Kim Mulkey names Brian Kelly as reason why she’s not cooperating with WaPo ‘hit piece’

A report surfaced on Friday night during LSU’s 70-60 victory over Rice in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament that mentioned a potential story by the Washington Post regarding legendary women’s college basketball head coach Kim Mulkey, and she has not taken kindly to the reporting process.

That article could be released in the coming days, amid a March Madness run where the program is looking to defend its title from last season. Though Mulkey isn’t prepared to entertain outside noise and she made that evident during a press conference on Saturday when addressing the matter. 

Mulkey tells the media that the reporter working on the story of her has been doing so for two years, trying to arrange an interview as part of the chronicle and using this most recent rumor as a means of getting the attention of the Fighting Tigers head coach, which she is not thrilled about.

“Are you kidding me?” She asked. “This was a ridiculous deadline that LSU and I could not possibly meet, and the reporter knew it. It was just an attempt to prevent me from commenting and an attempt to distract us from this tournament. It ain’t going to work, buddy.”

However, she interestingly also mentioned unethical reporting tactics this reporter has used in the past on stories about Brian Kelly, LSU’s football head coach, as a reason why she isn’t cooperating with the Washington Post on their “hit piece.” 

Kim Mulkey names Brian Kelly amid rumors of Washington Post story

“Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that goes back years,” Mulkey said. “I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t appreciate the hit job he wrote on Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him,” she added.

Mulkey also mentioned that the reporter left “multiple messages” with former coaches of hers, trying to get them into thinking the story was being worked on in unison and lure them into giving information, who were caught by surprise when they found out that wasn’t the case.

Hard-pressed for time amid an NCAA Tournament run, Mulkey’s patience is razor-thin. But she made sure to call out the reporter chasing after her for what she voiced has been two years.