How LSU women’s basketball resurrected using the transfer portal

The LSU Lady Tigers basketball team is undefeated. And they are only one of two teams remaining in the nation with that distinction. But unlike their conference rivals the South Carolina Gamecocks, they have never won a national championship, and haven’t even seen a final four since 2008. With wins over Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M this Lady Tigers appear to have what it takes to get back to the final four, and the secret to their success comes down to their recruiting, where Coach Kim Mulkey set out to get more talent on the court than LSU has ever had, and now all 8 of their leading scorers are new to Baton Rouge.

Coach Mulkey recruited her own team 

Roster turnover is nothing new in college basketball but Coach Mulkey has gone to work immediately, bringing in the types of players who allow her to play a new brand of LSU basketball. Their entire rotation is comprised of 8 players who only joined the team within the past 2 seasons, most of which this past season. Their talented 2022 recruiting class is led by ESPN 26th ranked Flau’jae Johnson and 58th ranked Sa’Myah Smith. And they have made an immediate impact with Johnson 3rd on the team in scoring, and Smith second in blocks.

But it is their transfer players who have changed the direction of the Tigers program immediately. The opportunity to transfer in experienced college basketball players has never been as easy as it is right now in college basketball. And their mixture of graduate transfers, and transfer portal signees range across the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12. Coach Mulkey has quite literally put together a nationally competitive team much like a puzzle, by identifying pieces that fit and retrieving them from whatever campus necessary.

LSU has been on the rise

The surprise of the Lady Tigers success comes from their recent struggles. As recently as the 2020-21 season they failed to reach 10 wins on the season with a record 9 and 13. In fact, before coach Mulkey took the reins, they had not made the NCAA tournament at all since 2017. But the moment she got on campus, things changed, where last season they finished second in the SEC to South Carolina, and lost in the tournament’s second round. And this year they have been winning, and winning big. With only 5 wins by 10 points or fewer. But they have won 19 games already by 18 points or more, and their biggest margin of victory is by 75 against a Division 1 opponent!

The Bottom Line

Two seasons is not a long time in college sports. But that is all the time that LSU needed to turn around their entire program. And with an almost entirely new roster, they have gone undefeated through most of this season. Only one team appears to stand in their way not only to win the SEC, but make history and go further than any LSU Tigers team has gone before come March.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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