“They were afraid to say it to me for fear that it would offend me”: When Kim Mulkey talked about the “greatest compliment” for a coach

Kim Mulkey is known to be one of the most intense coaches in women's college basketball. Through her time at Baylor and LSU, she has seen the rise of many top players, including Brittney Griner and Angel Reese. After she led the Tigers to a national championship in 2023, Mulkey sat for an interview with Jacques Talk for WAFB-TV.

Early in the chat, Jacques quoted one of her students, Alexis Morris, telling him that Mulkey is just "real." He added that most LSU players he interviewed said they didn't want to be coddled; they wanted to be coached, alluding to her generally tough style of coaching.

"I take that as the ultimate compliment," Mulkey said (3:52). "I have had four players say things to me in private and they were afraid to say it to me for fear that it would offend me and I would hug him and go, 'That's the greatest compliment you could pay a coach.'"

On Morris' statement about her being "real," Kim Mulkey said:

"Real to me is there's nothing pretentious about me. I will be a great team player. ... Real is sometimes you've got to be tough and you have to say things that maybe other people are afraid to say, but you have to have that relationship where they know you're for them.

"There's a difference in tough love being real and belittling somebody and these players allow me to challenge them in a way because they know I'm for them."

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Kim Mulkey and LSU continue winning ways

After the Elite Eight exit last season, a fired-up Kim Mulkey and LSU recorded one of the best starts in program history with a 20-game winning streak. After their first loss against South Carolina in January, the Tigers bounced back and won the next five games.

LSU's 82-77 win over No. 19 Tennessee on Sunday marked a historic moment as this was the first time in program history that the team had defeated the Volunteers twice in the same season. They won their first meeting 89-87 in early January.

The Tigers have five more games in the regular season, with the biggest one on Sunday when they face No. 3 Texas at the Moody Center.