By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey was not prepared to speak to the LSU Board of Supervisors at their monthly meeting Thursday, but that didn’t matter. She left them stirring.
And so did gymnastics coach Jay Clark as both national champion coaches were recognized by the Board for their consistently elite performances since winning titles in 2023 in women’s basketball and in 2024 in gymnastics, which just finished as national runner up by a fraction of a tenth of a point on Saturday.
“I think I got tricked into coming to this,” Mulkey cracked as she took the podium. “This is supposed to be about Flau’jae. I don’t come to these meetings, and I don’t like this. It’s like a pulpit in church.”
Kim Mulkey (in gold) recognized by LSU Board. pic.twitter.com/EQvC9PMQTq
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 23, 2026
LSU two-time All-American guard Flau’jae Johnson was just the eighth pick of the WNBA Draft on April 13 by Golden State before being traded to Seattle after a four-year career with the Tigers. She was not at the meeting.
Mulkey overcame as usual. She quickly introduced assistant coach Bob Starkey, who received a new three-year contract at $1.275 million at $425,000 a year. He had been making $343,000 a year on a deal scheduled to expire this July.
“He’s been around longer than all of you,” Mulkey, 63, said.
Starkey, 66, coached under men’s basketball coach Dale Brown from 1990-96 and was a women’s basketball assistant coach from 1998-2011 under head coaches Sue Gunter, Pokey Chatman and Van Chancellor, reaching five straight Final Fours (2004-08), and another and the national title under Mulkey beginning in 2022.
“He coached Shaquille’ O’Neal and Angel Reese,” Mulkey said. “And Seimone Augustus.”
Augustus, who was on Final Four teams at LSU from 2004-06, is an assistant under Mulkey and was at the board meeting as well.
The Board recognized Mulkey for her fourth straight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance this past season as well as the two Elite Eight finishes in 2024 and ’25 after the ’23 national title in her second season with the Tigers.
“That’s all we want to do is make you proud,” Mulkey said.
While reading a text to her from Johnson just before the draft that said, “You don’t know what you did for me,” Mulkey started crying at the microphone.
“Don’t ever forget the value of what we do,” Mulkey, who makes $3.35 million a year while the women’s program loses approximately $7 million annually, told the Board.
“Don’t look at the bottom line like an accountant. We’re not going to make money,” she said. “What it is is a return on the investment. LSU women’s basketball is a big deal. LSU gymnastics is a big deal. Soccer is a big deal. They don’t make money, but you guys have to know what a big deal it is.”
After Mulkey posed for pictures, a board member jokingly said that they’ll be “accepting any donations” for LSU roster building through Name, Image & Likeness collective dollars.
“NIL baby,” Mulkey said. “Flau’jae handled NIL the right way. She got her own deals – not a handout. How generations have changed. You know what we’re dealing with financially. It’s hard to put together a roster ever year.”
LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark recognized by Board of Supervisors after national runner-up finish. pic.twitter.com/4Phb4yYwXz
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 23, 2026
After Mulkey, Clark went to the podium fresh off his team’s loss to Oklahoma for the national championship in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday by 198.1625 to 198.075 – a difference of .0875 between Clark and his second national title in three years.
“That’s less than a tenth of a point. That is one person’s foot moving between us and a national championship,” Clark said. “Oklahoma’s been doing this for 20 years (under coach K.J. Kindler with eight national championships since 2014). We’ve been around for six (under Clark, who replaced the retiring D-D Breaux in 2020).”
“So, give us a second,” Clark said, “because we’re knocking the door down.”
LSU returns much of its national runner-up team next season.
“Of the 24 routines on Saturday, 21 of them are coming back,” Clark said. “We’re still a relatively young team.”
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