LSU women's hoops team loses Ukranian star Kate Koval after Tigers sign Russian player

The LSU women's hoops program is losing one of its star players.

Tigers center Kate Koval has announced she is stepping away from the team, but her exit has nothing to do with playing time or NIL disputes.

Her announcement comes less than two weeks after LSU signed another center, 17-year-old Anna Minaeva from Russia.

UKRAINE UNLEASHES MORE THAN 400 DRONES NEAR MOSCOW IN ONE OF WAR'S BIGGEST ATTACKS If you're still wondering why Koval decided to walk away, consider the fact that the 6'5" center is from Ukraine, which has been at war with neighboring Russia for the past decade.

Her father is also fighting as a soldier in the Ukrainian Army, further muddying things.

"Kate came to see me on Sunday and told me that after much consideration, she will be leaving the program for personal reasons," Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey said in a statement.

"We will respect her privacy on her decision, but we had a long talk about it, and it was a hard decision for her." Though Mulkey did not specify what those "personal reasons" were, the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two countries could be the cause for Koval's change of scenery.

Mulkey claims that she is only doing what's best for the program and that she "cannot make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries." According to an article on NOLA.com , a Ukrainian athlete and a Russian athlete haven't been teammates since the war escalated back in February 2022.

Mulkey apparently wanted to use Koval and Minaeva as "ambassadors" to help mend fences in a sign of unity by having the two share a locker room.

ZERO BS.

JUST DAKICH.

TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD.

DOWNLOAD NOW! Whether that was a good idea or tone deaf is up for debate, but the move cost Mulkey and the Tigers one of their better players for the 2026 season and beyond.

OutKick has reached out to Koval for comment on the matter.