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When Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey accepted the head coaching job at Baylor University, few could have predicted the dramatic and prestigious turn the program was about to take. In just seven years at Baylor, the former All-American and Olympic Gold medalist has guided the Lady Bear basketball program to the pinnacle of women's basketball, the 2005 NCAA national championship, six NCAA Tournament appearances and seven 20-win seasons. The 2005 national title was Baylor's first for a women's team sport and is the only basketball national title, men's or women's, in the Big 12 Conference's 11-year history. In winning the 2005 title, Mulkey became the first person, man or woman, to win a basketball national championship as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Additionally, she is the only women's basketball coach, and one of only three in men's and women's basketball (combined with Bob Knight and Dean Smith), who has won a national championship as a player and coach. En route to the NCAA championship, the Lady Bears won their first Big 12 Conference championship and were the league's tournament champion as well. In addition, Mulkey-coached players have earned first-team All-Big 12 honors 10 times and she has produced four All-Americans. Mulkey has generated amazing results since taking over the reins of the program on April 4, 2000, averaging 26.1 wins a season. In her seven years at the program's helm, she has posted an impressive 183-53 (.775) record which ranks her No. 7 nationally in winning percentage. In addition, under her guidance, the Lady Bear program ranks No. 11 on the NCAA's winningest teams over the last five years list. Since taking over a squad that was just 7-20 the season prior to her arrival, Mulkey has guided the Lady Bears to seven postseason appearances, including six NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2003 WNIT finals. In 2004, the Lady Bears made their first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and have now played in three Sweet 16s. In 2001 Sheila Lambert was a Kodak All-American and was awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which recognized the nation's best player 5-7 or under. Mulkey won the inaugural award in 1984. Under Mulkey's tutelage, Sophia Young became the program's first two-time Kodak All-American and also the school's first AP All-American. In addition, Baylor landed its first-ever players in the WNBA when Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom were each drafted in the first round after the 2001 season and Steffanie Blackmon was drafted in 2005. Young became Baylor's highest draft pick when she was selected No. 4 by the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2006. Young, now in her second season with the franchise, was the team's leading scorer and rebounder as a rookie and has twice been selected to play in the WNBA All-Star game. In 2007, Bernice Mosby became Coach Mulkey's fourth first-round WNBA draft pick when the Washington Mystics made her the fourth played selected overall. Not only has Baylor's progress registered on the national level, local fans have taken notice, too. The Lady Bears continue to break all-time attendance records and annually rank among the nation's top 25 in NCAA women's basketball attendance. In 2006-07 Baylor finished the year ranked 11th in the country in home attendance and topped the 100,000 fan mark for the second time in school history, with 119,603 fans passing through the turnstiles. Baylor was one of only 13 schools nationally in 2006-07 to reach the 100,000 fan milestone. The Lady Bears broke the all-time Ferrell Center total attendance record (men's or women's) of 109,494. In addition, Baylor has ranked in the top 25 in attendance every season since Mulkey became the program's head coach. In her first season as a head coach, Mulkey moved the Lady Bear program to the next level. She took a team that was 7-20 in 1999-2000 and molded it into a cohesive, confident unit that went from 12th place in the Big 12 in 2000 to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth a year later. Baylor, along with four other schools, posted the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division I with a 14-game swing, going from 7-20 to 21-9. The Lady Bears, under Mulkey's guidance, moved from a 12th place Big 12 finish (2-12) to sixth place (9-7). In addition, the Baylor squad was ranked in the AP top 25 poll for six weeks, climbing as high as No. 20. The Lady Bears finished the season ranked No. 23. 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 both the Dallas Morning News and Waco Tribune-Herald. Baylor's second season under Mulkey produced even better results. The team finished the year at 27-6 and was ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press' final rankings. The Lady Bears posted the program's best-ever Big 12 record and highest finish with a 12-4 mark, good for second place in the league. Baylor played its way into the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament, which marked the deepest it had ever advanced into the tournament. For the first time in the program's history the Lady Bears were selected to host NCAA Tournament games. Baylor hosted first and second round games and set a Lady Bear attendance record when 10,074 fans packed the Ferrell Center for Baylor's second-round game against Drake. In fact, the Waco first and second rounds ranked second in attendance compared to other sites across the nation. Her third season proved to be her most challenging. Working with a team in 2002-03 that returned only one starter and listed only three upperclassmen on its roster, Mulkey guided her young squad to a 24-11 record and after being snubbed by the NCAA selection committee, the Lady Bears advanced to the WNIT finals. In the championship game, SEC rival Auburn narrowly defeated the Lady Bears, 64-63. Year four yielded even more success for Baylor women's basketball. Mulkey guided the Lady Bears to the program's first-ever NCAA Sweet 16, where they lost to tradition-rich Tennessee (71-69) on a controversial last-second call. Baylor finished the season at 26-9, was ranked No. 15 in the AP's final poll and achieved its highest finish in the coaches poll at No. 11. The 2004-05 season proved to be the breakthrough year for Mulkey. The squad posted a 33-3 record and claimed the Big 12 Conference title with a 14-2 mark. En route to the NCAA championship, the Lady Bears defeated three No. 1 seeds. Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young were both named All-Americans with Young becoming Baylor's third Kodak All-American. Blackmon became BU's third WNBA draftee when the Seattle Storm took her. In addition to earning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors, Mulkey received the New York Athletic Club's prestigious Winged Foot Award. After losing two starters off the NCAA championship squad, Mulkey guided the 2005-06 Lady Bears to a a 26-7 record and a 12-4 Big 12 mark, good for a second place league finish and a final AP ranking of No. 10. Although they didn't repeat as national champions, the Lady Bears took consolation in the fact that, after making their third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, they were eliminated from the title run by the eventual national champions, third-ranked Maryland. Year six under Mulkey produced the program's first two-time Kodak All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year in Young. Young, as a first round WNBA pick of the San Antonio Silver Stars, ended her career as the Big 12's leading scorer (2,480) and rebounder (1,316). Fielding a team in 2006-07 that featured eight underclassmen on the 11-member squad, the team's 26-7 record was an impressive achievement. Led by Bernice Mosby, the Lady Bears were again selected to the NCAA Tournament and finished third in the perennially tough Big 12 Conference with an 11-5 mark. Freshman Danielle Wilson ranked among the nation's elite in blocked shots and broke a 27-year old Baylor record for blocked shots in a season with 86. As a team the Lady Bears led the nation in blocked shots with 7.2 a contest. Baylor finished the year ranked No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the Coaches poll. Mulkey, a 2000 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, came to Baylor University from Louisiana Tech where she spent 19 years as either a player or coach in the legendary Lady Techster program. During her tenure in Ruston, Mulkey was associated with 11 Final Four squads and three national championship teams. She has either played or coached in the national championship game on eight occasions. During her 15-year stint as an assistant and associate head coach at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech posted a 430-68 record and advanced to seven Final Fours. Mulkey held the title of associate head coach for four seasons. Her responsibilities at Tech included coordinating recruiting, tutoring Lady Techster guards, overseeing the players' academic progress and running the summer camps. Because of her diligence, while Mulkey was overseeing the academic program, no Lady Techster was ever declared academically ineligible. As recruiting coordinator, Mulkey had the opportunity to recruit and coach several Lady Techsters who would go on to play in the WNBA. In 1999, Women's Basketball Journal ranked Mulkey as one of the nation's top three assistants. Those ratings were compiled during Women's Basketball Journal's annual coaches' survey, which asks the nation's top head coaches to send in votes on various topics. As a player, Mulkey led the 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 both the 1984 Olympics and the 1983 Pan American Games. Mulkey averaged 6.38 assists and 1.56 steals per game and currently 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 as a business major. In recognition of her success in the classroom and on the basketball court, Mulkey was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame in June 2003. To be eligible, a candidate had to be an Academic All-America team member who graduated at least 10 years ago. "Being inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame is one of the more special honors of my career," Mulkey said. "It combines recognition for what I did as an athlete as well as what I achieved in the classroom. A good education will far outlast the fleeting moments on the court or playing field." Her athletic career began at an early age. Mulkey, a native of Hammond, La., played Dixie Youth baseball as a 12 year old as well as two years of Pony League baseball and made the all-star team two of the three years. At Hammond High School, she led the basketball team to four-straight state championships, posted a 136-5 record and finished her career with the national record for most points scored (4,075). She earned all-district, all-state and all-America honors each of her four years at Hammond High. She also graduated as her class' valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Mulkey has a street named after her in her hometown of Tickfaw, La. Mulkey is a member of the National High School Hall of Fame, the Louisiana High School Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1999 she was the lone female named among the Louisiana Sports Writers top 25 athletes of the 20th century and was listed by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 50 sports figures of Louisiana for the 20th century. In June of 2000 she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame located in Knoxville, Tenn. In June 2003 she was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame. In her highly successful rookie season as a head coach, Mulkey was named National Coach of the Year by Real Sport magazine and honored by the Dallas Morning News and Waco Tribune-Herald as Big 12 Coach of the Year. She added Big 12 Coach of the Year honors and the prestigious Winged Foot Award to her resume in 2005. In addition, Mulkey was recently named to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Mulkey is a highly sought after motivational speaker. She speaks on a broad range of topics in addition to Lady Bear basketball and is frequently requested both locally and nationally. She is extremely active in and around the Waco community, donating her time and money to many organizations. Mulkey, born May 17, 1962 in Santa Ana, Calif., has two children, daughter Makenzie (16) and son Kramer (13). Makenzie and Kramer are both extremely active in sports. Makenzie, a high school sophomore, plays basketball, volleyball, softball and has participated in track. Kramer, a seventh grader, plays football, basketball, baseball and plans to run track in his first year of middle school. Makenzie was a member of Midway's Little League Softball 2003 and 2004 World Series Championship team, which won its crowns in Beaverton, Oregon. During summers she plays both select softball and AAU basketball. Kramer is also active in the summers, he plays baseball and will add AAU basketball to his schedule next year. Mulkey and her children enjoy time together by supporting one another in their sports events or relaxing at home. Mulkey's autobiography, "Won't Back Down" with Peter May, senior sportswriter at the Boston Globe, will be in bookstores on Nov. 1.
THE KIM MULKEY FILE
PERSONAL Born: May 17, 1962
NAMED BAYLOR'S HEAD COACH
Coaching Experience
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Combined Record as Collegiate Player and Assistant Coach: Record as Head Coach: HONORS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
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