Kim Mulkey travels to watch Aaliyah Chavez at Nike Nationals
LSU’s Kim Mulkey was front and center as Aaliyah Chavez scored 34 points on Sunday afternoon to lead Cy Fair Elite to a win in the Nike Nationals semifinals. The No. 1 player in the country for the 2025 class, Chavez has remained LSU’s top target throughout the recruiting process and continue to show up to her AAU and high school games.
Last week, Mulkey was joined by assistant coaches Daphne Mitchell and Kaylin Rice to watch Chavez as she scored 33 points in a Nike EYBL game. All of the Tigers’ assistant coaches have seen her play in person multiple times and have remained in constant contact, looking to further build that relationship leaving the summer months.
Mulkey and the Tigers’ staff was also watching LSU commit Bella Hines, who has remained all-in on the Tigers, and top-20 prospect Ayla McDowell, who are both on Cy Fair Elite with Chavez.
LSU hosted Chavez on an unofficial visit in early June, which further solidified LSU as one of the top teams in her recruitment.
“It was good,” Said Sonny Chavez, Aaliyah’s father. “We had a couple of delays getting there, but once we got there the staff really took care of us, especially considering their camps were going on, they still made time to make us feel welcome. The energy was definitely there.”
LSU also hosted Chavez on an unofficial in October of 2023. Out of Lubbock, Texas, Aaliyah has been the undisputed top player in the class and is wrapping up a summer as one of the top scorers in the nation on the Nike EYBL scene.
She averaged 38.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.4 steals per game as a junior at Lubbock Monterey, then showed out as the best player on the Nike EYBL circuit over the summer.
Chavez’ top ten includes Arizona, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, and USC, but that list is dwindling quickly as the fall approaches and LSU has remained strong pushing for her every step of the way.
“They’ve recruited me very well,” Chavez told On3’s Talia Goodman. “I think I talk to at least an assistant coach every day. They definitely talk to my parents a lot. They’re also a winning program, and I would love to win… [The visit] was fun. It was definitely different than the other visits. They had all the girls there when I was there, so they were in my photoshoots. It was definitely a different vibe. I like their energy as well – at the photoshoot, it was so high. There was no low energy at all.”
Stay tuned to the Bengal Tiger for the latest women’s basketball recruiting news throughout the offseason.
