Basketball
Angel Reese: The story behind the LSU NCAA basketball champion
Find out more about LSU's star sophomore forward, including why she decided to make the move from Maryland to the Lady Tigers.
The 2023 NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball tournament finished with a bang as Louisiana State University (LSU) defeated the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 to claim a first championship.
The engine behind the victory for LSU was 20-year-old Angel Reese who put up a game-high 10 rebounds and 15 points to lock in her 34th double-double in 2023, the most achieved by any woman in a single NCAA basketball season.
Ever since she transferred to LSU from Maryland, the 1.91m (6'3") Baltimore-born sophomore has exceeded expectations and gained attention both on and off the court.
Here’s what you need to know about the LSU basketball star.
Angel Reese: Born to play basketball
Born on 6 May 2002 in Randallstown, Maryland, Reese started life with basketball in her DNA.
Reese's mother, also named Angel, played basketball at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) before going overseas to compete in Luxembourg.
Her father, Michael Reese, similarly played college basketball before going on his own European odyssey with stints in Cyprus, Austria, Luxembourg and Portugal.
Her brother, Julian Reese is also on a basketball path and currently in his sophomore year playing for the University of Maryland. But the Reese family basketball bonds don't stop there.
Newly crowned 2023 NCAA men's basketball champion Jordan Hawkins of the UConn Huskies is Reese's cousin via her father.
The pair won their collegiate titles just 24 hours apart, and Hawkins confirmed there would be big family celebrations to recognise their remarkable feat.
"We're going to have a big cookout for the whole family when I get home, that's all I know," Hawkins said to reporters moments after winning.
Why did Angel Reese transfer to LSU from Maryland?
Following a childhood dominated by hoops, Reese went to Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore where she was a four-year varsity basketball player.
She led the team to three consecutive Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) championships and two conference titles, and played in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
After wrapping up high school, Reese joined the University of Maryland in 2020 as a five-star recruit and the No. 2 player nationally in her class.
However, when the Terrapins suffered their second consecutive defeat in the NCAA round of 16, Reese decided she wanted to try something new and entered the transfer portal.
Having considered Dawn Staley's South Carolina and Tennessee, Reese chose LSU after visiting the campus.
“I needed a fresh start,” Reese told the New York Times, discussing the move. “A coach to push me to get me to the next level.”
That coach was Kim Mulkey, who had previously led Baylor to three NCAA titles and is now the first coach to win the crown with two different teams.
Will Angel Reese go to the WNBA?
After an impressive season at LSU which saw her finish second in defence and fifth in offence in the 2022-23 women’s basketball stat leaders, many have started to ask when, rather than if, Reese will go to the WNBA.
As she is still a sophomore, the forward still has a little while to wait before she reaches the top US women’s basketball league.
Reese will not be eligible for the WNBA Draft until 2024, which is expected to be a stacked class with Iowa rival Clark among those set to declare.
Still, the rising star says competing in the ‘W’ is an aspiration, and it was one of the reasons she decided to make the move from Maryland to LSU last year.
The LSU standout told nola.com about the WNBA stars she looks up to, and why she wears one legging to hide a scar following a right foot fracture.
"I cover the scar for one, then my two players that I really admire Te’a Cooper and A’ja Wilson, they also wear it, too. So it's swag. But I've used it to cover my scar."