BATON ROUGE - An unsung coaching legend will be back on the LSU women's basketball bench this season, as Bob Starkey joined Kim Mulkey's staff back in April.

Starkey spoke at the LHSAA Coaches Convention, where he showed his confidence in the direction of the program.

"I don't think there's any question that we're on an upward trajectory, and I expected that when Kim got the job before I even joined her staff," Starkey said. "I told somebody that get ready, you know, tighten your seatbelt. LSU getting ready to be back."

Starkey is only going to enhance that trajectory, having over 30 years of SEC coaching experience, including the golden era of LSU women's basketball and making it to five straight Final Fours.

"He cracked the joke and saying that he's old, but I'm with that old is knowledge. He's been all over the place,
coaching with some of the greatest in Bob Knight, and Dale Brown. Just to be able to have him there and somebody who's been there, who's still here today that you can soak that knowledge up from," said Quianna Chaney who played for Starkey from 2004-2008 at LSU.

Although he's had a lot of knowledge, Starkey is still looking to learn the game, and he saw no better opportunity than back at LSU under a Hall of Fame head coach.

"First of all, I've had an opportunity to compete against Kim for a lot of years. I've had a tremendous amount of respect for the way teams play. They always play hard. They always play well together. And from that, I know she's an outstanding coach and a great teacher, so it gives me an opportunity to learn from a Hall of Famer," Starkey said. "Most important thing, I want to bring her my eyes and ears. I want to listen and learn. Kim has a very veteran staff here. She's been doing it a certain way for a long time, and the most important thing for me to do is to learn how she does things and see if I can compliment that." 

In his first tenure with LSU, Starkey helped guide the women's basketball team to 12 straight NCAA tournament appearances.