BATON ROUGE, La. — Kim Mulkey had her moments of doubt when she became a head coach.
When she arrived at Baylor in 2000, the program had just finished last in the Big 12. Mulkey began to turn things around in her debut season, but the losses were still hard to bear.
She found an unlikely source of encouragement in a conference rival: Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp.
“She, before we played them one year at Baylor, came to my office and sat down, and I’ll never forget,” Mulkey said. “I said, Coach, I don’t know if this coaching is for me. I said, this losing eats at me. I said, I’m a point guard that’s used to having that ball in my hands and (to) go win a ballgame. As a coach, you’re really helpless somewhat.
“And I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said, Kim, as you age in this profession, you will learn to compartmentalize. And while the losing will still eat at you, you will be able to handle it as you age. I won’t ever forget her doing that.”
As her Tigers prepped to face Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, the LSU coach reminisced on those days in the Big 12. It wasn’t just Sharp — there was a who’s who of women’s basketball stalwarts lining the conference. Texas’ Jody Conradt. Bill Fennelly at Iowa State. Kansas State with Deb Patterson and Sherri Coale at Oklahoma.
The young coach was in awe.
“All of those coaches made me a better coach,” Mulkey said, “because I aspired to build something at Baylor like they had all built.”
Four years later, the Bears raised their first national championship trophy. It’s the type of turnaround Tech coach Krista Gerlich hopes to experience one day. She reached that glory as a player under Sharp, and Mulkey credited those seasons for forming Gerlich’s coaching prowess.
Mulkey complimented the Big 12 coach of the year for getting the Lady Raiders on the right track.
“Krista is a product of those years, so I’m not surprised at what she is doing,” Mulkey said. “She’s at the right place that saw her as a player, gave her time. … It’s amazing, but I’m not surprised.”
As Sharp did with Mulkey, Gerlich said the LSU coach provided her own memorable advice. Gerlich recalled speaking with Mulkey when the two were assistants at their alma maters.
“I was always kind of in awe of her, would always speak to her,” Gerlich said. “She was always very, this is going to be surprising, but meek and kind of quiet. As an assistant, she just did her job. I never thought of her as the big personality that she is now. She was always very kind to me.”
One of their biggest connections was coaching their daughters. Gerlich received words of encouragement following Baylor’s rout of Tech during her debut season.
“Kim was very encouraging, very supportive,” Gerlich said. “She always is. I think she’s actually extra supportive with coaches that are moms because she knows obviously firsthand the sacrifices that go (with that). Also, I coached my own daughter, too. I remember asking her how do you do it. She was like, family is always first. Family is always first, be there for your kid first. I love that because that’s super important.
“That humanizes Kim Mulkey. I know a lot of people wonder about that sometimes. She’s such a fantastic coach. She’s a really good human and a really good mother, as well.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: LSU’s Kim Mulkey has utmost respect for Marsha Sharp, Texas Tech women’s basketball
Reporting by Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
