Craig MeyerUSA TODAY NETWORK
As Angel Reese sat tearfully behind a microphone, and with her college career potentially over after her team’s 94-87 loss to Iowa on Monday night in the 2024 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, the LSU star reflected on how much her life has changed since winning the national championship the previous year.
Realizing a lifelong dream should have been a moment of joy, and it was while it happened. But much of what has followed has weighed on the 6-foot-3 junior forward.
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Beginning with her interactions with Iowa star Caitlin Clark in the waning minutes of the 2023 NCAA title game, Reese has been a constant target of criticism and attacks, some of which, as embodied by a since-edited column in the Los Angeles Times, are rooted in misogyny and racism.
But like the tenacious competitor she is on the court, she has fought through it.
“I don’t really get to stand up for myself,” Reese said in a postgame news conference Monday at MVP Arena in Albany, New York. “I have great teammates. I have a great support system. I’ve got my hometown. I’ve got my family that stands up for me. I don’t really get to speak out on things just because I try to ignore and I just try to stand strong.
"I’ve been through so much. I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. There are so many things and I’ve stood strong every single time. I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and not be there for them. I’m still a human. All of this has happened since I won the national championship. I said the other day I haven’t (been) happy since then.”
Reese’s comments came after teammates Flau’jae Johnson and Hailey Van Lith, sitting on either side of her, delivered impassioned defenses of Reese in wake of the public scorn she and her LSU team as a whole have received over the past 12 months.
“Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her,” Johnson said. “Y’all don’t know Angel Reese. I know Angel Reese. I know the real Angel Reese. The person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person. The crown she wears is heavy, bro. She’s the type of teammate that’s going to make you believe in yourself. The leap I took from my freshman to sophom*ore year, Angel gave me that confidence to go be a dog, playing next to a dog every day.
"Just to see how the media ridicules her … we went through our problems, but this is my sister right here. I’m so proud of her. The media, y’all how they like to twist it and call her a villain and all that, y’all don’t know Angel, bro. I’m just happy I get to play with her. I get to be around her presence, her energy. It’s different. She just made me a better player and that’s what great players do.”
Flau'jae Johnson defends character of Angel Reese
After a tough loss to Iowa in the Elite Eight, Flau'Jae Johnson defends the character of her teammate Angel Reese.
Added Van Lith:
“Angel’s one of the toughest people I’ve ever been around. People speak hate into her life. I’ve never seen people wish bad things on someone as much as her and it does not affect her. She comes to practice every day. She lives her life every day. She lives how she wants to live. She don’t let nobody change that. That’s the key to life right there. Y’all do not get to her. Let me say it again: Y’all do not get to Angel Reese, so you might want to give it up. Throw the towel in because you’re wasting your energy.”
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Though Reese, as a junior, has a year of eligibility remaining, she is widely projected as a first-round pick in this month’s WNBA Draft. It has raised questions of whether she’ll return to LSU for one more season or whether she’ll head to the professional ranks. Reese said in the news conference that she’ll “make a decision when I’m ready.”
Even with all she has had to endure, the first-team all-American is grateful for her experience with the Tigers.
“It sucks, but I still wouldn’t change anything,” Reese said. “I would still sit here and say I’m unapologetically me. I’m going to always leave that mark and be who I am and stand on that. Hopefully the little girls that look up to me, hopefully I give them some type of inspiration.
"Hopefully it’s not this hard and all the things that come at you, but keep being who you are, keep waking up every day, keep being motivated, staying who you are, staying 10 toes (down), don’t back down and just be confident.”
