Mulkey to LSU

[Vowelguy]

I just said that they were the only two powers that didn't schedule Dawn in non-conference.

I didn't mean to insinuate they were scared, just apparently uninterested.

How do you know it wasnt Dawn who didn't schedule them?

 

[Vowelguy]

Interesting read

Kim Mulkey’s exit from Baylor is a result of strain, fatigue and pettiness | Opinion

The Hall of Fame coach built a national power in Waco, but the two sides had finally grown tired of each other.

amp.star-telegram.com

lol that a 23% increase is a "small bump in salary"

People have this strange obsession with wanting decisions to boil down to a single factor. Do they ever? Was it solely about money? Was it solely about going back to LA? Of course not.

But if Washington offered her 2.8M or LSU offered her 1M, I'm sure she would not have moved.

It was everything. There was tension at Baylor. AND THEN her home state flagship U offered her a boatload of $. A perfect storm of events.

 

[Puppy Love]

Puppy Love said:
Has there been any word on how well Matthew Mitchell is recovering from his injury? I’d love to hope that some day he would be well enough to take over a top program.

Why on earth would you want that? Or were you not around for his patented forty minutes of fouling approach to coaching?

Sheeeesh...maybe because he retired at the prime of a pretty successful career because of an injury. Maybe because I’m a decent person and would wish anyone the best. Maybe because he’s one of the few people with a resume that is Baylor quality.

 

[TC22]

Duly noted, but so what? ND played and plays a pretty good OOC, Kim seems a tad light but has played UConn sporadically over the years.
Is Dawn all of a sudden a squad teams need to aspire to play?

Honestly I am very intrigued to see this 2 woman act in the SEC as everyone else will be playing for 3rd. Dawn’s chip on the shoulder will not play well with Kim so I am all ready.
..

Even before Dawn had good teams she would play the best teams she could find. Her theory is you don’t get better playing lesser teams. That’s how the series with UConn got started.
It’s going to be very interesting to see the dynamic between two strong personalities in the SEC. Although there have Been some good rivals and the fan bases can get snippy, the coaches for the most part all seem to respect each other. 🙂. Enter Kim let me stir the pot for you Mulkey. Should be facinating. I’m sure there will be a loud and proud crowd for the LSU game next year In Columbia. 💥💥💥💥. I’m not a Mulkey fan at all.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Even before Dawn had good teams she would play the best teams she could find. Her theory is you don’t get better playing lesser teams. That’s how the series with UConn got started.
It’s going to be very interesting to see the dynamic between two strong personalities in the SEC. Although there have Been some good rivals and the fan bases can get snippy, the coaches for the most part all seem to respect each other. 🙂. Enter Kim let me stir the pot for you Mulkey. Should be facinating. I’m sure there will be a loud and proud crowd for the LSU game next year In Columbia. 💥💥💥💥. I’m not a Mulkey fan at all.

I dislike Mulkey so much, I'm actually concerned I won't keep my cool during that game. I guess I did when Baylor played in Columbia in 2019, but we didn't have a great team that year, so it wasn't close.

 

[noirwestern]

Puppy Love said:
Has there been any word on how well Matthew Mitchell is recovering from his injury? I’d love to hope that some day he would be well enough to take over a top program.

Sheeeesh...maybe because he retired at the prime of a pretty successful career because of an injury. Maybe because I’m a decent person and would wish anyone the best. Maybe because he’s one of the few people with a resume that is Baylor quality.

You scribbled a little much between my lines. No matter. I have nothing whatsoever against him as a person. As a coach? I found his approach a cross between desperate and detestable and find it hard to believe that anyone who likes the women's game would want to see it replicated anywhere else.

 

[SimpleDawg]

Oklahoma still has more Championships than the SEC combined. UCLA and Arizona have probably about half of the total Championships just between the 2 of them. Never mind that Arizona St., Washington and Cal have combined for more Championships than the SEC has. Also have to note they haven't won a Title in 5 years. I've not convinced of the SEC being a rising power in softball. I'll be shocked if anyone other than UCLA or Oklahoma claims the crown this season.

SEC has more entitled fanbases across the board. Alabama and Florida fans in softball are like Mississippi State and South Carolina fans in women's basketball. They're not historically the best ever in their sport but they want to act like it.

Arizona, Oklahoma, and UCLA dominate the sport. But then... those I named are among the few who really cares about the game, tbh.

 

[Vowelguy]

You scribbled a little much between my lines. No matter. I have nothing whatsoever against him as a person. As a coach? I found his approach a cross between desperate and detestable and find it hard to believe that anyone who likes the women's game would want to see it replicated anywhere else.

In the 26 years before him, KY made the NCAAs 6 times and the NIT 3.
In his 12 non Covid years, they made the NCAAs 9 times and the NIT 2. He was an effective successful coach.

 

[noirwestern]

In the 26 years before him, KY made the NCAAs 6 times and the NIT 3.
In his 12 non Covid years, they made the NCAAs 9 times and the NIT 2. He was an effective successful coach.

Still dodging the issue. Had officials not grown tired of blowing their whistles he wouldn't have been quite so successful. If it's not too much trouble, track a few of their games down. It doesn't have to be ones vs UConn. Any old game will do.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Duly noted, but so what? ND played and plays a pretty good OOC, Kim seems a tad light but has played UConn sporadically over the years.
Is Dawn all of a sudden a squad teams need to aspire to play?

Honestly I am very intrigued to see this 2 woman act in the SEC as everyone else will be playing for 3rd. Dawn’s chip on the shoulder will not play well with Kim so I am all ready.
..

They certainly have very different views and are very willing to share them.

Both can say not quite the right thing after losses so I could see things getting heated.

I should keep my mental notes on scheduling to myself, I guess. It was mainly just making a note that another big name was going on the schedule who hadn't been there in the past. It had nothing to do with lack of respect or fear, just an observation. Notre Dame and Baylor can play who they want. It didn't bother me. I just noted that they didn't and would have liked to play while they were at their peaks. Obviously, they may have felt no need to do it. That's fine.

But for what it's worth, I think that South Carolina is a program that a lot of folks would aspire to play these days.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

How do you know it wasnt Dawn who didn't schedule them?

I don't.

Maybe Dawn can't stand Mulkey and didn't schedule her for that reason despite being begged to do it. Maybe Mulkey could not care less about playing South Carolina.

Regardless, Mulkey is on the schedule now, which was the whole point of the comment.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

In the 26 years before him, KY made the NCAAs 6 times and the NIT 3.
In his 12 non Covid years, they made the NCAAs 9 times and the NIT 2. He was an effective successful coach.

I think people get a little too upset with chippy teams. They're good rivals.

They're easy to dislike, hard to defeat, and great fun to beat.

It's just a game in the end. They're not serial killers.

 

[Jackalope]

lol that a 23% increase is a "small bump in salary"

People have this strange obsession with wanting decisions to boil down to a single factor. Do they ever? Was it solely about money? Was it solely about going back to LA? Of course not.

But if Washington offered her 2.8M or LSU offered her 1M, I'm sure she would not have moved.

It was everything. There was tension at Baylor. AND THEN her home state flagship U offered her a boatload of $. A perfect storm of events.

There is one thing that might have added to the perfect storm of Events. It looks like she might get a very sweet Louisiana state employee pension. She had 15 years of service at Louisiana Tech. Assuming she puts in 5 more years of service at LSU and she had contributed 7.5% of her salary in all the years she spent as a state employee. The retirement formula would be "2.5% times creditable years of service (inclusive of leave credit) times the average salary for your thirty-six highest successive months". Say her new base salary is $2 million and the rest performance bonuses. That would be a $1 million yearly state pension that she only gets if she works at a Louisiana state position! (info from Louisiana State Employees Retirement System (LASERS) ). Alternatively she could be covered by a plan from TIAA, and the specifics of that plan don't seem to be available.

Now she also worked 21 years at Baylor and she is over 55. It looks like she will also be covered by a retirement pension from Baylor! Assuming the same type of formula, she might be getting $1 million a year from Baylor.

So, go home to Louisiana, work for 5 more years, and then possibly get $2 million a year in retirement from TWO pensions. No wonder she left Baylor!

 

[DefenseBB]

Even before Dawn had good teams she would play the best teams she could find. Her theory is you don’t get better playing lesser teams. That’s how the series with UConn got started.
It’s going to be very interesting to see the dynamic between two strong personalities in the SEC. Although there have Been some good rivals and the fan bases can get snippy, the coaches for the most part all seem to respect each other. 🙂. Enter Kim let me stir the pot for you Mulkey. Should be facinating. I’m sure there will be a loud and proud crowd for the LSU game next year In Columbia. 💥💥💥💥. I’m not a Mulkey fan at all.

The comment wasn’t about Dawn’s willingness to play to teams. It was the inference that “top teams need to play Dawn- specifically Muffet and Kim”
Now our SC colleague also intimidated all the other top teams play SC which also is not correct. With the spreading of the top talent AND the depth of talent continuing to grow, creating a more stratified top 10-15 group of teams, it will be impossible for all the top teams to play each other. When it was on 4, 5 or 6 teams regularly (think Stanford, UConn, ND, Baylor and SC; or in ‘05-14 era of Substituting Tenn for SC) it was easier for those squads to play.
Now add Oregon, Texas A&M, Texas, Arizona, Oregon State (why does he get a pass on his scheduling?), Maryland and UCLA to name just a few who have all done well in the NCAAT and in conference play, it’s that much more spread out. I would argue it’s easier to schedule good teams as there are so many now. To say any one of those teams HAS to play Dawn is silly.

 

[DefenseBB]

Lobo seems pretty optimistic about LSU's return to prominence.

Just based on your posing the comment, what is your view- do you think Kim will elevate LSU back into the National Title discussion?
My view is yes, whether she wins a title is up for debate as that is incredibly hard to do and no Coach has ever won a NCAA title at two different schools.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Lobo seems pretty optimistic about LSU's return to prominence.

I think Kim will do really well at LSU but it will take 2-3 years to turn the roster around. I don't think some realize how bad the recruiting was under Nikki. Most of the incoming freshmen class (6 players) held no offers from P5 teams. At the press conference she was politically correct about the current status of the roster but she's gonna watch them play and realize Nikki was out of her mind. Considering how late this coaching hire was made, transfers also are very limited at this point as well. Outside of Cardoso and Mikesell, not sure what other high profile players are available unless someone from Baylor transfers.

 

[Argonaut]

Just based on your posing the comment, what is your view- do you think Kim will elevate LSU back into the National Title discussion?
My view is yes, whether she wins a title is up for debate as that is incredibly hard to do and no Coach has ever won a NCAA title at two different schools.

We were talking about this at my house over dinner last night (because if I have to have one more conversation about the NFL draft I might lose it...) about how much coaching is not only about being a talented coach with talented players, but how much the stars have to align with the university and community, too, to make a program really successful.

I know Kim's situation is a lot different than Gail Goestenkors', but that move from Duke didn't end well for her. Looking back into history, when Sonja Hogg took over at Baylor, she didn't achieve anything close to what she did at La Tech, but she took about ten years off from coaching between the two schools. Then Kim came in directly from La Tech and they won a NC in five years.

It's just so hard to speculate because there isn't a lot of history to go on. Vic just got to Texas and seems to be recruiting well so far, but he definitely didn't see the same level of success Kim did at Baylor to make it a fair comparison. Leon Barmore left La Tech not long after Kim, but was never a head coach again (though he did join her in Waco for a few years...).

As soon as she gets LSU to an elite eight, her teams will be in the national title discussion until she retires. How long will that take? No idea.

 

[DEpup]

I think Kim's antics are hilarious to watch because she isn't coaching my team (UConn)... However, the Baylor success has been all about her. Baylor had no basketball history before her and let's be honest, no one is flocking to Waco, TX just for the town...

She was drawing the talent there. Now that she is at LSU, which one could argue is a better living situation than Waco all data would point to talent also coming to her in Baton Rouge...

I predict she will flirt with being ranked by the end of the coming season and winning a couple tournament games the following year. After that it will be LSU as a typical Mulkey team at the top until she decides to retire.... just a Baylor team switching out the green for purple with a slight change in shade of yellow/gold. No big deal because its about her not the school she's at.

 

[Kaizen]

Not as good as in Baylor the first few years.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Wow that's a lot of money.

 

[TC22]

Wow that's a lot of money.

It is a lot of money, but I have to hand it to LSU - they just made an investment in WBB. You better bet with that money on the line they'll do all they can to make it work. Who spends $80,000 on travel in a year? That HAS to be a mistake.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It is a lot of money, but I have to hand it to LSU - they just made an investment in WBB. You better bet with that money on the line they'll do all they can to make it work. Who spends $80,000 on travel in a year? That HAS to be a mistake.

Well they do get that big pile of $EC TV money every year so they can afford some stuff.

 

[SECbbfan24]

It is a lot of money, but I have to hand it to LSU - they just made an investment in WBB. You better bet with that money on the line they'll do all they can to make it work. Who spends $80,000 on travel in a year? That HAS to be a mistake.

This hire and contract was IMO was much bigger about LSU WBB (which obviously is a priority). It was an investment in doing something bigger for the school, women’s sports, and for the state of Louisiana itself. They are gonna use the hell out of her to raise money. The donations they are already getting as well as season ticket deposits is through the roof

 

[SimpleDawg]

Not as good as in Baylor the first few years.

LSU just went buck crazy with all that money. LSU is truly a gold mine.

I wonder who else in the SEC would throw that kind of money for a women's basketball coach. Surely can't be many.

 

[WFFL]

LSU just went buck crazy with all that money. LSU is truly a gold mine.

I wonder who else in the SEC would throw that kind of money for a women's basketball coach. Surely can't be many.

Not Vandy or Tennessee smh...