The LSU women's basketball squad has added even more star power, and you might recognize her from the statue outside of the arena.
Tigers and WNBA legend Seimone Augustus will be joining Kim Mulkey's staff ahead of next season. The move was officially announced on Monday.
“Competing against Seimone and watching her play professionally and internationally I was always impressed with her leadership and basketball IQ. Those are the intangibles I’m excited about her bringing to our program," Mulkey said in a news release. "She has experiences at the highest level of success that will allow her to be an outstanding mentor to our student-athletes.”
Augustus, a Baton Rouge native, helped transform the women's program into a national power during her time with the Tigers, helping lead LSU to its first three Final Four appearances in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Augustus was a star member of the Minnesota Lynx for more than a decade in the WNBA, where she won four WNBA titles and was named the finals MVP in 2011. She retired following the 2020 season and spent one season as an assistant coach for the L.A. Sparks. Augustus was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2006 and an 8-time All-Star. She also won three Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012 and 2016) and her No. 33 has been retired by moth the Lynx and at LSU, where she recently had a statue unveiled outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
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Augustus will join Mulkey's staff in the position vacated by Johnny Derrick, who announced his retirement in April.
“Life always guides you to where you belong,” Augustus said in a news release. “Thus, my path has led me home. Gracing me with an opportunity to further my coaching career within a program that I hold dearly. ... Once A Tiger, Always A Tiger. A new chapter begins. See you at the PMAC.”
The LSU women will have a tall task ahead of them this season in replacing star forward Angel Reese who departed for the WNBA, and shooting guard Hailey Van Lith, who has opted to transfer to TCU. The Tigers have reloaded to with a trio of transfers in guards Kailyn Gilbert (Arizona), Shayean Day-Wilson (Miami) and Mjracle Sheppard (Mississippi State).