 | | Head women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey will stop by for a live chat Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 11 a.m. CST. |
Ever since Baylor University named Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey as Baylor's fourth Lady Bear head coach on April 4, 2000, the former All-American and Olympic gold medalist has brought repeated national prominence to Baylor University and the women's basketball program. In just her fifth year at program's helm, the Lady Bears achieved the ultimate prize each NCAA Division I team covets, a NCAA National Championship. In doing so, Mulkey became the first women's basketball coach to win a NCAA national championship as both a player and a head coach. She joins former North Carolina coach Dean Smith and Texas Tech's Bobby Knight as the only members of that elite group. After just five seasons as a head coach, Mulkey has taken the Lady Bears to five postseason competitions, including four NCAA Tournaments, which includes the school's 2005 NCAA national championship, a national ranking of No. 1 and the championship (2005) in the toughest women's basketball conference in the nation, the Big 12. She has accumulated an impressive 131-38 (.775) career record at Baylor. Mulkey continued to add to her impressive list of achievements. Numerous honors were bestowed upon her after her inaugural season. She was named one of the Top 50 Female High School Athletes of the 20th Century, National Coach of the Year by Real Sport magazine and Big 12 Coach of the Year by the Dallas Morning-News and Waco Tribune-Herald. In 2003, Mulkey was inducted into COSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame and was a unanimous choice for Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2005. She will, along with North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, receive the New York Athletic Club's famed Winged Foot Award on May 19 in New York City. As a player, Mulkey led the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters to a 130-6 record, two national titles and four Final Fours from 1980-84. During that time the 5-foot-4 playmaker, known for her spectacular passes and French braids, also led Louisiana Tech to its first two national championships (1981 and 1982) and was a part of the USA's gold medal-winning team at the 1984 Olympics and the 1983 Pan American Games. Mulkey averaged 6.38 assists and 1.56 steals per game and ranks second on Tech's all-time list in assists and 12th in steals. In addition, the summa cum laude scholar was a two-time Academic All-American. Mulkey and her husband Randy, a former Louisiana Tech quarterback, have two children, Makenzie (13) and Kramer (10). |
 |
 |  | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: Good morning, everyone. Let's get started. |
|
|
| Tampa: How has recruiting been since winning the National Championship this year? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I think if you read today's Waco Tribune-Herald article, recruiting has gone well and we are able to recruit more nationally than ever before. |
|
|
| Bill Horick - Temple, Tx.: Coach, how are your four freshmen coming along in terms of your timetable for their development. It seems to me that Jessica Morrow is starting to show good progress. |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: The freshmen are logging more minutes because we only have 10 on the team and it is necessary that they contribute as freshmen. The more experience they get, the better they will become and the more comfortable they will become. Jessica Morrow is quite a talent as are the other three. |
|
|
| Waco: Great job! How do you keep from wearing out your starters when they play so many minutes every game? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I don't know how to answer that. There are no books to teach you. It's a feeling you get through the course of the season and during the course of a game. |
|
|
| Carol Anne (Seattle): Hi, Coach Mulkey! I voted for you to be on the NCAA 25th Anniversary Team. How does it feel to be nominated for that? Does it really feel like it was almost a quarter of a century ago that you played for Louisana Tech? http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/womens/fanpolls |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I haven't heard of that one yet. And yes, there are days when I feel that old. Thank you for your vote. |
|
|
| Anna Henderson (Woodway): You've led Baylor to a National Championship. How do you maintain the energy and the will to try to do it all over again? (You aren't bored with this?) |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I have a job to do, I enjoy what I do and I'm surrounded by a great staff and players. We have freshmen who have never played for a national championship or been to the NCAA Tournament and as their coach, it is my job to help them get to that level and see what it's all about. |
|
|
| Kay from Edmond Okla: Besides winning the "National Championship" last year, what was one of the most memorable experiences for you as coach for the Baylor Lady Bears? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: There are way too many good things that happened to mention just a few. President Bush's visiting with the team in the Oval Office has to be at the top of the list. It's not everyday you get to go into the Oval Office and visit with the leader of your country. |
|
|
| Dwain-Waco: How do you see Bernice Mosby's role next year? What are her strong points? Will she have only 1 year of eligibility left? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: Because of the youth of our team next year, Bernice will be a senior leader who has spent this year learning our system. She is an outstanding player who can play both inside and out and is much more physical than I anticipated. Having played almost three years in the SEC and playing with us for a year, will only help her we hope have a great senior year. |
|
|
| Steve (Chicago): Thank you to you and all the team for the convincing National Title win. Coach, there seems to be so much focus on Baylor's inside game with Young and Wabara. Has our outside game been that hurt with the departure of our top 3-point shooter from last year? Is this team balanced enough to score outside and from 3-point range when they play another "big sized" team that will limit our inside game? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: While we will miss all of the players from last year's team that are no longer with us, our focus is on who we currently have. Each year, each team brings a different identity to the floor. As we always try to do, we will hide our weaknesses and play to our strengths. To compare what we have now to last year would not be fair. |
|
|
| Michael (Midwest City: It certainly seems that there is no pressure on the team this year. We are playing very well and confidently. What is the record for consecutive wins, and is breaking that record one of the goals this team has set for itself? We are very proud of them and all that they have done for Thee University. Keep it going. |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: It's my understading we have broken our program's record and Connecticut holds the nation's longest record. I only know this because I was part of the record at Louisiana Tech until UConn broke it a couple of years ago. We have not discussed this with the team nor is it a goal of our team. We just want to win the next ballgame. |
|
|
| Jim (Dallas): Coach Kim: WBB allows 15 scholarships, yet it seems that your team has rarely had all of the 15 spots filled. I know that sometimes players leave for various reasons, and it is probably wise to have an open scholarship in case a Bernice Mosby comes along, but my question is do you feel that 15 scholarships is too many? It seems that if all the ships were filled with competitive players, you would always have a revolving door situation with the kids in the bottom spots not getting substantial playing time, then looking to leave for somewhere they could play. What are your thoughts on this? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: You can never have too many scholarships. If you had less, you would still see players transferring, it's the nature of the business. |
|
|
| Houston Welch, Horseshoe Bay, Texas: Can you explain the tremendous improvement in the play of Abby and Angela? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: We've seen that improvement day in and day out last year. So it has not been a surprise to us, they are now getting their opportunity to play for longer periods of time and everyone else sees what we have already seen. They are competitive young ladies that are so valuable to us. |
|
|
| Janet - Little Rock: Why, in your opinion, are the Lady Bears ranked 5th in the polls, when you guys are the reigning National Champions? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: Because we're not the best team in the country right now. Those folks who do the polls vote for who they believe is the best team in the country right now. We feel very honored to even be No. 5. Don't take too much stock in the polls. When the NCAA Tournament rolls around, that's the time to get excited. |
|
|
| Brian Ligon (Round Rock, TX): Coach, First, a HUGE congrats on the National Championship and a great start to this season. The chemistry of last year's team was very special. But, what are you are seeing from this year's team that you are excited about? How is that quality helping build the Lady Bear teams of the future? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I see returning players that were part of that team last year teaching the younger players what it's all about. |
|
|
| Mary (San Antonio): First off, congrats on your incoming recruiting class-they seem to be causing a stir already. My questions for you-what is one thing that people would be surprised to know about you? What is your favorite piece of advice you've been given? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: I'm always seeking advice from those in my profession and those outside my profession I respect. Continue to learn from your mistakes as a coach and as a person and don't become stagnant. |
|
|
| Randy Johnson (Riverside, CA): Any plans to come out to So. Cal. in the coming years? Only get to see you on TV or gametracker and would love to see you sic 'em out here. Daughter is a 2004 grad and we follow ALL Baylor sports. Our best for this season. Randy, Bear fan in Calif. (Not Berkley) |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: We are supposed to be coming to play UCLA next and could be adding to that. With two California recruits, we will try our best to get back to that area. |
|
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: That would be a question too detailed to answer in a chat. Yes I agree defending a championship is oh so difficult. But let's not forget winning one is pretty hard as well. |
|
|
| Alan (Dallas): We all know that defending a title is one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports, especially learning to stay focused mentally. How are you approaching the mental preparation aspect of each game as far as making sure your players never have a lapse or become complacent? |
|
| Fayetteville, GA: We are grads and listen to all the Lady Bears broadcasts on the internet since nothing is broadcast here except ACC and SEC conferences. I heard you say that accurate free throws are a mental matter. How do you work on that for your players? |
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: You mention it as little as possible and shoot as much as possible. |
|
| | Kim Mulkey-Robertson: Heading to prepare for practice. Thanks so much for stopping by and we'll see you at the Ferrell Center. |
|
|
|
