LSU’s Kim Mulkey Inks Richest Deal in Women’s College Basketball

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has agreed to a 10-year, $32 million extension — the richest coaching contract in the sport. Mulkey would become the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball.

Her new deal is pending final approval from the LSU Board of Supervisors, which will meet Friday, according to NOLA.com. Mulkey’s previous contract was set to pay her an average annual salary of roughly $2.5 million until 2029, which ranked third behind Geno Auriemma’s $2.9 million at UConn and Dawn Staley’s $2.7 million at South Carolina. 

Now, Mulkey will catapult to the top spot with her $3.2 million average annual salary, months after the Tigers won the first title in LSU women’s basketball history. For Mulkey, it was her fourth championship along with three as Baylor’s head coach in 2005, 2012, and 2019.

LSU is well-positioned for another title run in 2023-24 under Mulkey, with breakout junior star forward Angel Reese and reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Flau’jae Johnson both returning. They’ll be joined by new star point guard Haily Van Lith, who transferred to LSU after averaging 19.7 points and 3.2 assists for Louisville last season. 

LSU has become an NIL powerhouse, with Reese leading all of college basketball in NIL deals while Johnson and Van Lith both rank in the top five of On3’s NIL valuations for women’s college basketball. LSU Gymnast Olivia Dunne leads all NCAA women’s athletes in NIL earnings. 

Mulkey, who played college basketball at Louisiana Tech, has coached LSU since 2021 after 21 seasons as Baylor’s head coach. The LSU-Iowa championship game in April averaged 9.9 million viewers on ESPN as the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record.