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WATCH: LSU players surprise Kim Mulkey with AP Coach of the Year award

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•03/31/22•

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Kim Mulkey had quite a first season at LSU this year. Thursday, she got recognized for it — and her players surprised her with the news.

The Associated Press announced Mulkey won the 2022 AP Coach of the Year on Thursday. The AP captured video of her players telling her the news, and they did it in a very cool way. They took her to the film room where they showed her a video revealing the honor.

“Is that real?” Mulkey said after she got the news. “When did that come out?”

Then, she told her players what it meant for the program to get that type of honor in year one.

“What I do care about is that brings recognition to this program, to everybody in this program,” Mulkey said. “Give me everything you’ve got, because guys, I’ll give y’all everything I’ve got.”

Mulkey spent the previous 20 seasons at Baylor, leading the Bears to a 632-104 mark and three national titles during that time. She also won seven Big 12 Coach of the Year and two AP College Basketball Coach of the Year awards at Baylor.

She left Waco to take over for for Nikki Fargas in Baton Rouge this past season. Upon her arrival, she turned the program around from a 9-13 record in 2020-21 to 26-6 in 2021-22. The Tigers made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where eventually fell to Ohio State. It was the Tigers’ first March Madness appearance since 2017 when they lost in the first round.

Khayla Pointer led LSU in scoring this year with 19.6 points per game en route to All-SEC First Team honors for the second straight year and becoming an AP Second Team All-American this season. Alexis Morris came in right behind her with 15.4 points per game and was named to the All-SEC Second Team.