‘Still relevant’: Kim Mulkey shows big boost in post-Angel Reese era as LSU seeks redemption – EssentiallySports

NCAA title. Popularity. And deep storylines. That was the LSU Tigers when Angel Reese represented them for two years. Therefore, with her departure to the WNBA, it is predicted that the program will lose its relevance. Currently ranked seventh in the AP women’s basketball rankings, the Lady Tigers kept the hopes of their fans alive, and they gave back in a special way.

In the Saturday broadcast of WBRZKim Mulkey shared one of the latest updates from the Louisiana-based program’s upcoming game that has all of her fans excited. “I just heard today that we’ve already sold out the arena. And that’s so nice. It’s so good for our players, school and our program. It will be fun, I have a lot of depth at the guard spot. And I got enough publicity to create a little chaos. And we’re still relevant, and that’s what I came here for.” Mulkey stated.

The Lady Tigers will take on Eastern Kentucky in the regular season opener on Monday at 7:00 pm CT. The match will be played at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. This is the second year in a row that season tickets for LSU women’s basketball have sold out, and only single-game tickets are currently available.

Also, in the previous three seasons, the Baton Rouge team has registered an increasing number of spectators, and they hope to continue the trend this season. Meanwhile, three of the previous year’s starters will play this season.

While Reese is gone, her former teammates Flau’jae Johnson, Anessa Morrow and Mikayla Williams will look to live up to the same standards set by the forward during her two-year stay. Additionally, Mulkey will need to help Sa’Myah Smith, Last-Tear Poa and Aalyah Del Rosario reach their potential, and the fans have responded. Although Mulkey and her mentees won both exhibition games by wide margins, it remains to be seen if they can build on what happened last year.

Flau’jae Johnson & Co. they want to make a violent comeback

After a phenomenal 21 years with the Baylor Bears, Mulkey resigned his position to take the coaching title in Baton Rouge. The 4-time NCAA winning coach was clear that she wanted to win a title at LSU from day one. So she recruited players like Reese from the Maryland Terrapins in the 2022-23 season and made her dream come true. The following year in the 2023-24 season they were marked as favourites.

However, the seventh pick in the 2024 WNBA draft had to sit out 4 games due to “locker room” questions. The season was marred by controversy for the Lady Tigers with the mothers of their key players, Reese and Flau’jae Johnson, involved in heated arguments. All of this certainly affected their performance, as the Tigers only managed to reach the Elite Eight, where they were defeated by the Iowa Hawkeyes, a team the Lady Tigers had destroyed during the 2022-23 championship final.

Therefore, this season is their season of redemption. The team coached by Kim Mulkey must pull their socks up and prove they are no less than the team that grabbed the hardware. Preparations for that have begun as Johnson eyes a leadership role in Reese’s absence.

“The four goals I have for myself are to be consistent, to be a good defender, to get more in my bag and to leave my team happy… I think you know my role is different now and you know that I have to be a leader and I have to be consistent in that, so that’s what I’m really trying to do. I have high high expectations of myself,” Johnson revealed on a recent episode of his Best of Both Worlds podcast. And it remains to be seen if Mulkey will be able to win glory again with the Tigers.