Governor Jeff Landry scolds LSU players, Kim Mulkey for skipping ...

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Kim Mulkey press conference after LSU's loss to Iowa in the Elite 8

LSU women's basketball head coach Kim Mulkey talks to the media after her team's loss to Iowa in the 2024 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry criticized the LSU women's basketball players and their Coach Kim Mulkey Tuesday for skipping the national anthem before the team's Elite 8 loss to Iowa Monday, though apparently, the Tigers are always in the locker room during the "Star Spangled Banner."

On Tuesday morning, Landry suggested in a post on his X campaign account that players should risk their scholarships if they don't appear for the anthem.

"My mother coached women’s high school basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has a greater respect for the sport and for Coach Mulkey," Landry tweeted. "However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those that serve to protect us and unite us under one flag!

"It is time that all college boards, including Regent, put a policy in place that student athletes be present for the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that all collegiate coaches should instill."

After the game, Mulkey was asked about missing the anthem.

"Listen, that's nothing intentionally done," she said. "Honestly I don't even know when the anthem was played. We kind of have a routine where we're on the floor and then they come off at the 12-minute mark. We just come in and do our pregame stuff."

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Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.