As Aalyah Del Rosario finds her footing, LSU hits its stride

As she watched her teammates win gold medals over the summer, Aalyah Del Rosario sat in Baton Rouge hopeful. The hope was that her decision would pay off in the long run.

The 6-foot-6 soon-to-be freshman at LSU had a lingering ankle injury that continued to swell up throughout the spring months and into the summer, but she was able to play through it. She played in the McDonald’s All American Game in late March, then in May, Del Rosario was named to the USA U19 Team. She had her sights on playing initially, but LSU’s coaching staff wanted to talk to her about the ankle.

“USA basketball is a big deal, but make her understand, if she wants to be in the mix here, she may want to think about getting the ankle looked at,” Mulkey remembers telling her assistant coaches. “If there’s some sort of clean up that can be done with the physicians, let’s do it and get her well so when we start in the fall she’s not having to do it then.”

Del Rosario chose to skip Team USA and get the ankle repaired, marking the beginning of a rehab journey that spanned the summer, but allowed her to get her body right before her freshman season at LSU.

“I thought it was a great decision to come and get her ankle cleaned up,” Mulkey said. “She learned about nutrition. She had her own individual workouts with Thomas, our strength and conditioning coach, and then had our trainer work with her to get her ankle right.”

Her first fall at LSU

Del Rosario was the No. 7 player in the 2023 class, setting incredibly high expectations coming into the season. Early on, she got in late in games or for spot minutes, but was unable to get into a rhythm. Even as the tallest player on the court, things didn’t come easy.

The adjustment period came both on the court and off it. She was intent on changing her body to become more agile and quicker on the floor and with the newfound confidence in her ankle, she could try to be more explosive.

“I have watched her body change,” Mulkey said after Tuesday’s win over McNeese. “She’s become leaner and she’s mobile now. She moves and she runs and she did some things tonight she couldn’t do earlier in the year. She’s very proud of herself. When you see results you become really confident. Think about the beatings she takes from guarding Angel Reese every day. That’s not a bad thing, because it’s going to make her better against better players.”

Del Rosario finished Tuesday night with 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds, a leap forward from the minutes she was giving LSU early in the year.

“Her size helps us,” Mulkey said after the win over Louisiana. “She’s in the best shape of her life. She’s moving her feet better. She’s confident. She can alter shots. Where does she struggle, like all freshmen do? It’s if she has to guard a smaller guard on the perimeter. That’s not going to be fixed overnight. Kalani Brown, all the bigs I’ve ever coached, it takes time to defend smaller guards and post players on the perimeter, but I thought her minutes were outstanding.”

The pressure on Del Rosario’s shoulder increased significantly when sophomore center Sa’Myah Smith went down with a knee injury and was ruled out for the season in November. Since then, Del Rosario has played an average of 16.5 minutes per game, backing up Angel Reese at the five. 

“It changed my perspective about the game,” Del Rosario said of Smith’s injury. “I knew I was going to have to step up and play more minutes and I have to take advantage of those minutes.”

Del Rosario has begun finding her footing in college basketball, but in three weeks, SEC play begins and the stakes rise to another level. The talent opposite her will be better and she’ll have a much tougher challenge on both sides of the ball.

Fortunately, there’s still time for Mulkey to help bring the most out of the towering freshman center before then. As she always does, the hall of fame head coach knows exactly what she needs to do and how to approach the challenge ahead.

“I don’t know what it is with big girls,” Mulkey said with a grin. “I played with some of the best big girls and I’ve coached some of the best big girls, but they’re always the nicest. I always tell them ‘Y’all are like big teddy bears.’ Here’s what I tell Aalyah: ‘I don’t want you to be a Kia, I want you to be a Mack Truck.’ She loves that. She thinks that’s funny. I want her to play like a Mack Truck and then once we get off the court, be whatever you want to be, but when you’re playing, use what God gave you and blessed you with. 

“She’s a very nice kid and sometimes I’ll see something come out of her and I’ll think ‘yes I’m getting deep in that soul.’ She has all the skills, she just needs playing time.”