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Kim Mulkey's emotional comments on New Orleans attack

On3 imageby:Matthew Brune•01/02/25•

MatthewBrune_

NCAA Womens Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Middle Tennessee vs Lousiana State
Mar 24, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Lady Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey looks on against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders during the first half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Less than two days after the terrorist attack on New Orleans on New Years Day at 3:15 a.m., Kim Mulkey’s LSU basketball team took the floor and beat Arkansas 98-64. Still, the Tigers’ head coach could hardly take her mind off of the tragedy that struck her home state.

Arkansas had a moment of silence before the game to honor the victims of the attack. After the game, Mulkey was asked about her thoughts on what took place.

“A lot of people’s children and families — I can not even imagine how they feel,” Mulkey said. ” I went back to my state of Louisiana to be a positive and you just wish you could do something. It was very classy of Arkansas to do that with kids from our area. I can’t quit thinking about it, to be honest. It’s so close to home it smacks you right in the face. You get emotional because I just can not imagine those families right now and what they are having to deal with. All you can do is pray that somehow someway they can deal with it and continue on with their lives.”

The victim death total is at 14 with 40 more injured that night in New Orleans. Mulkey talked to her team about the situation and was there for them along the way. Mulkey is one of Louisiana’s brightest lights and understands the impact this has on the state, communities, and families.

“We practiced that day and before we left, coach Bob Starkey and I talked to them about it being New Years Eve and said it wasn’t going to be them you worried about. It’s others. Like I told my own children growing up, I don’t worry about you, I worry about others around you.

“We talked about it briefly. It’s too close to home. Its too emotional. Izzy Besselman on our team is an Episcopal graduate and Kareem [Badawi] didn’t make it and his parents were looking for him. We talked about all of that. It’s right there underneath us and you can’t ignore it. You just talk about who you know. [Tiger] Bech – His brother played at LSU and transferred to TCU. You feel like you know these people personally just because we’re from a small geographic state. Then when you see where everything happened, my own son said ‘Mom, I was just there last week. Mom that could have been any of us.’ It hits young people so you talk about it. It’s something that has been in my heart. I haven’t stopped paying attention to it long enough to let it breath because I’ll get back on that bus and I will text someone and see something. It’s horrific and it’s gut wrenching to think that that happened so close to home.”

LSU returns home to take on Auburn on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the PMAC.

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