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LSU Lady Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey reacts after a play
LSU Tigers junior Kate Koval often has bigger worries on her mind than just college basketball. After all, her father, Oleksandr, is a drone operator for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
Now, Koval will also have to square that idea with the idea of playing alongside new teammate Anna Minaeva, a Russian post player that head coach Kim Mulkey added to the team just last week.
But anybody who has ever heard Mulkey speak knows one thing: she’s going to do whatever she believes helps her basketball teams win games, with no exceptions.
Kim Mulkey Has No Qualms About Pairing Russian And Ukrainian Teammates
Mulkey did inform Koval that Minaeva would be joining the program. But it doesn’t sound like there was much of a back-and-forth discussion between the two.
“I want you to understand I’m not here to ask you to change how you feel about Russia,” Mulkey said of her conversation with Koval. “I’m just here out of respect for your family and out of respect for you to let you know. Because I know how personal it is for you.
“Know that what I have to do in this business, I cannot make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries.”
To be clear, Minaeva’s country of origin does not necessarily mean she supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As far as we can tell, she’s not on record discussing the matter anywhere.
However, Mulkey could absolutely have opted not to recruit a player if she felt like it could upset the locker room dynamic, something you’d think she’d have learned by now.
“You want her to feel your compassion, and yet you don’t ask her to change her feelings. Her feelings are what they are. You just want her to know and be informed. That’s all.”
Koval and Minaeva are reportedly the only Ukrainian and Russian teammates in Division I college basketball.