Kim Mulkey and Jay Johnson are keeping their programs stocked for the long term
The early signing period window for baseball and basketball opened Wednesday and your Fightin’ Tigers of LSU have the No. 1 high school class in both women’s basketball and baseball.
Kim Mulkey signed four five-star prospects today, while Jay Johnson absolutely crushed this cycle with 19 signees, 11 of whom are considered top-100. players in the 2025 class.
Let’s start with Mulkey’s signees as we’ll see all four wear the purple and gold next season. LSU signed four of the top-25 players in the class. The list includes:
- ZaKiyah Johnson, the No. 4 overall player in the country
- Divine Bourrage, the No. 7 overall player in the country
- Grace Knox, the No. 13 overall player in the country
- Bella Hines, the No. 24 overall player in the country
All four players are currently on the Naismith Girls’ High School Player of the Year watchlist.
Signing Johnson was the biggest coup for the LSU class. A Kentucky native, Johnson picked LSU over Louisville and Kentucky. She’s one of the most decorated high school athletes in the history of the state, winning three state championships and three Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year honors. Johnson averaged 17.7 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman, 22.5 points and 8.8 rebounds as a sophomore and 18.9 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior.
“I chose to play for Coach Mulkey at LSU because I know she knows what it takes to get to the top,” Johnson said. “LSU feels like home away from home.”
Bourrage was Gatorade’s Player of the Year for the state of Iowa last season after averaging a hair under 20 points a game (19,8), 9.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 3 steals.
“I chose to play at LSU because I feel like I can grow my game there and it felt like home,” Bourrage said. “And to play for Coach Mulkey has been a dream of mine.”
Knox is the lone forward of LSU’s signing class and could be LSU’s next great post player. Knox is originally from Las Vegas but transferred to Etiwanda High School in Los Angeles. Last season Knox averaged 17 points and 11.9 rebounds en route to both a state and national championship.
“I would say I chose LSU because, for one I know Coach Mulkey can develop me for the next level as I saw her do at Baylor and recently at LSU,” Knox said. “I love the culture on and off the court which set it apart from the other schools mostly. Of course, there’s great branding opportunities at LSU as well. Lastly, I feel like on the visit I felt the genuineness and passion in the coaching staff. There didn’t seem to be an awkward moment and could see myself thriving at LSU next year.”
Finally, Hines is coming to LSU from Albuquerque just like a certain LSU baseball icon did a decade ago. The whole point of basketball is to put the ball through the hoop and Hines might be the best pure scorer in the country. Last season Hines averaged a staggering 32.5 points per game and had back-to-back games of 50+ points.
“I chose to play at LSU and for Coach Mulkey because I wanted to be a part of a winning program and I know with Coach Mulkey I can do that,” Hines said. “A big part of why I wanted to play for Coach Mulkey is because she cares more about me as a person and my education than just a basketball player.”
It’s the second time in three years Mulkey has signed the No. 1 class in the country and with talented classes stacking on top of each other, deep runs in March should be in LSU’s future for quite a while.
Jay Johnson knows a thing or two about putting together deep, talented signing classes and he’s once again got a stacked class for LSU. The blessing of having the No. 1 baseball class is also a curse of course so don’t expect the most prized jewels of the class to ever make it to campus. For example, LSU’s two highest ranked signees—Dean Moss, an OF from California, and Brady Ebel a SS also from California—are the No. 7 and 10 overall prospects according to PerfectGame. I’m gonna go ahead and assume neither make it to campus.
That being said, we’re starting to see a shift in college baseball in the new NIL world, where guys going to college for two or three years might be better served than slumming it in the minor leagues straight out of high school. So maybe Moss or Ebel surprise everyone and make it to Baton Rouge.
We’ll check back in with this group in the summer as the 2025 MLB Draft approaches to see who Johnson can hold on to.