Baylor coach Kim Mulkey is set to reach 600 career wins in fewer games than any other Division I men’s or women’s coach.
Mulkey, who has three national championships in her 20 seasons with the No. 2 Lady Bears, takes a 599-100 record into Tuesday night’s game at Texas Tech.
“If you’re talking about win No. 600, that means I’ve coached a lot of great players, I’ve have had stability in my coaching staff. They bring those great players to Baylor and I’m getting old,” Mulkey said. “That’s what then means, I’m getting old.”
Adolph Rupp won four national championships and 876 games overall with the Kentucky men from 1930-72. His 600th win came in his 704th game in 1959.
If the defending national champion Lady Bears (23-1, 12-0 Big 12) win just one of their next four games, Mulkey will get 600 wins in fewer games than Rupp.
Baylor carries two Big 12-record winning streaks into the Texas Tech game. The Lady Bears have won 53 consecutive regular-season conference games and their last 42 league road games.
After winning national championships as a player and an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, Mulkey became Baylor’s coach in 2000. The Lady Bears were national champions in 2005, 2012 and last season.
“Listen, it’s hard to win and I don’t take winning for granted,” Mulkey said. “I can draw up plays, I can have great practices. I can teach them fundamentals. At the end of the day, those kids have got to go win ball games and golly, look at all the great ones I’ve coached in 20 years at Baylor.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma has won 11 national championships and 1,083 games in his 35 years with the Huskies. His 600th win came in his 716th game in 2006.
Mulkey last week became a finalist in the coach category for the Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame for the second time in three years. There are eight finalists for the 2020 class, which will be announced April 4.