The Impact: Kim Mulkey Praises LSU's Angel Reese For Growing Women's Basketball

Mulkey: "We are all indebted to Angel Reese for the contributions she has given to this program."

Tigers Head Coach Kim Mulkey and Angel Reese 10 The LSU Tigers take down the Middle Tennessee Blue / SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA

BATON ROUGE – Angel Reese, a two-time All-America at LSU and 2023 National Champion, announced Wednesday morning on Vogue that she will enter the 2024 WNBA Draft.

“Angel transferred to LSU after my first season in Baton Rouge and she helped transform our program. When she came here, she said she wanted to be here for two seasons and she has lived up to that. What a remarkable two years it has been. We are all indebted to Angel Reese for the contributions she has given to this program, helping us win our first National Championship, and the contributions she made on our university as a whole. She not only helped grow our program but had an impact on growing the game of women’s basketball across the country. We wish her good luck as she moves to the WNBA and look forward to see all that she accomplishes. We will mis her but will always cherish the two year’s we got to spend with her. Forever LSU.”

In her two seasons at LSU, Reese helped transform the women’s basketball program, leading the Tigers to their first NCAA Championship last season. She has 61 double-doubles at LSU, trailing only Sylvia Fowles in school history. The Baltimore, Maryland native had three separated streaks of at least 10 straight double-doubles during her time in Baton Rouge. Reese averaged 20.9 points and 14.4 rebounds per game in her time at LSU. Reese became the first player since Wendy Scholtens from Vanderbilt in 1989 and 1990 to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding in consectuive seasons and was named this season’s SEC Player of the Year. Reese had seven games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds over the past two seasons.

“I’m leaving college with everything I ever wanted,” Reese said on a video posted to X. “A degree, a national championship and this platform I could have never imagined. This is for the girls who look like me that’s going to speak up in what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you. To grow women’s sports and to have an impact on those coming next. This was a difficult decision, but I trust the next chapter because I know the author. Bayou Barbie out.”

Reese saw her brand skyrocket at LSU. She came to Baton Rouge with just about 70,000 instagram followers and now has 2.7-millions. She has appeared on numerous magazine covers like Sports Illustrated and Women’s Health. Reese won the 2023 ESPY for the Best Breakthrough Athlete, was named the 2023 BET Sportswoman of the Year and the 2023 Sporting News Athlete of the Year.

In her first season at LSU, Reese had a historic year, averaging 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds per game, leading the SEC in both stats to garner First Team All-America accolades. She began the season with 23 consecutive double-doubles, breaking Fowles’ record of 19 consecutive double-doubles at LSU; it was also the longest double-double streak to begin a season in SEC history. In total, Reese recorded 34 double-doubles to set the NCAA record. She also set the SEC record with 555 rebounds, eight shy of the NCAA record. Reese made 240 free throws of 339 attempts, both SEC records. She had multiple viral moments such as the “Shoe Block” against Arkansas and the performance of a tik tok dance against Tennessee which helped her Bayou Barbie brand skyrocket.

In LSU’s first game of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Reese had 34 points to tie the LSU tournament record (Marie Ferdinand, 2001) and 15 points against Hawaii to become the first SEC player with 30 and 15 in a tournament game. In the second round against Michigan, Reese had 25 points and a LSU tournament record 24 rebounds. She would record a double-double in each of LSU’s six NCAA Tournament games, capping off the season with her 34th to set the NCAA record with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

This season Reese continued to dominate, averaging 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, once again leading the SEC in both categories. Reese had 27 double-doubles on the year and Reese recorded a double-double in each of LSU’s final 16 games. Reese scored 20+ points in 16 games throughout the year and grabbed 15+ rebounds in 13 games, including three games with 20 rebounds. She had one 25/20 game against Texas A&M.

Reese recorded a double-double in all 10 of the NCAA Tournament games she played as a Tiger, tying the NCAA Tournament record for consecutive double-doubles.