Women's Fastbreak On SI

LSU's Kim Mulkey Shares Pat Summitt Story in Explaining Baby Gift to Tennessee Coach

LSU Coach Kim Mulkey had a wholesome story behind why she gave Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell a baby gift on January 9.
Grant Young|
Oct 16, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
Oct 16, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball head coach Kim Caldwell is currently pregnant with her first child.

Before Tennessee's January 9 game against Kim Mulkey's LSU Tigers team (which LSU ultimately won by a score of 89-87), Mulkey said, "I know any moment now I was told [Caldwell] should have a baby, so I hope she has that baby right there in the middle of the game," per Cory Diaz of the Daily Advertiser.

"I hope that game gets so exciting, I'll go down there and help deliver it. Pat Summitt had quite a story about when she had her baby. She had to land that plane out of recruiting. If Kim goes into labor during our game, listen I have lots of experience, I have two. Come find me and I'll be there to hold your hand with husband and whomever else you'd let into the room."

Mulkey was then seen giving Caldwell a gift bag with the word "baby" on it before Thursday's game began, as shared on X by WVLT's Rylee Robinson.

While the game was surely exciting, Caldwell didn't have her baby on the sideline. But Mulkey explained why she was compelled to offer Caldwell a gift when speaking with the media postgame.

"I gave her a gift for her baby. And I started doing that several years ago," Mulkey said, per an X post from Mike Scarborough of TigerBait.com. "[USC Trojans head coach] Lindsay Gottlieb came and played me at Baylor in the playoffs, and she was being ready to have a baby.

"I'm a big family person. Kids just touch me," Mulkey continued. "And when I watch coaches that are going to try to coach and be a mama, we need more of that. Pat Summitt was gracious to me when I was an assistant at Louisiana Tech, and basically mentored me and said, 'You can do this. Don't you get out of the business. You can have a baby and you can raise a child and you can be a great coach.'"

It's cool to see and hear about Mulkey continuing Summitt's legacy in this way.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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