Johnny Derrick Announces His Retirement From LSU Women’s Basketball

BATON ROUGE – After spending the past 24 seasons with Kim Mulkey through the entirety of her head coaching career, Johnny Derrick announced his retirement from the LSU Women’s Basketball staff during LSU’s appreciation banquet Thursday night.

“It is hard for me to properly state how important Johnny Derrick has been in my head coaching career,” Coach Mulkey said. “He is one of the most loyal, compassionate, and good people I know and a lot of the success we have enjoyed through the years has been in large part because of Johnny. He has been by my side from the beginning and never missed a single game. In fact, he has more wins than I do because I missed a couple of games due to kidney stones and Covid. Johnny handled a number of responsibilities within our program through the years, a lot of which go unnoticed by the average person. Everything he did elevated what I have been able to do as a coach. I could not be more grateful to have a person like Johnny on my staff and by my side for 24 seasons.”

“Kim gave me the opportunity to go with her (to Baylor) and try to build something great,” Derrick said. “It was a great experience at Baylor, the things we were able to do there from the ground up. We were there a long time and built great friendships. Then the opportunity came to come to LSU, and I know it was a decision she had to make that was tough. I walked out in Tiger Stadium, and I’d never been in Tiger Stadium before and I texted Kramer (Robertson) and said ‘big time.’ He said, ‘I told you so.’ LSU already had a history of success in women’s basketball and was hungry for that again. It was exciting to see the joy in the university, the fans and the players to experience the success that we had. It’s been an honor to be able to go with Kim and be on this exceptional journey all these years. Working for Coach Mulkey and in the game of basketball has allowed me to meet some amazing people in the game as well as see many parts of our country and the world. I’m proud and honored to have visited the White House and celebrated our four national championships with the last four presidents of the United States.”

In three seasons as the assistant athletic director for women’s basketball at LSU, Derrick has been critical in the Tigers’ 91-14 record, including a 10-2 record in the NCAA Tournament and the 2023 National Championship. Derrick’s presence at LSU has been key in revitalizing the Fast Break Club, which has ballooned to over 500 members.

Derrick began working in collegiate athletic in 2000 when he joined Coach Mulkey’s first staff at Baylor. As an assistant coach, he played a vital role in the program’s rapid rise in which the Lady Bears won a Big 12 and NCAA Championship in 2005. Following his seven-year stint as an assistant coach, Derrick moved into a position within program operations.

Once he transitioned into his role within operations, he worked to ensure all of Baylor’s off-court responsibilities were handled which allowed for the program to run smoothly in all facets. For his final six years at Baylor, Derrick earned the title of Assistant Athletic Director. Working behind the scenes and taking care of every detail from scheduling to budget management to team travel and more, Derrick helped the Lady Bears secure two more NCAA Championships in 2012 and 2019.

When Coach Mulkey made the decision to return to Louisiana and become the head coach at LSU, Derrick followed suit. For the Dubach, LA native, it was a homecoming for him too as he continued in the same role that he held on Coach Mulkey’s staff at Baylor.

“It was a special opportunity to be able to finish my career at LSU and back in my home state. While I’m originally from north Louisiana, it has been a tremendous experience to be in Baton Rouge at LSU. No matter where I go, LSU will always be a part of me.”

From the time he joined Coach Mulkey’s staff in 2000 until his retirement, Derrick never missed a single game. In total, Derrick was a part of four national championship seasons and 23 conference titles in the regular season and conference tournament.

(Release via LSU Athletics)

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