Kim Mulkey made a big announcement on Sunday afternoon and, once again, refused to provide any clarity on the situation. Kateri Poole is no longer a member of the LSU women’s basketball team.
The former five-star guard, who started every game during the Tigers’ national championship run last season, will not return to the program. We don’t know why. Mulkey won’t say.
She’s no longer with us.
— Kim Mulkey on Kateri Poole
That’s it. That’s all the four-time national champion head coach said.
She would not offer any understanding of the bizarre saga and so many questions remain unanswered, which will only hurt Poole more in the future. The silence leaves the door open for conjecture.
- Why did Poole get benched in the first place?
- Did Mulkey kick Poole off of the team?
- Was it a mutual understanding?
- Did Poole decide to leave on her own?
- What led to this scenario? Behavior? A lack of minutes? Conditioning?
- Why was Angel Reese allowed back but not Poole?
It’s so mysterious. Mulkey is not helping to keep the speculation to a minimum.
Kateri Poole, a former top-25 prospect in the women’s college basketball recruiting Class of 2020, began her career at Ohio State before transferring south after two seasons.
Poole played just 12.8 minutes per game in four of nine games this year before disappearing from the lineup and the bench. Mulkey kept her out of the lineup against Kent State in mid-November and called it a “coach’s decision.”
At that point, Angel Reese’s sabbatical began. Poole actually stayed with the team for its next game but played just five minutes against Southeastern Louisiana. And then she was gone.
Reese was back in the lineup against Virginia Tech on Nov. 30. Poole, who Kim Mulkey initially said was still on the roster at the time, did not join Reese on the floor that game.
Now, 10 days later, Poole is off the team entirely. Nobody outside of the LSU program knows why.
Hopefully Kateri Poole is okay!