Kim Mulkey reveals huge news for LSU and the Transfer Portal

With the NCAA Transfer Portal window set to open next week, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey shared some huge news on next season’s roster.

On Thursday, Mulkey sat down with WAFB-TV’s Jacques Doucet for an interview that spanned everything from the NCAA Transfer Portal to the buzz around her future in coaching.

In Sacramento following the Sweet 16 loss to Duke, Mulkey made it clear she’s not retiring.

Back in Baton Rouge, she also made it clear the roster the staff has built is bought in and ready to run it back for the 2026-27 season.

Divine Bourrage, who averaged 9 minutes and 2 points per game off the bench, has already announced her decision to enter the transfer portal when it opens next week.

How many more Tigers are expected to transfer?

Zero.

“You cannot understand the value of having all of them come back,” Mulkey told Doucet. “That’s how you build it. That’s how you get over that hump of an Elite Eight. When you look at those that are coming back — freshman, freshman, sophomore, junior sophomore — and look how much they did this year.

“And so, man, if they come back, they stay together, they play together. That’s how you build it. That’s the way it’s supposed to be done, so I am blessed that all of those great players are coming back.”

While LSU loses one of the program’s most accomplished and celebrated players in senior Flau’jae Johnson, the highest-scoring offense in the country had two other players who averaged at least 14 points per game in Mikaylah Williams and Milaysia Fulwiley.

Both have one more year of eligibility remaining.

And, in addition to a returning starter at point guard in Jada Richard, a returning starter at guard/forward in ZaKiyah Johnson, and the team’s biggest post player in Kate Koval, Mulkey and Co. proved to have a deep and talented bench that featured breakout years from true freshmen like Grace Knox and Bella Hines.

Toss in a former Top 100 prospect in Maryland’s Meghan Yarnevich, who appeared in 20 games as a true freshman this past season, and the future is extremely bright for an LSU program that won a National Championship in 2023 followed back-to-back Elite 8 appearances before this season’s early exit in the Sweet 16.

Mulkey also shed light on what LSU is looking to add from the portal, circling “two or three more players” as the finishing touches on top of the roster already in place. LSU also adds a McDonald’s All-American in the program’s lone signee Lola Lampley.

This week, LSU assistant Bob Starkey told Doucet the hope was to add one to two post players and depth at the point guard position.

The NCAA transfer portal opens on April 6 for women’s basketball, which comes the day after the 2026 National Championship is played.