Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey departs Baylor for LSU

April 25 (UPI) — Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, who guided the Lady Bears to three national championships over 21 seasons, is leaving Baylor for LSU, the schools announced.

LSU said Mulkey, who grew up in Tickfaw, La., will be officially introduced in a news conference Monday.

“Kim Mulkey is a champion and a Hall of Famer, and we are thrilled to welcome her home,” LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said in a statement Sunday. “Her accomplishments are unprecedented, her passion is unrivaled, and her commitment to winning in all aspects of life — in the classroom, on the court, and in the community — is unparalleled.

“We look forward to working with her as she instills that championship culture at LSU.”

The 58-year-old Mulkey took over the Baylor women’s basketball program in 2000. Before her arrival, the school had never reached the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Bears have missed the NCAA tournament only once since then and captured national titles in 2005, 2012 and 2019.

We are who we are because of you.

Thank you Coach.#SicEm | @KimMulkey pic.twitter.com/ihzqT6l58X— Baylor Lady Bears (@BaylorWBB) April 25, 2021

Mulkey previously played at Louisiana Tech, where she later spent 15 years as an assistant and associate head coach.

Mulkey also won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 Olympic Team. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.

“We are grateful for the more than two decades Kim Mulkey poured into building Baylor women’s basketball to one of the nation’s premier programs,” Baylor athletic director Mack B. Rhoades said in a news release.

“Coach Mulkey’s sustained success is one of the most remarkable runs in college basketball history, and her accomplishments are worthy of the Naismith Hall of Fame induction she’ll experience later this year.”

Mulkey takes over for former LSU women’s head coach Nikki Fargas, who stepped down Saturday after a decade at LSU. According to the school, Fargas was leaving to pursue another opportunity.