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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Meghan L. Hall

Everything we know about Kateri Poole’s mysterious exit from LSU

The roller coaster year for the LSU Lady Tigers isn’t losing momentum anytime soon. Junior guard Kateri Poole is no longer with the team.

LSU has made national headlines recently with the sudden benching of its biggest star, Angel Reese, and head coach Kim Mulkey’s response to questions about Reese’s whereabouts. Reese returned to the lineup in late November after a brief mental health break, but that hasn’t shifted the spotlight from the team.

Now, additional questions are brewing, including one that doesn’t quite have an answer: why is Kateri Poole no longer with the team?

Poole was a critical reason that LSU won a national championship last season and a part of Angel Reese’s decision to spend her time playing in the Bayou.

Here’s everything we know about the guard’s exit from LSU:

Things were possibly starting to shift when Poole did not play against Kent State

On November 14, Angel Reese was benched during the second half of a win against Kent State. But, something that likely went under the radar to many was that Poole did not play any minutes at all.

Head Coach Kim Mulkey at the time chalked it up to the matchup.

Poole returned for a November 17 game against Southeastern Louisiana State, but was not seen in any recent games after

The Lady Tigers picked up another win against Southeastern Louisiana State, but Poole played just five minutes.

In that span, she didn’t score any field goals and only made one of her two free throws.

On November 29, when Reese returned, Mulkey gave a quick update

As Reese came back to the court, Mulkey gave a very brief update on Poole but did not provide any in-depth details.

Mulkey confirmed on December 10 that Poole was no longer on the team

Much like Angel Reese’s absence, Mulkey did not provide any context or clarity to Poole’s exit, only confirming the departure when questioned by local media.

“She’s no longer with us,” Mulkey responded.

@overtimewbb

Hoping to still see some big things coming from Kateri 🤞

♬ original sound – Overtimewbb

Poole has been largely silent on the ordeal, but did recently post a "thank you" to LSU

Angel Reese shared her gratitude for Poole, saying "Forever my dawg! You know I love you."

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