Lulu McKinney was named as an assistant coach on May 19, 2023, taking advantage of the opportunity to return to her Alma Mater. She spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois University, where she helped the Salukis advance to the quarterfinals in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at SIU, McKinney spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Southern University, helping the Tigers to a 36-35 overall record (29-20 SWAC). Over the course of her tenure at TSU, six student-athletes received All-Conference honors, including 2020 SWAC Player of the Year in Ciani Cryor in her first season. That campaign saw the Tigers go 20-10 (14-4 SWAC) and advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Before making the jump to TSU, McKinney was the assistant coach for one year at East Mississippi Community College, where she helped lead the Lions to an 11-13 overall record (8-4 MACCC), with Tye Metcalf being named to the MACCC All-State/North Division First Team.
In her collegiate career, McKinney played three seasons with the Miners before spending her final year at Texas A&M. At UTEP, she averaged 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. She helped the Miners win the 2016 C-USA regular-season championship and advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. She led the team in assists per game twice in her three years and ranks seventh all-time at UTEP in assists with 308.
She is also ninth all-time for three-pointers made with 107. In her inaugural campaign, McKinney was named to the 2015 C-USA All-Freshmen Team and was voted C-USA Freshman of the Week on three occasions. In her Miner career she played in almost 100 games, amassing over 2,500 minutes. As a senior at Texas A&M, she appeared in 33 games for a team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
McKinney graduated from UTEP with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication before earning a Master's of Sports Management from Texas A&M.
