‘She’s going to build a monster here’: LSU’s Kim Mulkey found surprising success in Year 1. But is this just the start? – The Athletic

BATON ROUGE, La. Kim Mulkey got right to the point. In the first few days after her hire, she hosted a series of small dinners, often at Mansurs on the Boulevard. Shed invite some of the major money people around Louisiana, the movers and shakers of LSU athletics, and she didnt worry about pleasantries yet. Shed built an elite program before. She knew where to begin.

I want to get to know all of you, shed say, but for now, Im gonna ask you for some money.

She needed new offices so they wouldnt be embarrassed when they walked recruits through. They needed a new training room. A weight room, too. LSU womens basketball needed a facelift, to say the least, and thats what Mulkey was hired to do.

Before we get to Mulkeys ability as a coach, which you already know, you should know her ability to work a room. She thrives in a booster club luncheon. She cracks jokes others wont which people like around these parts and the Tickfaw, La., native makes people feel at home.

So when she had demands for how to rebuild this program, she was also going to earn them herself. One source told The Athletic when she was hired, Nobody raises money like her. And she got to work immediately.

Shes not afraid to ask for what she needs, Tiger Athletic Foundation president and CEO Matt Borman said, laughing.

Within 10 days, Mulkey raised roughly $1.3 million, a source said. They moved into the new training room last week. The new offices will be ready next season. The weight room is likely coming soon.

Eleven months after those dinners, Mulkeys shocking 26-6 season ended Monday in a nearly packed Pete Maravich Assembly Center that was almost empty for LSU womens basketball games a year ago.

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'She's going to build a monster here': LSU's Kim Mulkey found surprising success in Year 1. But is this just the start? - The Athletic