Ukrainian Player Confirms She Quit LSU Because Kim Mulkey Signed Russian

Ukrainian college basketball player Kate Koval announced on Wednesday that she left the LSU Tigers program following the team's decision to sign a Russian player. Koval took to Instagram to share her reasons for the move, stating that she learned about the signing of 17-year-old Anna Minaeva from the Russian Basketball Super League just days after the transfer deadline had closed.

This information led her to question whether LSU was still the right place for her to continue her basketball career. Koval, who was a junior at the time, opted to withdraw from LSU before the start of the 2026-27 season. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) prohibits midyear transfers in basketball if the player had enrolled at another institution during the first semester; Koval left the team the day before classes began.

The NCAA and LSU have not yet responded to inquiries regarding the situation. Mulkey, the head coach at LSU, had informed Koval in August that the coach planned to sign Minaeva amid recruiting discussions. Koval, a native of Kyiv, had initially joined LSU in August 2021 after transferring from Notre Dame, where she played all 35 games in her freshman year.

Her father, Oleksandr, is actively involved in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia as a drone operator. In her Instagram post, Koval emphasized the gravity of the current situation, noting that her family has suffered losses due to Russian attacks and that her hometown and early basketball training grounds have been destroyed by missile strikes.