BREAKING NEWS: LSU Women’s Basketball Sends Shockwaves Across College Basketball as Kim Mulkey’s New-Look Tigers Prepare to Make a Statement in 2026–27!

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Kim Mulkey era at LSU has never lacked for headlines, but the 2026-27 season arrives with a different kind of energy—one built not on the familiar faces of a national championship run, but on a radical reconstruction that has the entire sport watching.

Gone is Flau’jae Johnson, the last remaining link to the 2023 title team, now playing for the Seattle Storm . Gone, too, is starting point guard Jada Richard, who transferred to Ole Miss, and 6-foot-5 center Kate Koval, who left the program for personal reasons before resurfacing at Baylor . In their place stands a roster of eleven players, six of them newcomers, assembled through the transfer portal and international scouting in a way that Mulkey has never attempted before.

The result is a team that SEC media picked to finish third in the conference, behind South Carolina and Texas, with two Tigers earning preseason All-SEC honors: Mikaylah Williams on the first team and MiLaysia Fulwiley on the second . That ranking is respectable. But it undersells the volatility—and the potential—of what Mulkey has built.

The Jada Williams Gamble

The single most important addition is Jada Williams, the Iowa State transfer who steps into the point guard role vacated by Richard. Williams averaged 15.3 points and 7.7 assists per game last season, ranking among the nation’s leaders in assists . She is, by ESPN’s evaluation, one of the five best transfers of the 2026 cycle .

Her fit in Mulkey’s system is not incidental. Williams excels at entry passes into the post, a skill that LSU’s offense has historically relied upon, and she defends with the edge Mulkey demands from her guards. The Tigers spent years cycling through ballhandlers; Williams arrives as the most proven floor general Mulkey has had since the championship era.

Fulwiley’s Moment

For three seasons, MiLaysia Fulwiley has been the most electrifying bench player in college basketball—a two-time SEC Sixth Woman of the Year who has come off the bench in 108 of her 112 career games . That role is about to change.

With Johnson gone and the backcourt reshuffled, Fulwiley is expected to slide into a starting role alongside Williams and Mikaylah Williams. She led LSU in scoring last season with 511 points despite her reserve role, and her 28-point performance against Duke in the Sweet 16 showcased what she can do when given extended minutes . The question is not whether Fulwiley can score. It is whether she can anchor a team rather than spark one.

The Frontcourt Void

The most significant vulnerability lies in the paint. Koval’s departure left LSU without a proven center, and the expected answer—Spanish forward Noa Morro—underwent surgery in September for a stress fracture in her shin and will not debut until mid-to-late November .

In the interim, Mulkey will lean on sophomores ZaKiyah Johnson and Grace Knox, both of whom played significant roles as freshmen but are undersized for frontcourt duties. Johnson is 5-foot-11; Knox is 6-foot-2 . Mulkey acknowledged the reality bluntly at the team’s first practice: “We don’t have the depth this year” .

The wildcard is Anna Minaeva, the 17-year-old Russian center who signed in August. At 6-foot-5 with professional experience in the Russian Premier League, Minaeva has the physical tools to contribute immediately—but she is raw, and Mulkey’s assessment after the first practice was measured: “Her body is very mature. She’s fundamentally sound. She has tremendous footwork” . The implication was clear. The talent is there. The readiness is not yet.

A Statement Schedule

LSU will have every opportunity to prove itself. The Tigers play 17 nationally televised games, including a December 20 neutral-site showdown with UConn in Nashville—a matchup between the two winningest active coaches in women’s college basketball, Mulkey and Geno Auriemma . The nonconference slate also features North Carolina, NC State, and Villanova, before SEC play opens at Auburn on December 31 .

If LSU survives that gauntlet and enters conference play healthy—particularly if Morro returns on schedule—the Tigers could be positioned for something more than the Sweet 16 appearances that have defined the last four seasons. If the frontcourt falters and the depth proves as thin as Mulkey fears, the third-place projection could look optimistic.

The Verdict

Kim Mulkey has never been afraid of a rebuild. She won at Baylor by stacking elite high school classes, and she won at LSU by supplementing them with transformative transfers like Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow. The 2026-27 roster is her most portal-dependent creation yet—a calculated bet that experience and scheme fit can compensate for the loss of star power.

Mikaylah Williams and Fulwiley give LSU one of the nation’s best backcourts. Jada Williams gives them a conductor. What remains uncertain is everything else: the frontcourt, the depth, the chemistry of a team with six new faces and eleven players total.

Mulkey herself offered the only honest assessment available. “I don’t guess any of us will know until we play, right?” she said. “What does a piece of paper mean? Everybody’s ranked high, everybody’s gonna do this. You just gotta go play” .

The Tigers open exhibition play October 22 against UNT Dallas. The regular season begins November 2 against Southeastern Louisiana. By then, the questions will start getting answers. And college basketball will be watching.