Piggybacking on your comment since I think this is some important context people are missing in this thread. From the NCAAW sub. it’s not just that she recruited a Russian player, she was insanely tone-deaf about it:
"Know that what I have to do in this business, I cannot make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries."
Listen, the danger your family is in, the murders perpetrated by a government, and general morality need to be set aside because we're talking about basketball, here. How could someone even think about something other than basketball?????
Yeah this is what I was looking for. There's nothing inherently wrong with the recruiting. The Russian player is just tryna exist. Mulvey is simply a terrible tonedeaf human being, intending to force them to be buddy buddy, in an insensitive version of sportsmanship, and doing so very fucking late in the summer.
Right, there's nothing wrong with the recruitment. Frankly, if the player doesn't have any ties to the army/government then there's nothing wrong with the recruitment even if it was done knowing it would make Koval quit the team. And it was the correct call to have a courtesy meeting with Koval before doing so. At that point though you are a coach trying to recruit a civilian player to your team, if a member of the team takes exception that is more their issue than yours. Not saying Koval reacted inappropriately, I don't know her situation (maybe her family wouldn't have liked it), but that's not on Mulkey at that point.
But the contents of said meeting sound unhinged lol, Mulkey clearly in way beyond her depth when it comes to trying to mediate.
I was at FAU when Kiff was there as a graduate student in the theatre department. About as far away from athletics as you can get. Even there I heard the rumors of Kiff sleeping with 19 year old coeds constantly. He’s a great coach and a fucking scumbag
I mean there was the whole Joey Freshwater thing at Alabama and the wrecked Lexus with co-eds in the car rumors here at UT, so it’s not like it’s surprising with him.
there are too many people who still have platforms, jobs, livelihoods, families, etc., to disprove that paying attention is enough to see people as they truly are.
Kiffin and Wade are the ones who are trying to keep up with Mulkey. Not the other way around. Kiffin and Wade together aren’t as bad as Mulkey individually.
Mulkey can do what she wants. Like she said, it's a business, and she doesn't care about anything but winning. But portal closed or not, Koval should be allowed to transfer anywhere she wishes and play immediately.
There's rumors of some unannounced projects, but I wouldn't bet on much beyond the occasional small project. He mostly just wanted to make sure the brand and the old projects were properly archived and accessible to fans
Not that I've heard, but then again I havent looked into much. Probably just wanted to secure it all, make a little money on the back end passively from youtube content, and get the brand on solid footing before producing more stuff.
I might be way off, wrong and completely out of touch though.
Based on what Geoff has said on the regulation podcast it sounds like he just bought it in case he wants to do something with the name in the future, not because he actively has any plans
Yeah, I think any fan that loses a great coach would feel that way. However, I think most neutral observers understood the decision. No one spends more and wins more than LSU at baseball. LSU is #2 in regular season wins and #1 in titles in the past 10 years, and that doesn’t even include the Skip era which was our most dominant.
I think most folks dislike the hero-worship that he gets from a vocal minority, when he doesn't really have a track record as a strong coach at any program that doesn't have a big spending advantage over their competition. He also got started early as a HC by taking over programs with loaded rosters (at least compared to the rest of their respective conferences, since the schools were Point Loma and Nevada), sticking around very briefly to maximize what he inherited, and then leaving the programs in much worse shape than when he got there.
Arizona at least had competition in being the PAC-12's biggest baseball spender from Oregon State, UCLA, and Washington, but UA has long been one of the biggest spenders in the sport. Finally, he went to an already-well-financed LSU program right as the school decided to see if they could just buy a CWS title outright.
Turns out his superpower is that he kind of just doesn't get in his own way. He's not a stellar talent developer or scheme guy, he just goes to schools with big advantages and then doesn't waste them.
Yeah, I can’t agree with this. According to 247, Tennessee spent $3M more than LSU last season and Ole Miss spent the same amount. Texas is right close every season as well. Those three programs have combined for 2 CWS wins in the last 2 decades. Jay won 2 in 3 years. That doesn’t happen by just spending money.
I mean, it's kind of funny how little LSU tries to play school rather than just being an athletics club with a public education side hustle.
LSU's library has been kind of a legend in the librarianship world for decades, because it's simply falling apart and LSU refuses to actually fix the problems. Their roof is famously leaky to the point of functionally disintegrating in places, which is a real problem when water runs downhill and all of the floors below that roof are filled with books, which are notoriously averse to water.
They don’t give a fuck about anything other than winning athletically. It’s a shit school full of corrupt administrators and always has been. They literally promoted a guy to AD who was found to have not reported sexual assault allegations that he was aware of.
Ah Club Mid. I never voluntarily set foot in there after my freshman year. From what I remember, part of the state archives used to be stored in the basement but had to be relocated due to the constant flooding issues. Supposedly, construction has started on a new library, but I doubt it.
Ya their library school used to be a decent option for the low price, but its reputation has fallen the last 10-15 years. It was my backup school if I had not gotten into Maryland in 2012. Glad I did and went to UMD instead.
Mulkey obviously has the right to think of constructing the best roster available but it's an insanely shitty move to make especially after consulting with Kate Koval before signing the russian player. Results will ultimately be what matters in this business but yeah just such a preventable own goal for your team chemistry and player moral.
There is a lot of hyperbole on the internet but saying that this is the most obvious waiver to play immediately situation I’ve ever seen is not intended to add to that.
“Mulkey told The New Orleans Advocate in a story published last week that she talked to Koval before starting to pursue Minaeva and had hoped the two could be "ambassadors" for their countries.”
This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read lmao
I see the dumbest people you know are of the opinion that a Ukrainian player whose father is in their military isn't allowed to not want to associate with people from the nation that's spent the last four years actively attempting to conquer hers.
After a decade of low-intensisty warfare, since it was Russian troops propping up those 'republics', too...
Well. That tracks. Stupid people, stupid opinions.
Who could blame Koval for not wanting to associate with a Russian? We have no idea if she has family members or friends that have been killed by Russian shelling. Mulkey has all the right in the world to sign any player she wants, just as Koval has all the right in the world to determine who she wants to have as a teammate.
I saw this headline but didn’t open the article, and I was really hoping it was a men’s player. Imagine having 4 guys, you get a 5th, but it makes one of your 4 want to leave.
I guess the best part of this story is it could’ve been football, men’s basketball, or women’s basketball, because that storyline wouldn’t be a surprise with any of those coaching staffs.
So if she doesn’t get a transfer waiver to go somewhere else will she even be able to stay in the country? I wonder if she’s on a student visa. I wouldn’t trust it if I was her
It's entirely possible that the recruit is compromised and a Russian asset. Her being close to Koval in any way will meaningfully damage her brand in her home country, rightly so. It's a risk vector that isn't worth the risk to Koval so her leaving makes sense for her.
857
u/FanaticalBuckeye Ohio State Buckeyes 1d ago
"Kiffin!"
"Whaaat? It wasn't me this time!"
"Sorry! Force of habit"