Kim Mulkey Sets Her Sights on GG Banks — And LSU Isn’t the Only Blue Blood in the Room
Kim Mulkey and LSU women’s basketball are turning up the heat on one of the most sought-after prospects in the country, as the program continues its pursuit of five-star combo guard Jezelle “GG” Banks — the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect in the 2027 recruiting cycle.
A recruitment LSU has invested in for over a year
This isn’t a new relationship. LSU’s interest in Banks dates back to at least mid-2025, when she first named the Tigers among a group of schools she hoped to visit, alongside Texas, South Carolina and North Carolina. Since then, Mulkey’s staff has steadily deepened the pursuit — hosting her for an unofficial visit in February 2026 during LSU’s game against Missouri, and later locking in an official visit for September. That kind of sustained, multi-touchpoint recruitment over more than a year signals LSU isn’t treating Banks as a late add to the board; she’s been a program priority for a long stretch of her high school career.
Why Banks is worth the effort
The scouting profile explains the urgency. A 5-foot-9 combo guard, Banks was named the 2023-24 MaxPreps Delaware Player of the Year as a freshman before repeating the honor as a sophomore. Her sophomore-season numbers — 21.7 points, 4.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game — reflect a player who impacts winning across multiple statistical categories, not just as a scorer. That kind of two-way production at the guard position is precisely the type of talent that can anchor a backcourt in a physical, defense-first system like the one Mulkey runs, which likely explains why LSU has prioritized her relationship so heavily relative to other targets.
A crowded, blue-blood-heavy race
Banks’ recruitment is anything but exclusive. Her offer list includes LSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Florida, Alabama and UCLA, among more than 20 total scholarship offers — a number that puts her firmly in the tier of prospects who can effectively choose from any program in the country. South Carolina’s recent entry into the mix adds another marquee name to an already stacked field, and with official visits already scheduled for Texas and LSU, while Ohio State and South Carolina work to lock in their own dates, the recruitment appears to be entering a more decisive phase.
That context matters for how LSU’s continued “checking in” should be read. Mulkey has a track record of aggressively pursuing — and landing — top-five national prospects, including assembling the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2025. But Banks represents a tougher recruiting battle than most of those past wins, given the sheer number of blue-blood programs already involved and the fact that official visits elsewhere are already on the books.
What comes next
With Banks’ official visit slate still filling in and her recruitment described as entering a pivotal offseason stretch, the coming months will likely determine whether LSU’s early and sustained investment pays off, or whether a program like South Carolina — armed with Dawn Staley’s own recent recruiting momentum — ends up the beneficiary of a late surge. Continued in-person contact from Mulkey and her staff suggests LSU isn’t backing off, even as the competition for Banks’ commitment intensifies.
