“They’re pushing Angel Reese, Angel’s getting right back at them”: When Kim Mulkey revealed LSU practice strategy involving all-male "Dream Team"
Kim Mulkey gave insights into her "Dream Team" while speaking to the media in the interview published on April 27, 2023, weeks after lifting the NCAA championship. When a reporter asked the coach about the Tigers' scout team members, the coach shared her process of utilizing them.
Mulkey revealed that she gave each player a unique role each week, depending on the Tigers' upcoming matchup, calling them integral to LSU's success. With that, Kim Mulkey also shared that the contests between the main and scout team get heated regularly.
"We have a Dream Team," Mulkey said (timestamp 15:24). "These are students at LSU who have to go through NCAA Clearinghouse just like any student athlete. We use them as practice players
"Let's say we're getting ready to play South Carolina or we're getting ready to play anybody and we assign each one of them, 'This is who you are this week, this is her move, this is what she does,'" ... they are absolutely phenomenal and it gets very competitive there."
"Many times I have to tell them, 'Son, I don't have a scholarship for you, chill.' I'm talking like, they want to dunk it and they're pushing Angel and Angel's getting right back at him. I like some of that, it's good, but I mean you want guys like that. We have a ton of them."
Male scout team members are a common practice within women's basketball, be it college or the WNBA. Not only do they help in adapting to personnel, in-game nuances and playing against physical teams, they also allow the team to remain together instead of scrimmaging against each other.
Duke Blue Devils, Gonzaga Bulldogs and UConn Huskies are a few teams that incorporate scout teams in the NCAA while New York Liberty, Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA have adopted the concept as well.
Kim Mulkey and LSU Tigers' continue their undefeated run
The No. 6 Tigers continued to build on their undefeated record against the No. 16 Tennessee on Thursday, making them 18-0 (3-0 in SEC). The close contest (89-87) saw Aneesah Morrow posting her second consecutive double-double (16th of the season) with 23 points and 21 rebounds.
Kim Mulkey's squad will now host Vanderbilt on Monday before hitting the road to face Florida and No. 2 South Carolina for the SEC championship rematch on the road.