As it turns out, March Madness extends far beyond the confines of the court.
LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey spent four minutes of Saturday's news conference going after her next opponent: The Washington Post.
Mulkey, who led the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament one year after winning a national title, accused the newspaper of writing an upcoming article framed as a “hit piece” about her. According to Mulkey, the newspaper reporter has been working on this article for the past two years and has contacted several former coaches and players.
“I hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue The Washington Post if they publish a false story about me,” Mulkey said. “Not many people are in a position to hold this type of journalist accountable, but I will do it.”
A Washington Post spokesperson declined a request for comment from USA TODAY on Saturday.
Follow the madness: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
Here's everything we know so far about the upcoming article.
March Madness picks:Our predictions for Bracket Sunday for the 2024 NCAA Women's Tournament
Rumors about Kim Mulkey's article surfaced on Friday
Sports Illustrated writer Pat Ford reported on the social media platform According to Ford, the part could be released as early as next week.
A Washington Post reporter has covered LSU in the past
According to Mulkey, the reporter in question, Kent Babb, had previously written an article about Brian Kelly for the Washington Post. She “didn't appreciate” the story and as a result refused to sit with him.
The writer sent LSU “more than a dozen questions” on Tuesday with a response deadline set for Thursday, “right before the report was due to be filed,” Mulkey said. (The LSU women's basketball team played its first game of the tournament against Rice on Friday afternoon. They won, 70-60.)
She went on to say that she believes the timing of the questioning and deadline were intentional, in an attempt to distract her and her team from their current postseason run.
“It's not going to work, buddy,” Mulkey said.
“This is exactly why people don't trust journalists and the media anymore. People are tired of these kinds of shoddy tactics and one-sided jobs.”
March Madness Games for Women:Schedule, and how to watch Sunday's NCAA Tournament games
Kent Babb responded to Mulkey's comments
Although Papp and The Washington Post declined most requests for comment from multiple outlets, Papp confirmed to The Associated Press that he was working on Mulkey's profile. He also appears to have responded to Mulkey's press conference allegations and threats of lawsuits in a Saturday post on X.
“Hit a piece?” The post was read with a link to the aforementioned 2022 Babb article on Brian Kelly.
It is not yet clear when The Washington Post will publish the next story.
“Food ninja. Friendly thinker. Explorer. Entrepreneur. Zombie junkie.