Angel Reese and LSU women’s basketball were back on the court for their first official practice of the 2023 season on Monday. The Tigers took the court, as reining national champions, in front of a huge crowd at the PMAC Center with high expectations for success.
Bayou Bengals fans showed out by the masses to get their first glimpse at a team that should repeat. Anything short of a national title would be disappointing. Anything short of the Final Four would be a disaster.
Hailey Van Lith joined the roster during the offseason after three years at Louisville and immediately got to balling. Aneesah Morrow transferred-in after lighting up the stat sheet in two years at DePaul. Mikaylah Williams and Alayah Del Rosario are two of the top-ranked freshman in the country.
And then there is Reese. The fourth-year junior averaged 23 points per game last season and dropped 29 in the national championship while making quite the name for herself by trolling Caitlin Clark.
Reese’s brand has skyrocketed over the last six months. Her social media following has grown to superstar numbers with more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram and TikTok.
She is so big these days that she is not taking in-person classes this semester due to her celebrity status. Meanwhile, through Name, Image and Likeness, Reese is making bank.
On3 puts her NIL valuation at approximately $1.7 million. That numbers is not exact by any stretch of the imagination, but it puts the amount of money involved into perspective.
Angel Reese has to put basketball first.
Reese is cashing-in on brand— which gives Kim Mulkey some concern, for lack of a better word. The 61-year-old head coach questioned whether her star player will be “hungry for another ring.”
It’s not that Mulkey wants Reese to choose between NIL opportunities and basketball. It’s not that she believes Reese won’t be ready to play by the time that the season rolls around. In fact, Mulkey spoke with her star guard and was reassured that the main thing (winning) will remain the focus.
That doesn’t mean that Mulkey hasn’t had that concern creep into her mind.
At the end of the day, Reese became as big as she is by winning. Her status off of the court is a byproduct of her success on the court.
Winning comes first, everything else follows.