No budget or commitment changes in sight for Baylor women's basketball
It’s been a trying couple of days for Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades. One of the top coaches in the world of women’s college basketball, Kim Mulkey, opted to leave Waco and Baylor to return to her home state accounting after 21 seasons, three National Championships and too many Big 12 Championships to count in the Green and Gold.
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Rhoades is catching the brunt of the blow back from the avid supporters of Baylor women’s basketball for what they believe was a lack of effort to keep Mulkey in Waco. Mulkey won her first National Championship in 2005 and followed it up with additional changes in seven years increments.
It was her success that many believe gave Baylor administration and the vision to commit to success in other sports. Baylor is in the midst of an 11-year stretch that marks the most successful stretch in the history of the University’s athletic department which was highlighted a Heisman Trophy (2011), two Big 12 football championships (2013, 2014), three New Year’s Six Bowl Games (2013, 2014 and 2019), Baylor men’s basketball National Championship in 2021 and significant success in other minor sports in addition to Mulkey’s dominant run in the Big 12.
“The legacy that Kim and her staff and student athletes — and fans, by the way —everybody was a part of it, of building this legacy,” Rhoades told SicEm365 Radio on Tuesday. “You think about the regular season Big 12 Championships and the tournament championships and the three National Championships and the Final Four appearances, we don't want to lose that.”
He continued, “We want we want our women's basketball program to continue to be nationally relevant, to compete at high level.”
Rhoades realizes that the commitment nationally to women’s basketball is as strong as it has ever been and the timing of Mulkey’s departure isn’t ideal, but it can be overcome.
“You think about the big brands on the national level in terms of women's basketball, and you know, I don't know if that's in two years, I don't know if that's in five years, 10 years, but there's going to be changes there at some of the other institutions and we want to position ourselves to continue to be elite in the sport of women's basketball.”
Whatever might be the case and the true reasoning behind Mulkey’s departure, Rhoades told SicEm365 that the commitment to the program is not going to change. After winning the 2019 National Championship, Mulkey received a total of slightly less than $3 million in salary. That did not include the salary pool for assistants or additional budget for the program in areas such as recruiting.
Needless to say, as Rhoades begins his search for a new coach, something he hopes to have finished within a short amount of time, he is playing with a full deck to recruit his next head coach to Baylor.
“We've not changed any funding in terms of our operational budget, assistant coaching salary pool, all of those things,” Rhoades said. “We're prepared and committed to fund it at the highest level and continue to compete for championships.”
Mulkey will receive a base salary of $2.5 million at LSU in 2021-2022. That total will grow up to $3 million over the life of the contract.