LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey said Monday that Ukraine national team member Kate Koval will be leaving the team. This comes just ten days after LSU signed a Russian center, Anna Minaeva.
According to a statement by Coach Mulkey on social media, Kate talked to her on Sunday and said she wants to leave the team for personal reasons.
“Kate came to see me on Sunday and told me that after much consideration, she will be leaving the program for personal reasons,” Mulkey said. “We will respect her privacy on her decision, but we had a long talk about it, and it was a hard decision for her.”
Mulkey added that this was a difficult decision for Kate because she really loves the school, and the program fully supports her.
No one has linked Koval’s exit from the program to Minaeva’s entry into the team. Minaeva is a seventeen-year-old girl who played professionally for MBA Moscow. She signed with LSU on August 14, according to the Kyiv Post.
Koval was born in Kyiv and had one season at Notre Dame before transferring to LSU. According to ESPN, she averaged 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds last season. Her father, Oleksandr, served in the Ukrainian army. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the two countries are at war now.
Mulkey revealed that she met with Kate before making any move to recruit Minaeva. She was quoted as saying in an interview with The New Orleans Advocate after signing Minaeva.
“I want you to understand I’m not here to ask you to change how you feel about Russia,” Mulkey said. “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.”
Mulkey added that the job’s responsibilities leave no room to evaluate conflict between countries when recruiting players. “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.”
Associate Head Coach Bob Starkey also met with Kate before LSU signed Minaeva. Mulkey expressed hope that Kate and Minaeva can serve as ambassadors of their respective countries. Their partnership would carry a message of peace.
It would be the first time a Ukrainian-Russian pair would play together in Division I women’s basketball since the war started.
Many people are interested in how LSU evaluated the potential effect of adding Minaeva to the team before recruiting her. LSU has promised to respect Kate’s privacy.
Koval has not revealed her next destination.
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