LSU HC Kim Mulkey once claimed $1.8M NIL-valued Angel Reese missed out on awards list due to "her GPA"
Kim Mulkey is one of the top head coaches in women's college basketball. The LSU Tigers coach led the team to a national championship last season and has three under her belt with the Baylor Bears.
On Saturday, the Washington Post published its highly anticipated profile of Mulkey. It featured many elements of her life, including her Louisiana upbringing.
The Post article did go into detail about the numerous controversies that have surrounded Mulkey, including her treatment of her star players.
Angel Reese, whose NIL value stands at $1.8 million (via On3), has been one of the top players for the Tigers this season. However, it was surprising to many when she wasn't included in the shortlist for the 2023 Wooden Award. At the time, Kim Mulkey had mentioned that Reese was "academically fine," which made her exclusion from the list even more unexpected.
However, the Washington Post revealed that Mulkey knew that Reese was not nominated for the awards due to "her GPA," which needed to be at a minimum of 2.000 to be nominated for the Wooden Award.
The relationship between player and coach was again affected during this season when Resse missed four consecutive games. At the time, Mulkey described it as:
"Coaching situation."
But subsequent interviews with Mulkey implied that there were issues in the locker room between the two.
"You always have to deal with locker room issues," Mulkey said. "Sometimes you don't know about it. Sometimes you want to know more than you're entitled to know. I'm going to protect my players. They are more important."
Additionally, the Post also revealed that Mulkey complained about Reese for her use of social media.
"(Angel Reese) stays on that social media crap," she said.
How has Kim Mulkey reacted to the Washington Post's article?
Kim Mulkey was asked by ESPN what she thought about the Post's article before her LSU Tigers face UCLA in the Elite Eight round of the women's NCAA tournament.
"You're telling me something I didn't know," Mulkey said. "So you're the bearer of good news or bad news or however you want to look at it ... But can tell you I haven't read it, don't know that I will read it. I'll leave that up to my attorneys."
From her comments, there is a chance that Kim Mulkey may take legal action against the Post for what they have written about her. Mulkey then turned her comments to the writer of the article
"The lengths he has gone to try to put a hit piece together," she added.
"After two years of trying to get me to sit with him for an interview, he contacts LSU on Tuesday as we were getting ready for the first-round game of this tournament with more than a dozen questions, demanding a response ... right before we're scheduled to tip off. Are you kidding me?
Kim Mulkey sees this article as an attack on her and was put together at a time when her LSU team is fighting to retain their national championship title.
Read More: What the hell was she so mad about", "It was defamation": College hoops world divided over LSU HC Kim Mulkey's latest Washington Post story