Baylor HC Kim Mulkey Would 'Be Honored' by White House Invite from Donald Trump

With the Baylor Lady Bears having claimed the NCAA women's basketball championship Sunday evening, head coach Kim Mulkey faces one more dilemma concerning this season.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, champions across American sports have been conflicted over whether to visit the White House. However, Mulkey is standing firm on the side of welcoming an invitation.

"I've been every time for every president," Mulkey said Wednesday night, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "It's not a political issue for me. It's an honor to go to the White House. I want everyone to say they went to the White House. Not many people can say that."

Mulkey has previously taken her 2005 and 2012 championship squads to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when George W. Bush and Barack Obama were in office, respectively.

However, Mulkey may not even have a decision to make, as women's championship teams have received delayed White House invitations or none at all since Trump moved in.

The South Carolina Gamecocks won the women's basketball championship in 2017, and head coach Dawn Staley voiced her disappointment in being ignored by the White House at the time.

"Here's my take, and I'm not going to discuss the White House anymore," Staley told reporters in October 2017, six months after her team won the title. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm over the White House invitation. The only invitation I would like is an invitation to get into the NCAA tournament in March."

Staley also pointed out to the Associated Press (h/t The State) that the White House's decision to invite other teams who had won their championships after her Gamecocks "speaks volumes."

She added: "We won before those other teams won their championships. I don't know what else has to happen."

The Gamecocks were invited in November 2017—sort of. Trump offered for the Gamecocks to participate in a larger event with other men's and women's college championship teams, but Staley said the team would not be able to attend.

The same played out a year later when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish won the NCAA championship and did not receive a White House invite.

Shortly after her team cut down the nets, Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw told the Associated Press (h/t KSAT) that she would "discuss it with the team and make a decision if the offer is extended."

That offer never came.

If Mulkey and her Bears receive an invitation, they will become the first women's team to visit the White House under Trump in the way champions have since Ronald Reagan made the tradition routine in the 1980s. Neither the Minnesota Lynx, who won the WNBA title in 2017, nor the Seattle Storm (2018) were invited.