Kim Mulkey comments on future of Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith

LSU’s regular season is winding down as the calendar prepares to flip to March and two of the best players on the Tigers’ roster head into the postseason of their senior seasons. As LSU continues to fight on the court, Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith have two pending decisions awaiting them at the end of the year.

Both have played four years in college basketball, but with their freshman seasons coming during the COVID year, both have the ability to return for a fifth season. Angel Reese has teased a return on social media, but there’s no decision being made as of yet. Head coach Kim Mulkey was asked about the upcoming decision and those discussions.

“I don’t know if i’ll have a conversation with them,” Mulkey said. “Angel said when she came here she would stay two years and Hailey said she’d stay one. I’m not the type of coach to sit people down and tell them which agents to pick or talk them out of what they want to do. They know they have the COVID year to come back and they would be more than welcome, but I try to stay away from having any kind of influential conversation, particularly with Hailey and Angel because they made it perfectly clear when they came what they wanted to do.”

Reese and Van Lith will be honored on senior night on March 2 as LSU hosts Kentucky in the final home game of the season.

Van Lith has gone through ups and downs this season adjusting to a new environment, but coming off of her best game of the season, Mulkey continues to praise her work ethic and passion for the game.

“I don’t ever think it’s fair to ask a player to play more than one position, and yet we are asking her to play a new position then in the middle of the game saying go play that old position, so that does a lot of things,” Mulkey said. “Her mindset has to change offensively, but she also has to guard differently than she was if she’s at the point. I’ve been so pleased, because I understand that position and it’s hard. I look at turnovers and getting us into an offense. Defensively, unless you’re shooting a layup, you’re the first one back on defense and when you’ve never played that position, you don’t have to do that. She’s responsible for everyone coming back on defense. There’s a lot of things thrown at you. We’re asking her to learn a lot in the now. People need to understand what’s taking place. She’s starting to get a little smoother and more comfortable and I sure am glad we have her.”

Reese is a solidified LSU legend for what she did last year and now she’s following it up with another All-American campaign as a senior. Currently projected No. 6 in the WNBA Draft, Reese has had an illustrious career in college that Mulkey was quick to highlight.

“Who has done it that quickly?” Mulkey said. “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.”

We’ll see what the two decide, but first, LSU has a postseason run to make.