Kim Mulkey and LSU welcome 5-star recruit Bella Hines from New Mexico

Bella Hines, the five-star recruit from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was one of the first commitments for LSU coach Kim Mulkey's 2025 squad. The top 25 prospect announced her commitment in April as she wrapped up her junior season in high school.

Per reports from Sports Illustrated, the LSU Tigers staff held an in-home visit with five-star commitment Bella Hines on Sunday. The five-star recruit had made the trip to Baton Rouge in March and attended the Tigers' first two March Madness games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

She spoke about her experience with LSU's 'The Reveille' in April:

“The atmosphere in the PMAC is just crazy. It’s definitely something I’ve never seen before.

"Everyone is so supportive of girl's basketball, and before I even committed, everyone was telling me, ‘Oh, come to LSU. This is the place you want to be.’ I just felt so welcomed by all the fans, the coaches, the players, it’s just a great atmosphere and the place I want to play at.”

Hines also had the opportunity to talk in-depth with Kim Mulkey, where the coach got to know more of her better, and they even made a TikTok together. Hines shared that Mulkey taught her how to properly hit 'the griddy'.

“She was cracking jokes the whole time, saying her griddy was better than mine,” Hines said.

“We had a family meeting in her office, and she was just cracking us jokes and making us feel so welcomed. I’m just glad I’ve been able to get recruited by Coach Mulkey.”

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Coach Kim Mulkey details her process behind recruiting great prospects like Bella Hines

Players like Bella Hines, Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams were all recruited by coach Kim Mulkey. They chose LSU despite offers from other major programs.

The coach broke down the business of recruitment in an interview with Sports Illustrated in February.

“In this business, you’re going to win some of those battles and you’re going to lose some,” coach Mulkey said.

“The crazy thing is you never know why a recruit chooses a school. Sometimes it’s close to home, sometimes it’s the players on the team, and sometimes it’s being able to play quickly.

Mulkey also went into the specifics they look for in a potential recruit:

"I think as we grow as a staff, I don’t care about numbers in front of kids’ names.

"There are so many overrated kids, then you watch those that don’t have a number in front of their names, and they have great careers. I’m more into doing our homework, seeing who we like and let’s go after them and quickly eliminate those we don’t have a shot at."

The LSU Tigers failed to defend their 2023 NCAA championship last season. They will now prepare for their next campaign in hopes of bringing the title home again.