Angel Reese, Kateri Pools not with LSU in Cayman Islands
Angel Reese and Kateri Poole are not with LSU women’s basketball at Cayman Islands Classic for the two games against Niagara and Virginia, per ESPN.
Reese, an All-American forward, has missed the last two full games after being benched in the second half against Kent State on Nov. 14. Poole, a returning guard from the title team, was also benched in the second half against Kent State and did not play in the last two games, but remained with the team on the bench.
Now, neither is with the team on their lone out-of-country trip of the season.
After the game against Southeastern, Kim Mulkey confirmed Reese is still with the program, but didn’t elaborate any further on the nature of her absence.
“Angel was not in uniform,” Mulkey said, via NOLA.com’s Reed Darcey. “Angel is a part of this basketball team, and we hope she’s back with the team soon. I’m not gonna answer any more than that.”
After the game against Texas Southern, Mulkey continued to keep the door closed on the whereabouts of Reese and Poole, but insinuated that it was an issue in the locker room.
“You always have to deal with locker room issues,” Mulkey said. “That’s just part of coaching. In 40 years, I can never think of a time when I didn’t have to deal with issues. Sometimes yall know about them, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you want to know more than you’re entitled to know. I’m going to protect my players. That’s a family in that locker room and it doesn’t matter what I say to you guys, you’re going to write and interpret things the way you want to.”
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After the trip to the Cayman Islands, Reese and Poole’s status will become more serious as LSU hosts a top 10 team in the country on Nov. 30 — Virginia Tech. The Tigers beat the Hokies in the Final Four last year en route to the national championship, but without Reese or Poole, the task would be significantly more challenging.
Mulkey continued to reiterate Reese will be back with the team “sooner rather than later”, but without a timetable or context as to what occurred, there’s nothing concrete to report.
Angel Reese has made a name for herself both on and off the court at LSU
Reese was a critical piece of last year’s national championship team after transferring from Maryland, averaging 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds per game to help LSU win its first-ever title in Mulkey’s second season as the Tigers’ head coach. Through four games this year, Reese is averaging 17 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest as LSU started the year 3-1.
Off the court, Reese has been one of the highest-profile athletes in college sports and active in the NIL space. She has an On3 NIL Valuation of $5.2 million, which puts her at No. 7 in the On3 NIL 100 — the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation — and atop the On3 College Women’s Basketball NIL Rank. Her recent deals include a contract with Reebok and a campaign with Tampax alongside Johnson.
