Since Brittney Griner was taken into Russian custody in February, basketball players and coaches around the world have offered their support for the WNBA star.

But one person has been absent from the outpouring of support: Kim Mulkey.

The conversation around Mulkey’s silence came to a head on Monday, after Cory Diaz, an LSU women’s basketball reporter for The Daily Advertiser, asked Mulkey to comment on Griner’s detainment in a press conference.

Diaz said that he had yet to hear Mulkey say anything about Griner.

“And you won’t,” the coach replied.

Kim Mulkey declined to comment on Brittney Griner's situation.

The ex-Baylor coach has yet to make a public statement. pic.twitter.com/5CQnivzZed

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 26, 2022

Griner was arrested in February in a Moscow-area airport for allegedly having hashish oil in her luggage. Since then, WNBA players such as Skylar Diggins-Smith and Breanna Stewart as well as coaches such as South Carolina’s Dawn Staley have spoken out and answered questions about Griner, emphasizing their desire to bring her home.

After Griner was convicted in August and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for drug smuggling charges, Just Women’s Sports obtained a statement from Baylor, where Mulkey coached Griner from 2009-13.

“With the unsettling news of the verdict and sentencing of Brittney Griner, we continue to pray for her ongoing strength and safety throughout her detainment,” read the statement from the Baylor women’s basketball program. “We recognize the extraordinary complexity of this situation, yet we remain hopeful of the day she will again set foot on U.S. ground.”

JWS also reached out to LSU, but no comment was provided. An athletic department spokesperson said he would reach out if Mulkey decided to release a statement. She never did.

Though Mulkey said Monday that she wouldn’t comment on the ongoing situation, she did offer some insight to her silence on the Tiger Rag podcast back in June.

“Well I keep up with it, like you guys do as far as what’s in the National Media,” Mulkey said on the podcast. “I don’t make public comments. I think that is a personal issue. You just want everybody to come home safely, and I pray for Brittney. I want her home safely. I think there are lots of people speaking out on her behalf, and those of us who don’t necessarily speak publicly are praying for her.”

That is the only time Mulkey has offered any insight into her thought process on the Griner situation.

This isn’t the first time Mulkey has been embroiled in controversy regarding her statements about Griner. After Griner left Baylor in 2013 and was selected as the first overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury, information about the seemingly contentious relationship between the two came to light.

In a 2013 profile by ESPN’s Kate Fagan, Raymond Griner, Brittney’s father, stated that once Baylor lost to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament, Mulkey didn’t contact his daughter again.

“It’s about dollar signs,” Raymond told Fagan. “There’s nothing in it for Kim anymore, so she’s done with Brittney.”

Shakira Austin, current WNBA player and former Ole Miss standout, echoed that sentiment Monday in a tweet about the Mulkey press conference in which she declined to comment about Griner.

“It’s all business smh once you no longer benefit their lives watch how they move after. Recruits, idk what else to suggest besides just go overseas and be selfish,” she tweeted.

Queen Egbo, who played for Mukley from 2018-21, before Mulkey took the head coaching job at LSU, retweeted Austin’s statement, and she offered insight of her own with multiple tweets about Griner and Mulkey.

Perhaps the most pointed was a tweet in which she referenced the success Baylor and Mulkey had thanks to Griner.

“A player that built Baylor, 2 national titles & a 40-0 record,” Egbo wrote. “Yet her former coach refuses to say anything or simply just show any kind of support. Keep that in mind when choosing schools.”

Egbo, a 2022 WNBA All-Rookie selection of the Indiana Fever, later corrected her tweet to say “two Final Fours” rather than “two national titles,” as Baylor made the Final Four with Griner in 2010 and later won an NCAA championship with her in 2012.

Fagan’s 2013 article revealed more tension between Griner and Mulkey, specifically in relation to Griner’s sexuality. Mulkey did not want Griner to talk about her sexuality while playing for the Bears, Griner said, though her being gay was an “open secret.”

During Griner’s playing career at Baylor, Mulkey was outwardly supportive of her star center. She even addressed the hate Griner received online during a 2012 NCAA Tournament press conference, stating that Griner was a “human being.”

Fagan’s article about Griner can be marked as the start of Mulkey choosing not to address controversy surrounding Griner.

The coach declined an interview for the story, though she later released a statement to Fagan through a spokesperson which said: “Brittney Griner represented Baylor University proudly on and off the basketball court, and she leaves behind an incredible legacy. I cannot comment on personal matters surrounding any of our student-athletes, but I can tell you Brittney will always be a celebrated member of the Baylor family.”

After the story was published, Fagan said Mulkey reached out to ESPN, her employer at the time, asking for Fagan to be fired. Mulkey allegedly claimed Fagan “forced” Griner into making statements for the article.

While several of Mulkey’s former players, including Egbo and NaLyssa Smith, have been critical of their former coach, current LSU player Alexis Morris was firm in her support of Mulkey on Twitter.

Morris tweeted that the “ball was in Russia’s court,” and “them people told us to be quiet or they won’t do the trade,” before later tweeting, “I’m saying God is in control and this is bigger than you, me and Kim.”

Morris also pinned a tweet in which she offered support for Griner, stating the following: “No matter what. It’s forever #FreeBG, until it’s backwards.”

Morris played for Mulkey at Baylor during the 2017-18 season, but was dismissed from the squad following an arrest for allegedly assaulting another woman. Morris was then arrested again in December of 2017 in Beaumont, Texas, for “marijuana possession and possession of a dangerous substance.”

Since then, Morris bounced around, playing at Rutgers and then Texas A&M before getting a second chance with her former coach. She transferred to LSU in 2021 after Mulkey took the helm for the Tigers.

For the first time in the NWSL's 12-year history, fans can now buy their own goalkeeper jerseys. And while replica goalkeeper jerseys representing all 14 NWSL teams hit the market on Wednesday, some didn't stick around for long. 

Fans across women's soccer have long vocalized their discontent over the position's lack of availability on social media, often comparing the shortcoming to the widespread availability of men’s goalkeeper jerseys. And as the NWSL has grown, so has demand — and not just from those in the stands. 

"To have goalkeeper kits available for fans in the women’s game as they have been for so long in the men’s game is not only a long-awaited move in the right direction, it’s just good business," said Washington Spirit goalie Aubrey Kingsbury in an team press release. "I can’t wait to see fans representing me, Barnie [Barnhart], and Lyza in the stands at Audi!"

just went looking at #nwsl goalkeeper kit stock out of curiosity — Alyssa Naeher's $145 kit already sold out S-XL (league announced GK jerseys on sale 3 hours ago)https://t.co/8bYA7tlwcx

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) April 17, 2024

Business does, in fact, appear to be booming. Alyssa Naeher’s Chicago Red Stars kit sold out less than three hours after the league's announcement. Jerseys for other keepers like DiDi Haračić, Abby Smith, Michelle Betos, Katelyn Rowland, and Bella Bixby aren’t currently available via the Official NWSL Shop, though blank goalkeeper jerseys can be customized through some individual team sites. Jerseys start at $110 each.

"This should be the benchmark," said Spirit Chief Operations Officer Theresa McDonnell. "The expectation is that all players’ jerseys are available to fans. Keepers are inspiring leaders and mentors with their own unique fan base who want to represent them... I can’t wait to see them all over the city."

Decorated gymnast Simone Biles took to the popular Call Her Daddy podcast this week to open up about her experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, revealing she thought she was going to be "banned from America" for her performance.

After Biles botched her vault routine due to a bout of the "twisties," she withdrew from the team final as well as the all-around final in order to focus on her mental health. She later reentered the competition to win bronze in the individual balance beam final.

In her interview with podcast host Alex Cooper, Biles admitted to feeling like she let the entire country down by failing her vault attempt.

"As soon as I landed I was like 'Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,'" she recalled thinking. "I was like, ‘Holy s---, what are they gonna say about me?'"

"I thought I was going to be banned from America," she continued. "That’s what they tell you: Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back."

Widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles has hinted at a desire to join her third Olympic team in Paris, though her participation won't be confirmed until after the gymnastics trials in late June. She holds over 30 medals from the Olympic Games and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined, and if qualified, would be a sure favorite heading into this summer’s games.

Caitlin Clark is reportedly close to cementing a hefty endorsement deal with Nike.

The Athletic was the first to break the news Wednesday evening, commenting that the deal would be worth "eight figures" and include her own signature shoe. On Thursday afternoon, the publication tweeted that the deal would top $20 million, according to lead NBA Insider Shams Charania. Both Under Armour and Adidas are said to have also made sizable offers to the college phenom and expected future WNBA star.

The new agreement comes after Clark's previous Nike partnership ended with the conclusion of the college basketball season. She was one of five NCAA athletes to sign an NIL deal with the brand back in October, 2022. 

Considering Clark's overwhelming popularity and Nike's deep pockets, the signing's purported value doesn't exactly come as a shock. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s deal with the brand is reportedly worth $24 million, while NBA rookie and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama’s deal is rumored to weigh in at $100 million. And in 2003, LeBron James famously earned $90 million off his own Nike deal. 

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Clark’s star power continues to skyrocket, with the NCAA championship averaging 18.9 million viewers and the 2024 WNBA Draft more than doubling its previous viewership record. Following the draft, Fanatics stated that Clark's Indiana Fever jersey — which sold out within an hour — was the top seller for any draft night pick in the company’s history, with droves of unlucky fans now being forced to wait until August to get their hands on some official No. 22 gear.

In Wednesday's Indiana Fever introductory press conference, the unfailingly cool, calm, and collected Clark said that turning pro hasn’t made a huge impact on how she’s conducting her deals.

"If I’m being completely honest, I feel like it doesn’t change a ton from how I lived my life over the course of the last year," she said. "Sponsorships stay the same. The people around me, agents and whatnot, have been able to help me and guide me through the course of the last year. I don’t know if I would be in this moment if it wasn’t for a lot of them."

Former Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo has signed on with Athletes Unlimited and will compete in the AU Pro Softball AUX this June.

The NCAA record holder in career home runs (122), total bases (761), and slugging percentage (.987), Alo was originally drafted by the league in 2022 but opted instead to join the newly debuted Women’s Professional Fastpitch. 

Alo currently plays for independent pro softball team Oklahoma City Spark, with team owner Tina Floyd reportedly on board with her recent AUX signing. AUX games are scheduled for June 10-25, while the Spark's season will kick off June 19th. Alo will play for both. 

Among those joining Alo on the AUX roster are former James Madison ace pitcher Odicci Alexander and former Wichita State standout middle infielder Sydney McKinney.

According to Alo, the decision to play in the Athletes Unlimited league was fueled by her desire to propel women's sports forward as well as provide more exposure to a sport that's given her "so many opportunities."

"Not only to challenge myself more, but just for the growth of the game," Alo said, explaining her reasoning to The Oklahoman. "I genuinely believe that professional softball can be a career for girls."

Joining AUX is also one more step in her plan toward representing Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"I’m constantly thinking about how can I do these little things right in these four years to prepare me for the biggest stage of softball," she told The Oklahoman. "I definitely want to play in the Olympics, for sure."

Alo further expressed enthusiasm in the hope that the rise of other women’s sports, like women’s basketball and the NWSL, will push softball’s professional viability even higher.

"We’re seeing the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) get their stuff going, I see the WNBA starting to get hot," she continued. "I feel like the softball community is like, 'All right, it’s our turn and it’s our turn to just demand more.'"