Kim Mulkey sets expectations as LSU WBB enters NCAA tournament

Kim Mulkey is in a very different position than she was 18 years ago. In 2005, her Baylor team won the national championship, shocking the college basketball world and giving Mulkey her first of three titles.

It was her fifth season in Waco when she had her breakthrough. In the first four seasons, her teams finished ranked 23, 7, unranked, and 15th in the final AP Polls. The program was far from dominant, but it continued to take the next step.

In 2005, Baylor was an unknown 2-seed. This time around, though, Mulkey isn’t surprising anyone. In just her second season at LSU, Mulkey has her team seen by many as dark horses to make a run at an Elite 8 or better. Her team is 28-2 and is perhaps the most talked about team in women’s college basketball with its cast of stars.

Still, Mulkey refuses to let expectations get out of hand.

“I can’t even compare my Baylor teams to what we’re doing here,” Mulkey said. “We are on a fast track and I think sometimes the fast track blinds the media and the fans on really what we should be achieving, but it doesn’t blind me. I know what our strengths are. I know how hard it is to build a program and we are way ahead of schedule.”

Building a contender

With the transfer portal, Mulkey has not had to wait on the development of freshmen to rebuild a program that won just nine games before she arrived in 2021. Star forward Angel Reese dominates headlines, but Alexis Morris, Jasmine Carson, LaDahzia Williams, and Kateri Poole are all impact transfers that have this team ready to compete on the national stage.

LSU finished the season 28-2 with losses only to South Carolina on the road and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 3 in the country, but now enters as a 3-seed set to take on 14-seed Hawaii on Friday night.

“This is the most exciting time of a college program’s year. I never want it to get old. I never want to lose that excitement. If I do, I need to retire. This is it.

“The most important thing is that we get to host. I know how loud it was in here last year and how badly people wanted seats. It should be a factor at all 16 of the home sites. I don’t know if I’ve been in an arena as loud as LSU. Kateri Poole was at Ohio State last year and she couldn’t believe it. I expect it to be that way this year. Fans don’t win games for you, last year Ohio State was better than we were. Our goal is to win two games at home, but playing at home does not guarantee you wins.”

Last year, the Tigers were also a 3-seed, making the loss to 6-seed Ohio State in the PMAC all the more painful. This year feels different, though. Mulkey admits that this team is deeper, more versatile defensively, and has more interior presence on both ends.

Teaching from experience

At Baylor, there was a natural progression for Mulkey. First, in 2001, she led the program to its first ever tournament appearance. In 2002, the second round. In 2003, Baylor missed the tournament. In 2004, Mulkey made it to the third round. Then, in 2005, her Baylor Bears arrived.

As Mulkey enters her 22nd NCAA tournament, she knows more than anyone that it’s a process.

“The fans get excited, but they also lose perspective,” Mulkey said. “They think we’re supposed to go to a Final Four – give me a break. Can we? Yea. That’s why you play the game, but we’re not supposed to be Final Four in year two here. We’re just hoping to win one more in the playoffs and then let the chips fall where they may. When you write about us don’t say you’re a failure if you don’t make it to the Final Four, are you kidding me? Our goal is to win two, we have not won two.”

“Winning two” will require wins over Hawaii then the winner of 6-seed Michigan and 11-seed UNLV. With Seven SEC teams making the tournament, LSU has been adequately tested, despite the talk around this team being about the weak non-conference schedule.

As Mulkey remains adamant that the goal is to win two games in the NCAA Tournament, it’s hard not to think back to the 2005 Baylor team that was in a similar position. Reaching a Final Four is a long shot, and is not the standard for success for this team, but if LSU makes it out of the first week, this team will be ready for more.

“You absolutely [believe we can win more], but do you think I went in 2005 and said we’re going to the Final Four and we’re winning a national championship? Are you kidding me? We were a two-seed that year,” Mulkey said. “What we talked about were our goals. This year, it’s getting to the Sweet 16. You can’t set those goals [of winning championships], until you achieve what you didn’t do last year.”