Meet Kim Mulkey's Secret Weapon on the Recruiting Trail: Gary Redus II
Kim Mulkey is building a powerhouse in Baton Rouge, but the Hall of Fame head coach isn’t doing it alone.
LSU has created a “super team” down South and Mulkey has compiled an all-star staff to make the engine go, securing a few secret weapons along the way.
Associate Head Coach Bob Starkey headlines the elite-level staff, but there’s a new coach flying under the radar: Gary Redus II.
The Decatur, Ala. native has seen his coaching career take off in the blink of an eye, and after a first season with LSU that will go down in the history books, it’s only the beginning for the recruiting guru.
Redus played a pivotal role in the Tigers securing the No. 1 2023 recruiting class, top transfer Hailey Van Lith and All-American forward Aneesah Morrow this offseason, but it doesn’t stop there.
The hidden gem on Mulkey’s staff has bigger plans for this program as LSU begins its quest at back-to-back national championships.
The Journey to Baton Rouge
It’s all come together in the blink of an eye for Redus and he wouldn’t have it any other way. From his professional playing days to taking a chance as a graduate assistant at West Georgia, the process has come together for Mulkey’s recruiting superstar.
“I never really expected to be in coaching. It's actually funny. I thought I would still be playing basketball to this day,” Redus said. “So to be coaching and kind of be where I am now, I think it’s still kind of a shocker to me, especially with how my career path started and how it progressed.”
Redus’ playing days ended rather rapidly. He knew he was nearing the end of his career and a talk with his sister changed the trajectory of his future.
“I was playing ball in Mexico and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I still remember the conversation with my sister,” Redus said. “We were just talking and I was telling her ‘I don’t feel like myself playing ball anymore, but I'm gonna keep playing until I figure out exactly what I want to do.’ And she asked if I wanted to come in as a GA at the University of West Georgia at the time. And I was like alright, I don't really know what else to do, so I'll do it.”
From there, the journey began. Redus went from a graduate assistant at West Georgia to an assistant coach at Delta State University under Craig Roden. After a short stint on Roden’s staff, Redus received a call that jump started his coaching career in a big way,
Who made the call? Vanderbilt head coach Stephanie White. The call saw Redus take that next step in his coaching career, entering the SEC as an assistant under a well-respected leader.
“They called and brought me down there. I rode around Nashville with Stephanie [White] and we hit it off. I felt like we spoke the same language, especially when it came to basketball,” Redus said. “They offered me the job. That was crazy. That was probably the craziest thing that ever happened in my life, going from Delta State to Vanderbilt.
“When I was there, I loved Vanderbilt. I loved it. I love Nashville. My son was born there. It was a crazy three years. We didn't do much winning, but the experience in learning basketball from Steph was invaluable.”
After a three year run in Nashville, Redus’ coaching path took a turn. During COVID-19, the Commodores opted out of the season and the athletic department went in a different direction, firing the coaching staff.
The decision came as a surprise to the staff, and for Redus, the timing of it all made it that much worse. His wife, Tiffany, was five months pregnant, immediately putting the two in fear of what was to come next.
But it didn’t take long for Redus to receive his next opportunity. In fact, just hours after being let go, SMU came calling. In the most 2020’s way possible, it sparked through an Instagram DM.
“The day we got fired, it came out around one o'clock. Then maybe at three o'clock, Toyelle Wilson, who's the head coach at SMU, sent me a DM on Instagram, saying that she wanted to talk,” Redus said. “We talked, she offered me the job that day and I accepted it the next day just because I was so scared. I didn't know how that worked, especially with my wife being pregnant. I accepted the job and I went to Dallas that next weekend.”
Redus’ tenure with the Mustangs was another pit stop along the journey, and after a year in Dallas, the path to Baton Rouge came together.
On a recruiting trip, Redus ran into LSU assistant coach Daphne Mitchell, a familiar face for him given Mitchell played ball with Redus’ wife at Georgia Tech years back.
Mitchell was out recruiting current LSU freshman Mikaylah Williams while Redus was checking out one of Williams' teammates.
Redus took a seat next to Mitchell during an evaluation period. Who was on the other side? None other than Hall of Fame head coach Kim Mulkey.
The two instantly clicked.
“We spent the whole day together just going from game to game,” Redus said. “From there, Jhasmin Player, who I worked with at SMU and played for Mulkey at Baylor, kept us in touch. That’s what led me to LSU.”
One thing led to another, and on a random day during the offseason, Redus received a text that even took him by surprise. A text from none other than Mulkey.
“We had workouts one random day at SMU, and I was checking my phone afterwards, and I had a text from an area code I didn’t even know,” Redus said. “It was Kim Mulkey. We talked for a couple of hours that night and at the end of the phone call she offered me the job.The rest is history. Once Coach Mulkey offered me the job, it was over.”
The Mulkey Effect
Mulkey is a game changer. When she walks in the room, time stops. The Hall of Famer has a certain aura around her that has you feel her presence before you even see her.
There’s a different feeling in Baton Rouge with Mulkey at the helm, and aside from her strategic coaching ways, there are reasons behind her success. It starts with allowing her staff to simply be them and not change.
“I just really wanted to go somewhere where I could be myself and being me would be appreciated. And from talking to Coach Mulkey, she was saying that that's what she wanted, she didn't want anybody to come in and be a yes man or just kind of try to please her or anything like that,” Redus said. “She said that hard work pleased her and that's something that I'm always going to do. I told her ‘I’m going to make you look like a genius for hiring me.’”
It’s safe to say Redus has done just that. He paved the way for the Tigers to get the No. 2 prospect in America, Mikaylah Williams, to campus. He played a pivotal role in getting the No. 1 and No. 2 transfers, Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow, down to Baton Rouge.
The recruiting genius of Redus hasn’t been swept under the rug by any means. A passionate, charismatic coach, the entire LSU fan base has a certain appreciation for Redus’ services.
With Mulkey allowing him to simply be him, it has allowed Redus to do what he does best as both an assistant coach and recruiter.
“To have somebody like that in your corner and getting to learn from every single day, you can't really put a value on that,” Redus said. “It's special for me as a young coach just still trying to find my way, to have Kim Mulkey like that. That's something that a lot of people wish they could have.”
The Recruiting Guru, Soaking It In
Redus isn’t your typical coach at the Division I level. He doesn’t care about the stereotypical, cookie-cutter ways that “old heads” believe gets the job done.
He has his tactics and schemes that work best for the LSU brand and it’s taken this program to the next level.
When looking back over the years and getting to this point, there is no other word to describe the emotions Redus feels.
“It’s a surreal feeling when I step back and think about it or when I talk about it, but I try to stay in the moment as much as I possibly can,” Redus said.
A National Championship in Year 1… The No. 1 recruiting class… Those are just two pieces to the puzzle that have catapulted Redus’ status in a little over 12 months in Baton Rouge. It happened fast, but Redus knows what this program is capable of.
“Winning the championship is crazy. I never really expected that to happen so fast, but right when I came here, I knew what I do, and I knew that I would be able to bring in talent,” Redus said. “I didn't even think about it being the number one recruiting class at the time, but I knew that we would get kids.
“I try to say it humbly, but that's the last thing I'm worried about [is bringing in talent]. I know we'll get kids, I know kids want to come here. That’s what I do. I know that I do it pretty good.”
It’s hard to imagine the pace at which the LSU Women’s Basketball program is achieving greatness. In two seasons at the helm, Mulkey has flipped the script and brought a National Championship down South.
For Redus, he’s reflected on what this program is building, understanding that this is just the beginning to what’s being created. They’ve only set the foundation.
“I feel like we’re just getting started. I feel like there's still so much more to do,” Redus said. “We can make history, and until we really make the history that we can make, I just feel like there's so much more to do. I feel like we can do so much more.”
Legends Coexisting: Mulkey x Bob Starkey
The aforementioned “all-star” coaching staff has its fair share of characters, but none attaining more value than Associate Head Coach Bob Starkey.
He brings a certain basketball mind to the table during coaches meetings with both Mulkey and Redus praising his genius.
The one word Redus used to describe Starkey: encyclopedia.
He’s an open book that allows his creative mindset to be shared with his peers. It’s played a pivotal role in what has allowed Redus to excel as an assistant.
“Just his knowledge and both ability to share and willingness to share. You can go sit in there and you can just talk to him about so many different things,” Redus said. “He's a big reason I came here in that conversation with Coach Mulkey. When she told me that Coach Starkey was coming here, that that was something that I just had to be a part of.
“Yes, I want to be a head coach one day but right now I want to be a really good assistant. There's no better assistant than Bob Starkey and just to be able to pick his brain is priceless. He's really willing to help and it's not just the coaches on his staff, it's everyone in the world.”
Redus and Starkey have their moments both good and bad. They clash and butt heads at times, but it’s what allows Redus to learn. Still young in the coaching world, having both Mulkey and Starkey in his corner has paved the way for immediate success.
“I feel the same way about Coach Mulkey and Starkey. The opportunity that I have to learn from her is the exact same way I feel about Coach Starkey,” Redus said. “It's literally no different in being able to learn from them. It's something that I can't really put a value on.”
We, Not Me, Mentality
When you ask Redus about his goals for this season, not once does he mention himself. It simply isn’t ever about him, and his we, not me, mentality has shined brightest during his time in Baton Rouge.
The appreciation for Mulley, the respect for his players and the overall passion for others has given Redus an opportunity to quickly climb the totem pole in the basketball world.
What does Redus want to see this season? Mulkey’s greatness shine even brighter, take the weight off of the staff’s shoulders and allow the players to experience new things.
“I want people to look at Kim Mulkey in an even greater light because I think it's possible. She's a Hall of Famer, she's done everything, she's been great,” Redus said. “My goal here is whenever Coach Mulkey is done, I want her to be looked at as the greatest coach of all time, because that's what I feel like she is. That's my ultimate goal for this year.”
Redus is accompanied by high-level coaches on the LSU staff. From Mulkey to Starkey to Mitchell and beyond, this is a star-studded staff to lead the program.
Moving forward, Redus wants to continue making their lives easier, but wants to continue winning along the way.
“As a staff, I want us to not have to worry about recruiting. I want me to have to worry about it. I like to take all of that worry away from everyone,” Redus said. “I also want to win. Last year was the first year I ever even made it to the tournament and that feeling was amazing.”
What about the players? As he continues recruiting elite players to Baton Rouge, he wants to fulfill the promises he’s made to them and that is to succeed both on and off the floor.
In Year 1, LSU went to the ESPY’s, went to the White House, a National Championship and more. The program has provided once in a lifetime experiences that Redus wants to share with other players that come along the way.
“I want the players to be able to experience certain things that they never have in their life and grow as young ladies, teammates and people,” Redus said. “I want them to have everything that they've ever wanted in life and I want them to be able to do that here.
“I think that's always my message to recruits. You can come here and do everything you ever wanted to do in your life at LSU. I don't think that's the case everywhere else. We want you to be able to do those things while at LSU.”
LSU has an up-and-coming superstar on staff, and as Redus continues developing into one of the top assistants in college basketball, he’ll add a different element to Mulkey’s program along the way.
