The LSU Tigers are the national champions, and that meant we got to do something Louisiana does better than anywhere else: Throw a parade.
And that's what happened on Wednesday evening in Baton Rouge, with thousands lining the streets on LSU's campus as the team, coaches, former Tigers greats and everyone else who had a hand in the magical season rolled through, signed autographs, took selfies and more, before a raucous celebration inside the Pete Maravich Assembly center.
“Louisiana always had faith in you, but more importantly, you had faith in yourselves," Gov. John Bel Edwards said inside the PMAC, "and you were smart enough not to listen to all the experts who said you didn’t have a chance.”
Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome also presented Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey and her team with a key to the city.
“This is a key to the city for you and the team, but we know that you already have the key to all of our hearts. We love you. We love this team'. Geaux Tigers!”
Several Tigers players also took the microphone, but it was LSU president William Tate who stole the show, comparing the Tigers' success to a great rap record, which isn't possible without great DJs -- which in this case were equated to the coaching staff. The greatest example? Assistant Bob Starkey.
"That man is dissecting the record and putting it out there so these young women, when they show up on the court, Iowa didn’t have a chance," Tate yelled. "They knew the plays before they got to the court. Bob Starkey is that DJ. You hear what I’m saying?”
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He also looked at Tigers freshman and burgeoning rap star Flau'Jae Johnson, who helped inspire the rap analogy, and made a bold request: "I expect three more."
But it was guard Alexis Morris who continued to showcase the maturity that became clear throughout her final college season. At one point standing up and taking the microphone to request that the fans in attendance stay quiet and respectful as people were talking on stage. She then delivered an emotional message that encapsulates what she meant for LSU, and what LSU meant to her these past two seasons after a difficult start to her college career with three different programs, the first of which was Baylor where she was dismissed by Mulkey.
"I appreciate your love, your unwavering support and for believing in us," she said. "Give yourselves a hand. We couldn’t achieve this national championship without you all. We couldn’t have did it, there’s no way, we couldn’t have did it. This is it for me, so I just want you all to know I love you all with all my heart and I appreciate you all for welcoming me with open arms. Thank you coach, thank you my teammates, thank you everyone, I love you all so much.”
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The last to speak was Mulkey, who has done all of this before. But still, it hits different in your home state, as she's made clear many times. Rather than summarize, here is her entire speech.
“No way, no way would a coach ever put a timetable on winning a national championship. It’s not fair to the athletes, it’s not fair to the coaches. But what I meant two years ago, April. I had seen this program at its best. But its best never won a championship. And that’s what I aspired to do when I came back to LSU. This is my home, and don’t any of you from Louisiana ever stand and let one person talk bad about your state. This is us.
"Coach, coach, coach, come on now. Tell us what your goals were. Tell us how we did this, coach. Come on, what was the magical recipe? So I’m gonna share with you something that I don’t normally do. This is out of our notebook that I gave out in our first team meeting, so that you know how this was done. Nowhere on here does it say ‘win that national championship this year.’ You can’t do that. You can’t do that to young people. No. 1, I asked them, win 90% of your non-conference games. We did that. I said, finish in the top four of the SEC. Finish in the top four. We did that, check that box. Because if you do that, you’re going to get a top four seed when the selection committee chooses the top 16, we did that. No. 4, win one game in the SEC Tournament, we did that. Stay ranked in the top 25 all year. We did that. And that last thing I asked them is the same thing you’ve heard me preach, if you will play defense and if you will rebound the ball, you may surprise yourself. The Miami game, those of you who watched it, I said ‘turn the damn TV off. I wouldn’t watch this stuff, it’s awful.’ You remember? We couldn’t score the ball, but we won by 12 because we defended our rear ends off. Two games later you break an NCAA record by scoring 102 points. So that’s the kind of goals that I gave our team.
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"When you talk to young people ... as a parent, as a coach, as an adult, when you raise your kids and your grandkids, and if they love sports, it’s not about a starting five. It’s not about being a starter, it’s about being a contributor. We do not win the national championship without Sa'myah Smith, Last-Tear Poa and Jasmine Carter. … And this is a wonderful story to share. We’re in the Virginia Tech game and I’m pretty upset at those three kids. I’m lighting them up in that locker room because I know what they can do and they weren’t helping us. You think they took it to heart, and two days later they said we got you coach, we’re gonna win this championship for you. And I’ve got three kids sitting over here by me that got the most minutes, but those three kids didn’t produce at that moment because they were in foul trouble. Those three kids won the national championship for us.
"I’m gonna wrap this up, you’ve been great. I’m trying not to cry. My mother is here. Remember this in life as we leave here today: Today, today I gave all I had. What I kept, I’ve lost forever. Treat each day and give it everything you have, people, because there’s no promised tomorrow. Geaux Tigers, you’re the national champion!”
And that they are, LSU Tigers, national champions, the best in the land. Until the next time.
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