LSU head coach Kim Mulkey won’t have one of her assistants when March Madness begins.
On March 8, Rutgers hired Tigers assistant coach Gary Redus II to be its next coach. Before taking the job with the Scarlet Knights, Redus had never been a head coach in Division I women’s college basketball. The Tigers assistant has been on Mulkey’s staff since the 2022-2023 season, when LSU beat Iowa in the national championship. Before joining LSU, Redus previously worked as an assistant at SMU, Vanderbilt and Division II’s Delta State. He also played basketball at South Alabama and professionally overseas. He is the son of a former MLB outfielder, Gary Redus Sr., who played 13 seasons in the league.
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After moving on to Rutgers, the question for many keeping tabs on the Tigers has been: Will Redus coach for LSU in the 2026 NCAA Tournament after taking the job? The answer is no.
“You can’t be married to two wives,” Mulkey said. “I said, ‘Get out of here. Go to work. Get your staff in place. Get your kids that are there to stay.'”
The LSU coach also recently shared there’s a possibility another Tigers staff member could leave for Rutgers. According to Mulkey, Redus could ask LSU assistant Daphne Mitchell to be on his staff. She says if that happens, she “would be happy” for Mitchell.
“I know his love for our program and our team. He’d want to be on the bench for us, too,” Mulkey said. “But as a mentor, I can’t be selfish and ask him to stay with our team because this could be a long three- or four-week process with the playoffs. You need to be working.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LSU coach says assistant can’t have ‘two wives’ in March Madness
