LSU women’s basketball forward, Angel Reese, announced on Wednesday that she will not be returning to LSU for her final year of college eligibility.
Reese is expected to be a top 10 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft.
READ MORE: How the lives of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark changed since the national championship
This season, Reese averaged 18.6 points per game and 13.4 rebounds per game, which was the second most in the country.
Reese’s career started at Maryland, where she played her first two seasons of collegiate basketball. But Reese then entered the transfer portal, quickly becoming one of the top transfers in the country.
For her first season at LSU, she quickly became a household name.
She broke the LSU record, previously set by Sylvia Fowles, and the SEC record for most consecutive double-double performances with 23. She finished with 34 double-doubles in her first season at LSU, which she ended as a national champion.
Reese was a First-Team All-American last season, and was the Final Four’s Most Valuable Player.
The accolades kept rolling in for Reese after winning a national championship. After the national title game, Reese held over a million Instagram followers. She signed Name, Image and Likeness deals with Reebok, PlayStation, Amazon and more.
But while her NIL valuation rose up to $1.8 million, according to On3, that came with public criticism and pressure.
Following the team’s win over Iowa in the national championship game, Reese became disliked by many on social media for a hand gesture over the face she motioned toward Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Clark made the same gesture earlier in the tournament, and received little to no criticism.
The criticism toward Reese carried into the 2023-24 season, and the pressure to repeat for a national championship became higher when the team landed Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow out of the transfer portal.
“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,” Reese said. “I’m still a human. All this has happened since I won the national championship. I haven’t had peace since then.”
However, Reese missed four games in November, and more criticism came her way due to the unknown reasons for her absence.
But when Reese returned, so did her game.
In the team’s Elite Eight run this season, Reese finished with 28 double-doubles, bringing her LSU total to 62. She finished the season with 16 consecutive double-doubles.
Despite the adversity she’s faced, Reese always made it a priority to stay true to herself or “unapologetically you.”
“Be you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be you,” Reese said. “It’s hard, it’s hard, especially with social media these days. Block everything out.”
LSU broke a women’s college basketball record in the national championship game, as 9.9 million people tuned into watch.
In the Tigers’ rematch with Iowa in this season’s Elite Eight, the matchup shattered the previously set record with a 12.3 million viewing audience.
Reese was a huge part of how those records came to be. And while it won’t be in Baton Rouge next season, her impact on LSU and women’s basketball will still be present.
