NCAA: Head coach Kim Mulkey, LSU at center of women’s basketball news

The past week not only was full of tons of women’s basketball, but also tons of women’s basketball news. Catch up on the most notable developments.

Washington Post profile details Mulkey’s drive, rifts

On Saturday, the Washington Post published it’s highly-anticipated profile of Kim Mulkey, which the LSU head coach preemptively criticized, going so far as to threaten to sue the paper.

The story, authored by Kent Babb, includes information familiar to women’s college basketball fans, providing greater detail about Mulkey’s rocky relationships with former players, particularly gay players. Babb also reveals Mulkey’s years-long estrangement from her father and sister. Asked about the publication of the story by ESPN’s Holly Rowe before No. 3-seed LSU’s Sweet 16 victory over No. 2-seed UCLA on Saturday, Mulkey quipped, “Are you really surprised? Are you really surprised by the timing of it?”

After the game, Mulkey addressed a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that depicted the Sweet 16 matchup between the Lady Tigers and Bruins through absurd, should-be outmoded stereotypes. Mulkey insisted:

You can criticize coaches all you want. That’s our business. You can come at us and say you’re the worst coach in America. I hate you, I hate everything about you. We expect that. It comes with the territory. But the one thing I’m not going to let you do, I’m not going to let you attack young people….I’m not going to let you talk about 18- to 21-year-old kids in that tone.

BG officially back in PHX

One of the biggest WNBA free agents finally is signing on the dotted line.

Although there was little doubt that Brittney Griner would be back with the Phoenix Mercury, who aggressively revamped their roster during the free agency period by signing Natasha Cloud and trading for Kahleah Copper, BG and the organization reportedly have made it official, with the Mercury expected to announce Griner’s one-year deal next week.

14 set for Team USA training camp

The USA Basketball Women’s National Team will host a training camp at the Final Four in Cleveland next weekend, with 14 athletes, including nine former Olympians, expected to attend.

The most notable name is that of Caitlin Clark, with the Iowa senior receiving her first invitation to a senior national team training camp; Clark has represented USA Basketball on junior national teams. However, her participation is contingent on Iowa’s NCAA Tournament fate, as she only will join the camp if the No. 1-seed Hawkeyes fail to return to the Final Four.

Other participants are Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin, Aliyah Boston, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.

Caitlin, Paige, Cam and JuJu are POY finalists

The four finalists for the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year are Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and USC’s JuJu Watkins.

Clark, the favorite to win the award, was last season’s winner, while Bueckers captured the honor as a freshman in 2021.

A Fairly great scorer

Amongst all the madness of March, Syracuse grad guard Dyaisha Fair’s scoring achievement should not be overlooked. Fair closes out her collegiate career fourth on the NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-time scoring list, surpassing Jackie Stiles in Syracuse’s second-round loss to UConn.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see Fair getting more buckets in the WNBA this summer. Eric Nemchock recently evaluated how Fair’s offensive prowess might translate to the W.

Kentucky, Clemson name new head coaches

On Tuesday, Kentucky announced that Kenny Brooks will be the next head coach of the Wildcats, with the university luring Brooks to the Bluegrass State from Virginia Tech, where he spent eight seasons in charge.

Clemson also announced their next coach on Tuesday, with Shawn Poppie coming from Chattanooga, where he served as head coach for two seasons, to take over the Tigers.

Miami has yet to name a replacement for the retiring Katie Meier, with USF head coach Jose Fernandez turning down the opportunity to move from Tampa to Coral Gables. Penn State’s Carolyn Kieger, Columbia’s Megan Griffith and Marquette’s Megan Duffy are the reported candidates.

Racist incidents mar Utah’s tournament experience

Utah head coach Lynne Roberts revealed that her team was the victim of multiple racist incidents during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

While the Utes would play their first- and second-round games in Spokane, WA, the team stayed in Coeur d’Alene, ID. After racial slurs were shouted at members of the team and traveling party on multiple occasions at Utah’s original accommodation, the Utes were relocated to a different hotel.

After No. 5-seed Utah was eliminated by No. 4-seed Gonzaga in the second round, Roberts said:

Racism is real and it happens, and it’s awful,. For our players, whether they are white, black, green, whatever — no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting. For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it’s messed up.

JJ earns MVP honors in WCBA

As Edwin Garcia has documented, Jonquel Jones was a instant-impact and much-beloved superstar in the WCBA. Her efforts for Inner Mongolia, which finished the regular season at the top of the standings, earned her the 2023-24 Regular Season Foreign MVP. Jones averaged 23.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Congrats JJ!

Sparks settle 2024 coaching staff

Los Angeles Sparks head coach Curt Miller has finalized his coaching staff for the 2024 WNBA season, with Camille Smith, Neil Harrow and Nola Henry set to serve as Miller’s assistants.

Smith, known as Camille Little during her 13-season WNBA career, comes to the LA sideline after two years as head coach at Paul Quinn College. In 2020, she was a player development coach for the Dallas Wings. Harrow, an advanced scout for the Connecticut Sun in 2021 and 2022, rejoins Miller after spending two seasons as associate head coach at James Madison. A player development coach for the Sparks last season, Henry previously worked for Miller in Connecticut, serving as assistant basketball operations manager for two seasons.

WNBA Golden State names VP

On Tuesday, Golden State’s expansion franchise named Kimberly Veale as senior vice president of marketing and communications. Veale, who has worked for the Warriors for the past six years, previously worked in the WNBA for the Seattle Storm and Chicago Sky.