Kim Mulkey

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Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's women's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, she is the first coach in NCAA basketball history to win national championships as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.[1] Since the inception of the NCAA women's tournament in 1982, Mulkey has participated as a player or coach every year except 1985 and 2003.

As head coach, her teams won NCAA championships at Baylor in 2005, 2012, and 2019; and at LSU in 2023. Mulkey is one of seven coaches to have led teams to more than one championship win, ranking third behind UConn's Geno Auriemma's 12 titles and former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt's 8 wins.[2]

Mulkey was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.[1][3][4][5]

In 2007, Mulkey penned her autobiography, titled Won't Back Down: Teams, Dreams and Family.

Youth

Kim Mulkey was born in Santa Ana, California,[6]Script error: No such module "Unsubst". and spent her childhood in Tickfaw, Louisiana. After playing basketball at Nesom Junior High SchoolScript error: No such module "Unsubst". in Tickfaw, she led her Hammond High School basketball team to four consecutive state championships.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". As high school valedictorian, she graduated with a 4.0 GPA.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Louisiana Tech

The Script error: No such module "convert".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Mulkey was an All-American point guard at Louisiana Tech University, winning two national championships as a player: the AIAW title in 1981 and the inaugural NCAA title in 1982.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In 1984, she was the inaugural winner of the women's Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, awarded to the top college senior under 5'6"/1.68 m (the height limit was later raised).[7]

USA Basketball

Mulkey was selected to be a member of the USA National women's basketball team for the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. The team won all five games to earn the gold medal for the event. Mulkey averaged 12.4 points per game.[8] At the 1983 World Championships, USA National took home the silver medal after winning six games and losing two, with Mulkey averaging 3.1 points per game.[9]

USA National won its eight games at the 1984 Jones Cup by an average of just under 50 points per game. Mulkey averaged 6.8 points per game.[10] At the 1984 Summer Olympics, USA National won its six games to earn the gold medal, with Mulkey averaging 5.3 points per game.[11]

Coaching career

Louisiana Tech

In 1985, Mulkey was hired as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech under Leon Barmore, then promoted to associate head coach in 1996 before leaving in 2000. Over her 15 years, Tech posted a 430–68 record and advanced to 7 Final Fours, winning the NCAA championship in 1988.[2] She was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America's Academic Hall of Fame for her classroom achievements.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Baylor

Template:BLP sources section In 2000, Mulkey took over a Baylor program that had finished its previous season 7–20 and last in the Big 12 Conference.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Baylor received its first NCAA tournament bid during her inaugural season, going on to the tournament 18 more times. During her tenure, the Bears advanced 4 times to the Final Four, winning the championship in 2005, 2012, and 2019.[2] The 2012 national title followed a 40-0 perfect season, the first in program history.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

File:Kim Mulkey in 2006.jpg
Mulkey in a postgame interview in 2006

During the COVID-19 pandemic

Although the 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baylor made it to the Elite Eight of the 2021 tournament, held in an event isolation "bubble.” During the Elite Eight round, Mulkey advocated ending COVID-19 testing on the tournament players despite the ongoing pandemic. She stated during a press conference that the organization tasked with running the student tournament should "dump the COVID testing", despite not being asked about it by reporters.[12] She then stated more fully, "Wouldn't it be a shame to keep COVID testing, and then you got kids [testing] positive or something, and they don't get to play in the Final Four? So you need to just forget the COVID tests and let the four teams that are playing in each Final Four go battle it out."[13] Mulkey herself had tested positive for the virus earlier in the season,[12] and made the comments following her team's loss to UConn, a team that Baylor was supposed to face earlier in the season but was cancelled due to Mulkey's COVID diagnosis.[14] According to CBS News, her comments were later described by "many basketball fans" as "misinformed, dangerous and irresponsible".[15] Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma later defended Mulkey's comments, noting the complexity of decisions during the pandemic particularly in the context of college sports.[16][17]

Louisiana State University

File:F20230526ES-0294 - 52961055255.jpg
Mulkey (foreground left) at the White House event celebrating the LSU Tigers winning the 2022–23 NCAA National Championship

After 21 seasons at Baylor, Mulkey departed for LSU in April 2021. In her second season, she led the Tigers to win the national championship for her fourth lifetime win as head coach.[18]

Controversies

Mulkey has been the subject of several controversies during her coaching career.[19] In 2013, star Baylor player Brittney Griner told ESPN that Mulkey advised student athletes to stay quiet about their sexual orientation, as being openly gay could hurt the reputation of the program at a religious school and inhibit recruiting efforts.[20][19] Griner explained that while she respected Mulkey's coaching and the way Mulkey defended Griner from bullying, she did not appreciate Mulkey's request to cover her tattoos or delete social media posts about her girlfriend.[19] Griner detailed the pain caused by this experience in her 2014 memoir.[21] Several players defended Mulkey.[22]

In 2022, Mulkey received criticism when she refused to comment about Griner's detention in Russia.[19][23][24]

In March 2024, Mulkey threatened to sue the Washington Post for an upcoming article she described as a "hit piece".[23] She also criticized a Los Angeles Times column as sexist for describing her LSU team as "dirty debutantes". The writer apologized and the paper removed the term from the article for not meeting their editorial standards.[25]

Personal life

In 1987, Mulkey married Randy Robertson, whom she met at Louisiana Tech where he was the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. They have two children together: son Kramer, a professional baseball player and collegiate All-American at Louisiana State University, and daughter Makenzie, who played both basketball and softball for Baylor. During her marriage to Robertson, she was known as Kim Mulkey-Robertson. Mulkey and Robertson divorced in 2006.[26]

Mulkey is known for her exuberant fashion worn during games.[27] She has said her style is inspired by Louisiana.[28] Mulkey often wears outfits by Queen of Sparkles. She gets styling assistance from Jennifer Roberts, LSU's director of player personnel and influence.[28]

Head coaching record

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National Championships

Year Opponent Score Record
2005 Michigan State Spartans 84–62 33–3
2012 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80–61 40–0
2019 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 82–81 37–1
2023 Iowa Hawkeyes 102–85 34–2
National Championships 4

Awards and honors

See also

References

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External links

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