.jpg) Mulkey coachingLSU in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Head coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | LSU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conference | SEC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 124–20 (.861) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1962-05-17)May 17, 1962 (age 63) Santa Ana, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1984 | Louisiana Tech | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | USA National Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1996 | Louisiana Tech (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Louisiana Tech (associate HC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2021 | Baylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–present | LSU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall | 756–124 (.859) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As player: NCAA Division I tournament (1982) AIAW Division I tournament (1981) As assistant coach: NCAA Division I Tournament (1988) As head coach: 4× NCAA Division I Tournament (2005,2012,2019,2023) 5×NCAA Regional—Final Four (2005, 2010, 2012, 2019, 2023) 12×Big 12 regular season (2005, 2011–2021) 11×Big 12 tournament (2005, 2009, 2011–2016, 2018, 2019, 2021) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2020 (profile) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an Americancollege basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach forLouisiana State University'swomen's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, she is the first coach inNCAA 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 atBaylor in2005,2012, and2019; and at LSU in2023. Mulkey is one of seven coaches to have led teams to more than one championship win, ranking third behind UConn'sGeno Auriemma's 12 titles and former Tennessee coachPat Summitt's 8 wins.[2]
Mulkey was inducted into theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.[1][3][4][5]
In 2007, Mulkey penned her autobiography, titledWon't Back Down: Teams, Dreams and Family.
Kim Mulkey was born inSanta Ana, California,[6][dead link] and spent her childhood inTickfaw, Louisiana. After playing basketball at Nesom Junior High School[citation needed] in Tickfaw, she led herHammond High School basketball team to four consecutive state championships.[citation needed] As high schoolvaledictorian, she graduated with a 4.0GPA.[citation needed]
The 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Mulkey was anAll-Americanpoint guard atLouisiana Tech University, winning two national championships as a player: theAIAW title in 1981 and theinaugural NCAA title in 1982.[citation needed] In 1984, she was the inaugural winner of the women'sFrances Pomeroy Naismith Award, awarded to the top college senior under 5'6"/1.68 m (the height limit was later raised).[7]
Mulkey was selected to be a member of the USA National women's basketball team for the 1983 Pan American Games inCaracas, 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 1984Jones Cup by an average of just under 50 points per game. Mulkey averaged 6.8 points per game.[10] At the1984 Summer Olympics, USA National won its six games to earn the gold medal, with Mulkey averaging 5.3 points per game.[11]
In 1985, Mulkey was hired as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech underLeon 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.[citation needed]
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In 2000, Mulkey took over a Baylor program that had finished its previous season 7–20 and last in theBig 12 Conference.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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 toUConn, a team that Baylor was supposed to face earlier in the season but was cancelled due to Mulkey's COVID diagnosis.[14] According toCBS News, her comments were later described by "many basketball fans" as "misinformed, dangerous and irresponsible".[15] Connecticut head coachGeno Auriemma later defended Mulkey's comments, noting the complexity of decisions during the pandemic particularly in the context of college sports.[16][17]
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]
Mulkey has been the subject of several controversies during her coaching career.[19] In 2013, star Baylor playerBrittney 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 aboutGriner's detention in Russia.[19][23][24]
In March 2024, Mulkey threatened to sue theWashington Post for an upcoming article she described as a "hit piece".[23] She also criticized aLos 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]
In 1987, Mulkey married Randy Robertson, whom she met at Louisiana Tech where he was the starting quarterback for theBulldogs for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. They have two children together: sonKramer, a professional baseball player and collegiate All-American atLouisiana State University, and daughter Makenzie, who played bothbasketball andsoftball 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]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Lady Bears(Big 12 Conference)(2000–2021) | |||||||||
| 2000–01 | Baylor | 21–9 | 9–9 | 6th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2001–02 | Baylor | 27–6 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | Baylor | 24–11 | 8–8 | 7th | WNIT Runner-up | ||||
| 2003–04 | Baylor | 26–9 | 10–6 | T–4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2004–05 | Baylor | 33–3 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2005–06 | Baylor | 26–7 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2006–07 | Baylor | 26–8 | 11–5 | 3rd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2007–08 | Baylor | 25–7 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Baylor | 29–6 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2009–10 | Baylor | 27–10 | 9–7 | 6th | NCAA Final Four | ||||
| 2010–11 | Baylor | 34–3 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2011–12 | Baylor | 40–0 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2012–13 | Baylor | 34–2 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2013–14 | Baylor | 32–5 | 16–2 | T-1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2014–15 | Baylor | 33–4 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2015–16 | Baylor | 36–2 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2016–17 | Baylor | 33–4 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2017–18 | Baylor | 33–2 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2018–19 | Baylor | 37–1 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2019–20 | Baylor | 28–2 | 17–1 | 1st | Postseason not held due toCOVID-19 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Baylor | 28–3 | 16–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| Baylor: | 632–104 (.859) | 291–61 (.827) | |||||||
| LSU Tigers(Southeastern Conference)(2021–present) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | LSU | 26–6 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | LSU | 34–2 | 15–1 | 2nd | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2023–24 | LSU | 31–6 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2024–25 | LSU | 31–6 | 12–4 | 3rd | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2025–26 | LSU | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| LSU: | 122–20 (.859) | 53–11 (.828) | |||||||
| Total: | 754–124 (.859) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| 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 | |||
Links to related articles | |
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