Not Just Kim Mulkey But Baylor Coach Nicki Collen Is Offended With Washington Post Too
The Baylor women’s basketball coach, Nicki Collen, took issue with the way the Washington Post piece on Kim Mulkey depicted her program. After losing to USC in the Sweet 16 by four points, she made that very obvious.
It was a completely spontaneous outburst!
Not Just Kim Mulkey But Baylor Coach Nicki Collen Is Offended With Washington Post Too
While Mulkey had gone on the attack about what she attempted to paint as a “hit piece,” Nicki Collen, the coach at Baylor, took issue with a particular passage in the narrative and how it represented her program following Mulkey’s departure to take over at LSU prior to the 2021–2022 season.
Baylor coach Nicki Collen ‘really offended’ by specific part of Washington Post Kim Mulkey article https://t.co/4DMiWw818p pic.twitter.com/J0EQcepX5W
— New York Post (@nypost) March 31, 2024
On May 3, 2021, Collen, 48, was brought on board as Mulkey’s replacement in Waco. In her first season, the Bears won 28, while in her second and third, they won 20 and 26 games respectively. They advanced one round farther this season after making it to the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round in each of the previous two years.
On Saturday, Baylor was unable to go on to the Elite Eight by a mere four points. JuJu Watkins, a standout rookie, scored thirty points for the Trojans and helped her team overcome a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter. In the end, her excellence turned out to be the key.
• Baylor reached the Elite 8 (or further) in nine of its last 11 seasons under Kim Mulkey.
• Baylor has not made it past the Sweet 16 in any of its three seasons under Nicki Collen.
Just because something hurts your feelings does not mean it’s false. https://t.co/SzD7iXHZyP
— Mike Zacchio (@mike_zacchio) March 31, 2024
The Bears stayed in close proximity to the top seed, despite their eventual inability to respond.
After Mulkey’s departure, Babb wrote in the Washington Post that Baylor was “no longer among the sport’s upper tier, another structure abandoned and left to wither.”
Collen expressed her disappointment over the phrase after Saturday’s Sweet 16 defeat to USC, even though she acknowledged she hadn’t read the piece.
As great as Kent Babb's piece on Kim Mulkey was, he clearly didn't pay any attention to Baylor Basketball this season. Nicki Collen had every right to be upset. #Sicem https://t.co/vFlNbTtSHi
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) March 31, 2024
“I’m not afraid to say I was really offended by the article that came out,” she told reporters at her postgame press conference. “Don’t know what happened, didn’t read the article, but nothing is withering in Waco and we’re going to do it our way. And it’s going to be just as good, but nothing is withering.
“And we are not not a first-tier team and you can’t say we are. You can’t get to the Sweet 16 and take a No. 1 seed down to the wire in a one-possession game and say anything is withering in Waco. … There’s a lot blooming. I’m gonna say not withering; there’s some stuff blooming in Waco. If he wants to come do an article and come to Waco and write about it next year, he’s welcome.”
Nicki Collen, Kim Mulkey's successor at Baylor, did not appreciate how her program was portrayed by the Washington Post.
She TORCHED the publication during an unprompted rant after a 4-point loss to USC at the Sweet 16!
Details: https://t.co/jdSnC9zsg4https://t.co/jdSnC9zsg4
— BroBible (@BroBible) March 31, 2024
It came down to the wire as the Bears defeated one of the top four clubs. It’s difficult to deny that since Mulkey’s exit, they haven’t been a consistently successful club. Even if they haven’t yet won any national titles, the key word here is “wither.” Nothing has turned wilted.
What did Washington Post say about LSU coach?
In-depth coverage of Kim Mulkey, the head coach of Louisiana State University’s women’s basketball team, was published by The Washington Post on Saturday. The article presents Mulkey as an unwavering leader whose actions frequently cause division within the basketball community as well as among her own players.
Nicki Collen is not Kim Mulkey. She never tried to be.
This year is proof that Collen is laying the foundation for her own legacy at Baylor.
"My expectations (are)… more about wanting to be considered one of the best at what I do and how we do it." https://t.co/OXKuEEiTDN
— Zach Smith (@ByZachSmith) March 30, 2024
How many national titles does Kim Mulkey have?
A highly gifted athlete who won two national titles while at Louisiana Tech and an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in 1984 is shown in the novel, as is a complicated and motivated coach who has experienced many highs, including four national titles, three of which she won when she was head coach of the Baylor Lady Bears.
Who wrote the Washington Post article on Kim Mulkey?
Just hours before the team’s Sweet 16 match versus UCLA, the eagerly awaited Washington Post article by Kent Babb (subscription required) on Kim Mulkey was published. Although it was a detailed portrait of a gifted but flawed individual, it didn’t appear to include any groundbreaking information.
Following Kim Mulkey at Baylor Was a Daunting Test. Nicki Collen Passed With Flying Colors. https://t.co/TWGayfgTRC
— Les Marcott (@BarnabasTBynum) March 6, 2024
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