As their title defense season approaches, LSU has locked down their head coach. The LSU Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a 10-year, $32 million contract for Mulkey, which will set the mark as the richest contract in the history of collegiate women's basketball. Prior to his contract, Mulkey was already one of the top-paid coaches in the game, alongside the likes of Geno Auriemma (UConn) and Dawn Staley (South Carolina).
Mulkey came to LSU ahead of the 2021-22 season after spending the last two decades turning Baylor into a national powerhouse. However, 2022-23 was her statement year with the Tigers, using the portal to create a super team that would go on to win the school's first National Championship. With her new contract in place, Mulkey will be free to continue building LSU into a true dynasty, even after the departure of superstar Angel Reese.
LSU Ready To Run It Back With Superteam 2.0
Mulkey leads another superteam heading into the school's title defense campaign. LSU stands as far and away the best roster in women’s basketball heading into the 2023-24 season. The addition of Hailey Van Lith raised them above UConn to the #1 spot on ESPN‘s “Way Too Early Top 25” back in April. However, the addition of Aneesah Morrow made that ranking unarguable. Alongside Reese, Van Lith, Morrow, Kim Mulkey’s squad is stacked. Alongside sophomore-to-be Flau’jae Johnson, LSU welcomes two top-10 freshmen to Baton Rogue in the fall. With South Carolina rebuilding after the loss of their generational class, this may be the year LSU wins the SEC. LSU last won the SEC regular-season championship in 2008 but has not claimed the tournament title since 2003.
LSU recently revealed that they will open their season against Colorado in Vegas on November 6. Other highlights of their non-conference schedule include Virginia and Virginia Tech. While it's not as much of a cupcake schedule as last season, Mulkey is still clearly avoiding any true coin-toss matchups before the start of SEC play in January. Despite this, DraftKings lists LSU at +350 as their favorite to win the 2024 National Championship. Do you agree? Let us know your predictions for the 2023-24 women's basketball season in the comments.
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