Kim Mulkey shuts down retirement rumors, calling them 'flat-out lies'
· Yahoo Sports
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kim Mulkey is not retiring. She said it three times, including a final time leaning into the microphone on her way out of the postgame press conference after LSU women's basketball lost on a buzzer beater to Duke, 87-85, in the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament Friday night.
"I'm not retiring, do I look that bad?" Mulkey quipped to reporters. "I don't know where that came from. I'm only 63, I'm healthy. I have a few stents in my heart but my doctor says I'm good to go."
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Rumors swirled on social media during the game that Mulkey was calling it quits once her team's season came to a close.
"You're now explaining to me why my phone was blowing up with that same question," Mulkey said when asked about the online posts. "I just don't get how people can write crap on social media. That has to make y'all feel really bad in journalism. Do some of y'all write that crap on there? That has to make you feel terrible and you get away with it. And people believe it.
"My mother called, 'How's Kramer (Robertson, Mulkey's son) doing? I said, what are you talking about? 'Well he had his leg cut off in an accident today.' Older people especially believe that stuff."
Mulkey's fifth season at LSU came to a dramatic close Friday inside the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. She has now coached 27 seasons as a head coach, the first 22 coming at Baylor. Mulkey has won four national championships, has guided her teams to 20-plus win seasons every year of her head coaching career.
She said she hasn't told anyone that she had any plans to retire after this season and doesn't know where it came from but Mulkey has a theory of why rumors of her retirement have been circulated.
"There are moments where you feel like, why am I doing this?" Mulkey said. "I think that's used a lot in recruiting."
Mulkey assured the LSU fan base that the only way she will not be the head coach is if she gets fired or until she can't build out a competitive team for the Tigers.
"I'm not retiring. I plan to hire two coaches quickly," Mulkey said. "I plan to get in the portal and get two or three more players and take a little time off, go see my grandchildren, who actually flew in and got in late and didn't even see the game. But I'll get to visit with them tonight in the hotel.
"I think as we get older, as coaches, they want to say how much longer is she going to be in the game? I'm going to be in this game unless LSU fires me, OK, or until I can't put a product on that floor that's competitive or my health fails me. So I would appreciate all of you in here, whoever put that out, if you know who they are, you need to stop it when you see it, because it's just a flat-out lie. Did I answer that in detail for you? Do I need to say it again?"
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Is Kim Mulkey retiring? What LSU women's basketball coach about the rumors