Kim Mulkey’s decision to leave Baylor for the head coaching job at LSU on Sunday shook up women’s college basketball.

On Monday, she made her first public comments during an introductory rally at the Maravich Center on LSU’s campus.

Here are our biggest takeaways from the press conference.

She’s not here to mess around

At Baylor, Mulkey won three NCAA championships, 12 regular-season Big 12 titles and 11 Big 12 tournament titles in 21 seasons. Prior to Mulkey’s arrival in Waco, Texas, the program had never even made the NCAA Tournament.

Mulkey made it clear during her introductory press conference that she plans to bring LSU to new heights. The Tigers last made the Final Four in 2008.

“I want you to see those banners behind you, right there … nowhere on there does it say ‘national champion,'” Mulkey said. “It doesn’t happen overnight. Let me remind you, rabid LSU fans, that can be crazy and want coaches fired tomorrow: Give it time.

“But I can assure you, that’s what I came here to do.”

It wasn’t an easy decision

Mulkey has spent 21 years molding Baylor into one of the premier women’s college basketball teams in the country. Despite reports that Mulkey’s relationships with Baylor president Linda Livingstone and athletic director Mike Rhoades were strained, Mulkey said Monday that the decision to leave was very difficult.

“My eyes are swollen from many a tear,” she said. “I have had so many sleepless nights. Because when your heart is invested in something so intensely and so passionately, it’s hard to let go.

“Yet when your heart also says it’s time to move on and accept your next challenge, and it’s at home … it just kept weighing on me. Something felt right here. I would not have left Baylor for any other school except LSU.”

Money played a role, but it wasn’t the deciding factor

At Baylor, Mulkey was reportedly making around $2.27 million per year in salary. That will increase at LSU, where it’s been reported that she’ll earn between $2.5 million and $2.8 million annually, making her one of the highest paid women’s college basketball coaches in the nation.

“How do you get a coach to leave an institution that has had so much success? I think that’s what everybody’s wondering,” Mulkey said. “And the first thing you’re gonna wonder is, ‘God, she got a boatload of money.’ My boat does not float because of money. I wanted resources that I could sell to young people. I wanted an institution that I could be proud of. I wanted resources to hire a staff to make me look good. Those things have happened.

“Yes, it did take some money to get me away from Baylor, but that wasn’t the deciding factor. Timing in everybody’s life is so important. If it doesn’t feel right at that time in your life, you don’t do it. It just felt right, the timing in my life.”

Regardless, the money certainly must have been enticing.

Mulkey is excited to be back home

Mulkey grew up in Louisiana and played college basketball at Louisiana Tech before starting her coaching career there as an assistant in 1985. She mentioned many times Monday how much it meant to her to be returning to her home state.

“I had many opportunities to leave,” Mulkey said. “This is the only one that could get me to leave. Thank you again for bringing me back home.”

Mulkey also talked about her shared Tangipahoa Parish roots with Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, who was in attendance Monday.

“When you grow up, you don’t forget where you come from. … This state made us who we were. I appreciate you being here. I appreciate what you mean to the state of Louisiana,” Mulkey said. “It’s just so unbelievably comfortable for me to come back to my roots.”

She even brought up local food, talking about how much she missed Ponchatoula strawberries and crawfish.

“You think I’m being funny, but it’s the God’s truth: I miss my food from Louisiana,” Mulkey said. “I can now tell Boudreaux and Thibodaux jokes and people don’t look at me like I’ve lost my mind.”

Mulkey then ended the press conference by channeling football coach Ed Orgeron with a “Geaux Tigahs.”

Something tells me Kim Mulkey has been working on this Ed Orgeron "Geaux Tigers" impression for a while now. #LSU https://t.co/0qS24nikU5 pic.twitter.com/H3aSZ0e8fF

— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) April 26, 2021

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.