By Harper Mayfield | Sports Writer, Video by Nate Smith | Sports Director
Baylor women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey is headed to LSU. Announced by LSU athletic director Scott Woodward on Sunday, Mulkey will join the Tigers in her native Louisiana for the 2021-22 season.
A hall of famer, Mulkey won three national championships in her 21 years at Baylor, making the Lady Bears one of only four teams ever to have three titles. In conference play, Mulkey led Baylor to a combined 23 Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. Mulkey is also the only person in college basketball history to win a championship as a head coach, assistant, and player. The only other individuals to ever win as a player and coach are legendary men’s coaches Bobby Knight and Dean Smith. Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades acknowledged Mulkey’s long-term dominance in the wake of her departure.
“We are grateful for the more than two decades Kim Mulkey poured into building Baylor women’s basketball to one of the nation’s premier programs,” Rhoades said. “Coach Mulkey’s sustained success is one of the most remarkable runs in college basketball history, and her accomplishments are worthy of the Naismith Hall of Fame induction she’ll experience later this year.”
Baylor president Linda Livingstone, herself a former college basketball player, expressed her appreciation for Mulkey as well.
“On behalf of Baylor University, I want to extend our deepest appreciation to Coach Kim Mulkey for her incredible leadership of our women’s basketball program for the past 21 seasons,” Livingstone said. “As a Hall of Fame coach, her teams were a shining light for Baylor and a point of tremendous pride for all of us in the Baylor Family. More importantly, while Coach Mulkey prepared her student-athletes for success on the court, she also ensured they were successful beyond basketball as proud graduates of Baylor. We will always be grateful for Coach Mulkey building Baylor into a nationally elite women’s basketball program and for her commitment to excellence. We wish Kim and her family all the best as she returns to her Louisiana roots.”
In leaving Waco, Mulkey will get something of a homecoming in Baton Rouge, as she grew up in Tickfaw, Louisiana and played her college ball at Louisiana Tech. Her son, Kramer Robertson, was a first team All-SEC shortstop at LSU. Now, the eight time coach of the year will have the chance to make her own mark on the Tigers.
Mulkey will be officially announced at LSU on Monday at 5 p.m.
