Houston native Atallah "Lulu" McKinney begins her third season at Texas Southern as an assistant coach.
 
McKinney came to TSU after spending a year on the junior college level as an assistant coach at East Mississippi Community College and Ranger College. At EMCC, she helped guide guard Tye Metcalf to a spot on the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges Women’s Basketball All-State/North Division First Team. EMCC finished the season ranked third in the MACJC North Division as they ended Itawamba Community College’s 16-game winning streak in 2019. She also handled recruiting, skill development, video coordinating and served as a dorm director.

Before embarking on her coaching career, McKinney played collegiately at UTEP for three seasons before closing out her career at Texas A&M as a graduate student in 2016-17.
 
At UTEP, McKinney served as team captain and was a three-year letterwinner at point guard. She was a 2015 C-USA All-Freshman Team member and three-time C-USA Freshman of the Week. McKinney also led the team in assists (89) as a freshman and finished second on the team in steals while averaging 8.1 points per contest (40). In her sophomore campaign, McKinney helped lead the Miners to a Conference USA regular season title and a trip to the WNIT quarterfinals. She capped off her career at UTEP in 2016-17 as the full-time starter while leading the team in three-pointers made (42) in addition to shooting 82.4 percent from the free throw stripe. Off the court, McKinney was just as impressive in the classroom as a two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

During her lone season at Texas A&M, McKinney saw action in 33 games and played a large role as the Aggie women finished the season 26-10 while reaching the NCAA’s Sweet 16. McKinney continued to grow off the court as she served on the team’s leadership council and participated in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "So You Want To Be A Coach" program and “A Step Up” Coaching Convention. Both programs provide opportunities for young coaches to develop leadership qualities, refine teaching techniques, work habits and values. 

Ranked as a three-star player by Premier Basketball Report coming out of high school, McKinney earned District 14-5A MVP honors as a senior at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas after playing her first three prep seasons at Houston's Bellaire High School.  She was tabbed All-District 20-5A all three seasons at Bellaire, grabbing first-team accolades during her sophomore and junior seasons after securing second-team honors as a freshman.  McKinney was also selected to VYPE's All-Greater Houston Girls' Basketball Third Team as a junior after helping lead Bellaire to a 33-4 mark in 2012-13.   

McKinney holds a bachelor’s in Organizational Communication with a business minor from UTEP and received her master’s in Sports Management from Texas A&M.