Baylor Legend Kim Mulkey to Become Next LSU Coach

Kim Mulkey takes over at LSU after leading Baylor to three national championships in her 21-year tenure.

After a 21-year career building the Baylor women's basketball program into a powerhouse, Kim Mulkey will become the next head coach at LSU, per a release.

She will be the eighth LSU women's basketball coach in program history—the winningest to ever be hired. She will be officially introduced at a press conference on Monday at 5 p.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend the press conference being held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Mulkey was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 after leading Baylor to national titles in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The two-time AP College Basketball Coach of the Year arrives in Baton Rouge to a faltering LSU program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2017. 

Mulkey will take over for Nikki Fargas after Fargas resigned this week to become president of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, according to AP. Fargas went 177–129 in 10 years at LSU, including five 20-win seasons, but couldn't manage to replicate the success of an LSU program that made five straight Final Four appearances from 2003 to 2008.

Mulkey arrived in Waco in 2000 from Louisiana Tech, where she was an All-American player and an assistant head coach. Mulkey took Baylor to its first women's NCAA tournament in her first season and only missed the tournament once as head coach in 2003.

The Bears have won the Big 12 regular season every year for the last decade, dating back to 2011, and were conference tournament champions this past season. Mulkey, a seven-time Big 12 coach of the year, is the fastest coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 600 wins.

The Tickfaw, La., native was 632–104 at Baylor with a .859 winning percentage, the third-best winning percentage in women’s basketball history behind UConn's Geno Auriemma (.885) and Mulkey's former coach at Louisiana Tech, Leon Barmore (.869.).