BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey, too upset last week to address the departure of athletic director Scott Woodward, said she's happy the school has named interim athletic director Verge Ausberry as Woodward's permanent replacement.
The Tigers opened Mulkey's fifth season Tuesday night with a 108-55 home victory over Houston Christian.
Sitting near LSU's bench was Ausberry, a two-time LSU football captain, Louisiana native and longtime athletic department employee. His interim title was dropped after Wade Rousse was appointed as the school's president Tuesday afternoon, sources confirmed to ESPN amid reports.
Mulkey declined to appear at a postgame news conference Thursday night after she learned of Woodward's departure during LSU's exhibition game against Langston.
Assistant head coach Bob Starkey appeared in Mulkey's absence, describing her as "heartbroken."
Woodward and Mulkey connected as south Louisiana natives. He persuaded her to leave Baylor after 21 seasons, during which she won three national championships.
"Scott hired me," said Mulkey, who has guided LSU to four straight NCAA tournaments, including a national championship and consecutive Elite Eight appearances in the last three seasons. "My feelings are far deeper because I'm from this state, and I want all of us to always do good. I want us to look good. I want us to smell good. I want us all everything good about this state.
"I heard Verge is now the AD. I'm happy because I think Verge is like a lot of us. He grew up in this state. This is his school. And time will help all of us."
It was Mulkey's first public comments about Woodward's sudden resignation under pressure from the post he'd held for six years.
Mulkey immediately praised Woodward after winning the school's first national title in basketball in April 2023.
"He is my kind of leader," Mulkey said of Woodward at the time. "We talk the same language. I don't know if that's a Louisiana thing. He's from Baton Rouge. I'm from Hammond. But he just gets it. He gets it. He gets out of the way.
"He doesn't have to be, and doesn't want to be, the most important person in the athletic department. ... He wouldn't even go out there tonight and cut the net down."