While the LSU women’s basketball team may not have succeeded in completing its goal of winning a national championship this season, Kim Mulkey and her team’s hard work in her first year at the helm did not go unnoticed. Mulkey was named the Associated Press’ National Coach of the Year for Division I Women’s Basketball.
It is the third Coach of the Year award in her coaching career. She takes home the award despite losing out on SEC Coach of the Year to South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley.
When Mulkey arrived at LSU, many were expecting change and big strides out of the women’s basketball program, but few expected it to happen so quickly. The turnaround brought a brand new energy to the program, from the play on the court to support from the fans. The PMAC drew huge crowds for games down the stretch, creating an atmosphere around the program that had not been seen in years.  
Mulkey’s Tigers went 26-6 in her inaugural season, finishing ninth in the last AP poll of the year and second in the SEC. This comes off the heels of a 9-13 season last year with much of the core remaining from Nikki Fargas’ last team in star point guard Khayla Pointer, center Faustine Aifuwa and shooting guard Jailin Cherry.
Mulkey was lauded throughout the season for her ability to turn around the program while using many of the current players already on the roster when she arrived.
Mulkey was also a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award, though that award was also given to Staley of South Carolina.
LSU was defeated by Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA tournament in the PMAC, 79-64, after being ranked a No. 3 seed by the committee. Pointer, Aifuwa and Cherry have all entered their names in the upcoming WNBA draft. A small rebuild may be on Mulkey’s hands in the upcoming season, but that does not take away from what she was able to accomplish in her first year. Mulkey has even warned fans about a potential small rebuild, noting the amount of production that is leaving the team this offseason.
However, Mulkey established a foundation to build on for LSU women’s basketball in the coming years, and that was enough to earn her recognition from the Associated Press.