NCAA history that any team won 40 games in a season, though the UConn women matched the Bears in 2014.
3. Brittney Griner controversy
Mulkey has had her share of unfavorable media attention.
After leaving for the WNBA, Griner had a falling out with Baylor and Mulkey, who told her players not to be open about their sexuality. When Griner was later wrongfully detained in Russia over drug charges, Mulkey was one of the few among the women’s basketball community that did not publicly offer her support.
Mulkey also came under fire for comments about the Baylor sexual assault scandal.
“If somebody around you and they ever say ‘I will never send my daughter to Baylor, you knock them right in the face,” Mulkey said. “Because these kids are on this campus. I work here. My daughter went to school here and it’s the damn best school in America.”
Mulkey also suggested in 2021 that players should be able to participate in games even if they’re infected with COVID-19.
“I don’t think my words matter, but after the games today, tomorrow, there’s four teams left I think on the men’s side and the women’s side,” Mulkey said, unprompted, after her team lost to UConn 69-67 in the Elite Eight. “They need to dump the COVID testing.”
Mulkey, known for her unique fashion sense, has gone viral for some of her game ensembles during this year’s tournament. Tacky? Bold? Tasteful? Whatever your opinion, Mulkey walks the sideline with confidence.
“Through my years at Louisiana Tech, I used to wear dresses a lot, and then as I became a head coach, it was harder for me to squat on the sideline in a dress. So I quit wearing dresses, but I’ve always, always felt like I need to look nice. I need to be professional,” she said to reporters ahead of her 2023 Final Four matchup against Virginia Tech.
“Now, what has changed from the time since I was at Baylor to now is the stylists. There are LSU women who are graduates, who are famous designers, and they send me jackets and say, ‘Coach, you have to do this, this is who we are, this is Louisiana. We like the glit, we like all that stuff. Coach, quite honestly, I don’t know anything about basketball, but I will come just to see what you wear.’ “
Here’s a look at what Mulkey wore for her team’s semifinal against Virginia Tech:
And here’s what she wore for her fourth national championship win:
5. Sports run in the family
Mulkey’s son is Kramer Robertson, an infielder who was drafted out of LSU by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB Draft and has played for several clubs.
Her daughter, Makenzie Fuller, played for Baylor from 2010-14 before joining the staff as assistant director of women’s basketball operations.
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