Dawn Staley and Kim Mulkey are two of the most successful and longest-serving coaches in college basketball. Coincidentally, they started their head coaching stint in the same year and have had decades of experience in that position.
After over 15 years of being an assistant and associate head coach at Louisiana Tech, Mulkey joined the Baylor Bears in 2000. That kicked off a legendary 22-year run, which ended in 2021 when she joined the LSU Tigers.
Staley, on the other hand, started her head coaching stint with the Temple Owls in 2000, while she was an active player in the WNBA. In 2008, two years after her retirement from the league, Staley joined the South Carolina Gamecocks.
They have had several interesting battles over the years, but if we go into the statistics, Staley holds a better record. Overall, Staley and Mulkey have faced each other in eight games. South Carolina’s head coach has won six of those matchups.
After Mulkey took over the Tigers, she has faced Staley five times and has lost all five games. Staley holds a perfect 5-0 record against the LSU Tigers head coach in their last five matchups. Although Mulkey has a losing record against Staley, this isn’t an accurate representation of her coaching prowess.
She holds an impressive 86% winning record in her career, having won 764 games and lost only 124. During her time at Temple, Staley had a 172-80 record. Overall, she has won 647 games and lost 190.
Staley has won three NCAA Division I tournament titles, and Mulkey has won four as a head coach. Both coaches, with their respective teams, have had legendary runs. Their continued dominance has made them two of the most revered figures in basketball history. They’ll face each other once again tonight.
Dawn Staley Has a Lot of Respect for Kim Mulkey and Her Team
While Staley and Mulkey have been competitors for a very long time, they’ve always had respect for each other. Being at the helm of two of the most respected programs in college basketball, they’ve had some memorable battles courtside.
On February 13, Staley was asked about Mulkey and the consistency that she sees in her team.
“They get up to play,” Staley said. “They’re very disciplined to how they want to play. That’s pretty good when you know that your team is going to do certain things out there on the floor, it gives yourself a chance to win … they can count on transition, can count on rebounding the basketball, on ball screen execution.”
As per Staley, these three aspects of their game and approach make the LSU Tigers a very special team.
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