There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the LSU women’s basketball program and Angel Reese, but Kateri Poole’s absence is going largely unnoticed. She, too, has been away from the team and nobody is talking about it.
It makes sense.
Reese is the big star. Poole is a role player. The former is going to get more coverage than the latter.
However, the Ohio State transfer’s situation is equally as baffling.
Poole has not been away from the team for the same amount of time as Reese. Close, but not quite.
She played five minutes against Southeastern Louisiana. Her mysterious sabbatical began with the game against Texas Southern and she did not travel to the Cayman Islands.
Poole, a fourth-year junior, was a five-star prospect in the in the recruiting Class of 2020 and was ranked as a top-25 player in her class. A native of the Bronx, the 5-foot-8 guard was named Miss New York by the Basketball Coaches association of New York and earned First Team All-State honors as a senior.
After averaging 17 minutes in two years at Ohio State, Poole hit the transfer portal and landed in Baton Rouge. She averaged 22.3 minutes during the Tigers’ national championship run last season.
Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow joined the team during the offseason, which cut into backcourt minutes during the early portion of 2023. Poole saw 16 minutes against Colorado, 15 minutes against Queens and 15 minutes against Mississippi Valley. Head coach Kim Mulkey did not play her against Kent State and put her on the floor for just five minutes in Poole’s last game.
Nobody knows why. And unlike Angel Reese, who has grabbed all of the headlines for good reason, there is no speculation as to what might be going on with Kateri Poole.
Maybe it’s a personal matter. Maybe it’s a suspension. It could be nothing. It could be everything.
There is no indication as to why Poole is not with the LSU women’s basketball program. Mulkey said while in George Town that she will expand further upon return to Baton Rouge. Stay tuned!