Kim Mulkey Feels No Pressure to Fill Angel Reese 'Void' at LSU
Angel Reese might have been one of the biggest personalities to not only grace the LSU Tigers, but the entire sport of women's college basketball.
The current Chicago Sky rookie standout burst into pop culture's collective consciousness after taunting then-Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark in the waning seconds of the 2023 NCAA Championship game. Since then, Reese has expertly built her platform and fanbase into something massive; which has only gotten bigger due to her excellent performances on the court.
Reese's impact on past LSU teams was palpable for those watching them from afar. This is why it's no surprise that there are some questions about LSU's team identity now that Reese is in the WNBA.
And a reporter asked LSU coach Kim Mulkey about this during a September 23, 2024 media availability session.
"Angel, with such a big presence on the court [and] off the court, is there a void to fill with her gone? Or is there no pressure on this team to just be themselves and be their own team?" The reporter asked Mulkey.
"I don't think there was any pressure, even when Angel was here," Mulkey responded. "Each kid has just got a different personality, and I told you many times that I've coached some big personalities. Somebody in this bunch will have the big personality. Now, it might not be in comparison to Angel, but the personalities just kind of rise to the top when they get comfortable.
"And it comes with confidence, it comes with being older. But we're always going to play with emotion, we're always going to play excited, and those personalities will surface," Mulkey concluded.
Kim Mulkey says #LSU doesn’t have a void to fill with Angel Reese now in the WNBA.
— Cory Diaz (@ByCoryDiaz) September 23, 2024
Says each team is different and have their own personalities.
Full answer: pic.twitter.com/3VngiWx8B4
It's tough to imagine another personality like Reese's gracing LSU's team again any time soon.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.