Angel Reese announces decision to leave LSU, enter WNBA Draft

Angel Reese announced on Wednesday afternoon that she will not be returning to LSU for a final season, instead declaring for the WNBA Draft.

Reese had a fifth season because of her COVID season her freshman year and her departure comes just before the deadline the WNBA has in place, two days after the Tigers’ loss to Iowa in the Elite eight. As a two-time All-American and national champion in 2023, Reese has solidified herself as one of the biggest names and personalities in college athletics and now looks for more.

“I’ve done everything I wanted to in college,” Reese told Vogue Magazine: “I’ve won a national championship, I’ve gotten [Southeastern Conference] Player of the Year, I’ve been an All-American. My ultimate goal is to be a pro—and to be one of the greatest basketball players to play, ever. I feel like I’m ready.”

LSU had a star-studded starting five this year and was one of the most entertaining programs in the country with Reese and Kim Mulkey leading the way.

“Who has done it that quickly?” Mulkey said of immediate Reese’s success. “With the NIL rules, the transfer portal, and all of these things that are going on in women’s basketball, who has done it in a year? Who has ever done that in their first year in college? Win a national championship, she’s huge in social media and NIL, she broke Sylvia Fowles record in her first year. The things she did in one year are pretty impressive.”

Reese helped lead the Tigers to another deep NCAA Tournament run, this time to the Elite Eight where the Tigers ran out of steam against Caitlin Clark and Iowa on Monday night. There’s a lot of talk about her NIL, but Reese assured everyone that she’s thought about this decision thoroughly.

“I’ve honestly learned that regardless [of my choice] I’m going to be able to make money staying or going,” Reese said on March 21. “Understanding that my brand has been built where I know I can take it past college. Like I have a brand outside of here where the deals are going to follow me if I leave or stay. And I’ve built that relationship with a lot of these brands. And I think that’s the difference. Like my Reebok deal, and I’m sure Hailey’s Adidas deal, that’s going to go on past college. Of course we may not have the same benefits of the same training rooms, the commercial flights and stuff like that. And I think that’s the con of everything, but you have to make a sacrifice.”

Angel Reese an NIL success story

Despite missing games earlier this season, Reese, a 6-foot-3 junior from Baltimore’s St. Francis Academy, ended the year averaging 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds. Reese was named the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in the Tigers’ 2023 national championship run after averaging 21.3 points and 15.2 rebounds over six games.

She is also one of college sports’ biggest NIL success stories. She has a massive list of partnerships, including major brands like Tampax, Airbnb, Amazon, PlayStation, Starry, Raising Cane’s, Intuit TurboTax, Sonic, Coach and numerous others. Along with the Beats by Dre partnerships, she’s also promoted other audio equipment companies in the past such as Bose and JanSport.

Reese signed her first sneaker deal with Reebok this past October. That deal is a multi-year partnership, which came after the brand brought on Shaquille O’Neal as president of Reebok basketball. Shaq dubbed Reese the “greatest athlete” to ever come out of LSU.

With more than 5.2 million social media followers, Reese has the highest On3 NIL Valuation in women’s college basketball. The $1.7 million valuation is No. 7 on the On3 NIL 100 and ranks behind only LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne in women’s sports.