Kate Koval, a Ukrainian center for the LSU women’s basketball team, announced she is leaving the program for personal reasons less than two weeks after LSU signed Russian player Anna Minaeva, 17, to their roster [1, 2, 3]. Koval informed LSU coach Kim Mulkey of her decision on August 23, describing it as a difficult choice, with Mulkey saying, "Kate came to see me on Sunday and told me that after much consideration, she will be leaving the program for personal reasons. We will respect her privacy on her decision, but we had a long talk about it, and it was a hard decision for her" [2].
Mulkey said she had notified Koval beforehand about signing Minaeva out of respect given the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, adding, "I want you to understand I’m not here to ask you to change how you feel about Russia. I’m just here out of respect for your family and out of respect for you to let you know. Because I know how personal it is for you" [1]. Mulkey expressed that while she understands the sensitivity, she cannot refuse to recruit a player who can help the program "because of a conflict between two countries" and hoped both athletes could serve as "ambassadors for peace" [1].
Koval was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and her father serves in the Ukrainian military as a drone operator [1, 2, 3]. She transferred to LSU from Notre Dame last season and averaged 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in about 16.6 minutes per game [1, 2, 3]. Before signing Minaeva, LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey also spoke with Koval about the recruitment [2].
Anna Minaeva previously played professionally for MBA Moscow, averaging over 11 points and 9 rebounds per game in the Moscow league [1, 3]. The Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022 with Russia’s invasion and remains ongoing [1, 2].
Koval still has two years of NCAA eligibility remaining and will likely wait for the transfer portal to open before joining another team [2]. LSU plans to respect her privacy surrounding the departure and has wished her the best [2].
