Former LSU center Kate Koval has been granted a waiver by the NCAA to enter the transfer portal. The junior will be immediately eligible to compete for her next school, according to several reports.
The 6-foot-5 Ukrainian native decided to leave the LSU program two weeks ago for what was announced as “personal reasons.” Speculation followed that Koval’s decision was spurred by LSU coach Kim Mulkey adding Russian center Anna Minaeva to the roster.
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Koval confirmed that was her reason for leaving LSU in a social media post.
“At the conclusion of last season, I fully intended to return and continue my collegiate career at LSU,” Koval wrote. “However, in April, several days after the transfer portal had closed, I was informed of the decision to sign a Russian player.”
“My father serves in the Ukrainian military and takes tremendous pride in defending his country against Russian aggression,” she continued. "For me, this war is not distant or abstract. 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."
Koval is being allowed to enter the transfer portal under a “legislative relief waiver,” USA Today reports. Such a waiver is granted beyond a sport-specific transfer window due to an “exigent event outside the student-athlete’s control unrelated to athletics opportunities or participation at their current institution that demands the student-athlete’s immediate departure from the institution,” according to The Athletic.
In her lone season at LSU, Koval averaged 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 35 games (17 starts). She began her collegiate career at Notre Dame, transferring to LSU after her freshman season.
Mulkey told the New Orleans Advocate that she met with Koval about recruiting Minaeva and explained that she understood how Koval felt about Russia, but could not “make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries.”
The LSU coach went on to say that she hoped the two players could become “ambassadors” amid the war between Ukraine and Russia which began in 2022 and perhaps even help end the conflict. Koval responded skeptically. She announced her departure from LSU a week later.