After what felt like an eternity, the LSU women’s basketball team finally took the floor on Tuesday afternoon for its first practice open to the public.

While the Tigers’ first exhibition game isn’t for another month, we got a chance to see the new squad after an Elite Eight loss in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Just like in popular Kim Mulkey fashion, after losing players to the portal and the draft, the head coach reloaded in the offseason by bringing in transfers to accompany her No. 1 high school recruiting class.

However, with so many new faces, she emphasized the importance of spending time together so her team could create chemistry not just on the court, but off the court as well.

“We spent more time this summer than any summer since I’ve been at LSU, probably in a long time period,” Mulkey said. “Eight of the 13 in uniform this year are new, so that’s going to be a challenge. You don’t know how quickly they’ll pick up on things, but I think it’ll also be fun. I just see a lot of promise, talent, energy and nervousness, but it’ll be fun.”

Among the new eight players that Mulkey and her staff brought in, there’s a focal point on improving in the frontcourt.

The Tigers added Amiya Joyner from East Carolina, who averaged 15 points and 9.2 assists with the Pirates, and Kate Koval from Notre Dame, who stands at 6-foot-5 and averaged 5.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks during her freshman year.

The Tigers also brought in a 6-foot-2 true freshman, Grace Knox, who was listed as the No. 6 player in the class of 2025.

This offseason, LSU lost three bigs to the portal: Sa’Myah Smith, Jersey Wolfenbarger and Aalyiah Del Rosario. Aneesah Morrow was drafted seventh overall by the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA draft.

If you watched any Mulkey team in recent years, it’s apparent that she builds them through the frontcourt. Players such as Morrow, Angel Reese, LaDazhia Williams, Kalani Brown and so many more saw that development.

Last year, there was an absence of size, depth and athleticism, but this year, the Tigers might not have to worry about that.

“We’re pretty big,” Mulkey said. “If you look at Kate and you look at My-My (Joyner), those girls are big. We’ve got a mixture of big, we’ve got a mixture of size, we’ve got a mixture of athleticism. It’ll be fun to watch them develop.”

During practice, we saw entry passes to the bigs, such as Koval, Joyner and Knox, who were able to take it off the dribble and finish at the rim or find the open cutter down low. The Tigers are going to get plenty of looks in the post, and with the bigs that they possess, there won’t be a lot of misses.

As important as it was for Mulkey to rebuild the frontcourt, a lot of production relies on the guards. Flau’Jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams, Kailyn Gilbert and Jada Richard are the only returning players who saw the court consistently for Mulkey.

Everyone is aware of how talented these guards are, but there’s always room for improvement. For Williams, Mulkey expressed that she has started to take on a bigger role now that she’s heading into her third season with the Tigers.

“I think Mikaylah embraced a leadership role,” Mulkey said. “When you’re young, you don’t know, really, do I speak up? Do I not speak up? Do I let the older ones run the show, and then I just chime in? Now, I think she’s very comfortable that she’s earned the right as a junior now to go lead us.”

It’s going to be Williams and Johnson’s job to give a veteran presence and leadership to a team of new players. One of those new players is MiLaysia Fulwiley.

Fulwiley transferred from South Carolina after spending two years with the Gamecocks. When she entered the portal, the women’s college basketball world stopped in awe.

LSU fans should be pretty familiar with the flashy guard from Columbia, South Carolina. She’s given problems to the Tigers before, including in the SEC Championship in 2024, where she scored 24 points and two steals while shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-5 from the three-point line.

“She’s beaten me too many times for me not to have taken her into this program,” Mulkey said. “I’m going to challenge her to learn the point guard position, but I’m not going to take away her ability to play the off guard either. So a lot of that will depend on how quickly she catches on to what we need her to do as a point guard.”