"I begged, I pleaded, I cried": LSU HC Kim Mulkey reflects on her departure from Louisiana Tech over a contract dispute
LSU Tigers coach Kim Mulkey is one of the best college basketball tacticians in recent memory. On April 2, 2023, she led her program to its first national championship with a commanding 102-85 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes in that year's title game.
However, before her success with the Tigers, Mulkey started her coaching career with the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. She was the team's assistant coach from 1985 to 1996 before serving as associate head coach from 1996 to 2000. The Lady Techsters won the national championship in 1988 and reached seven Final Fours.
During a sit-down interview on WAFB podcast "Jacques Talk" with host Jacques Doucet on Tuesday, she shared what went down in her known contract dispute that made her leave Louisiana Tech.
"Thank God for unanswered prayers," Mulkey said (4:40). "Always remember that, and I always believe things happen for a reason. We don't realize it in the moment, but you see, later in life, yes, I left Louisiana Tech over a five-year contract, not more money. I just felt like I had already spent 15 years in the state retirement system."
Mulkey added it was more than just money for the contract, even mentioning the bereaved legendary college basketball coach Leon Barmore as her guiding light.
"And five years would have had me fully vested, invested, and it mattered," she said (5:10). "I was following in the footsteps of a legend, Leon Barmore. And, so what do you want? You want security, not about what your pay is going to be. You want security. And, I just couldn't see me having spent all those years at Louisiana Tech.
"They watched me grow up in that program. They watched me turn down three head jobs."
Later on in the interview, Mulkey revealed how flabbergasted she was that she was not thought worthy of a five-year contract.
"I couldn't understand why I wasn't worth five years. Five years was starting to be given to other coaches," Mulkey said (5:39). "In fact, our second assistant at Louisiana Tech had left and went to Purdue and got a five-year contract. So, it wasn't unheard of. It was just a principal reason, and I begged, I pleaded, I cried, I did everything I could to stay there.
"It just wasn't meant to be. And I go to Baylor and roll my sleeves up and get to work."
She spent almost two decades with the Bears from 2000 to 2021, leading them to three national championships in 2005, 2012 and 2019. She joined the Tigers in 2021.
Mulkey and her LSU squad are now on the hunt for their second national championship following the success they garnered in the 2022-23 season.
Kim Mulkey went on to become one of the premier college basketball coaches in recent times
Mulkey went on to have a steady 21-year stint as the main tactician for the Baylor Bears before coming to the helm of LSU's coaching staff. She recently finished with an overall record of 31-6 and 12-4 during SEC play in the 2024-25 season.
Currently, Mulkey is looking to lead the LSU Tigers to their second national championship in four years in the 2025-26 campaign. They are using this offseason to retool after they were eliminated in the Elite Eight of this year's March Madness.