Kate Koval says she left LSU, Kim Mulkey due to addition of Russian player

More than a week after departing from LSU, women’s basketball player Kate Koval explained why she left Kim Mulkey’s program.

The news of Koval stepping away from the Tigers came 10 days after Mulkey signed Anna Minaeva, a 6-foot-5 center from Russia. Koval is Ukrainian and her father, Oleksandr, is a drone operator for the Ukrainian military as it remains at war with Russia.

In a statement posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Koval said she “fully intended to return” to LSU at the conclusion of last season, but things changed when she was told – after the transfer portal had closed – that Mulkey was recruiting a Russian player.

“My father serves in the Ukrainian military and takes tremendous pride in defending his country against Russian aggression. For me, this war is not distant or abstract,” Koval wrote. “People close to me have been killed and wounded in Russian attacks, and places where I grew up and first began playing basketball have been destroyed by missile strikes.

“The timing of this situation and the deeply personal effect it has had on me, my family, and those we care about who continue to live through and fight…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/