Top College Recruit Goes Viral For Controversial WNBA Rookie of the Year Stance
An X video that was posted by the Nike Elite Youth Basketball Camp (EYB) that asked some of the top high school women's basketball recruits for their take on the 2024 WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year race went viral on Thursday.
The video (which currently has over 350,000 views on X) includes two of these elite recruits selecting Angel Reese as Rookie of the Year.
And Joyce Edwards, the nation's No. 2 ranked recruit in the Class of 2024, is making waves for her polarizing take on why she believes Reese will secure the award.
"It depends on how much politics are going to play in the rookie of the year," Edwards said. "I say Angel Reese."
The campers have spoken.🎤 pic.twitter.com/xVYCliyrA6
— EliteYouthBasketball (@NikeEYB) August 8, 2024
A majority of fans are taking Edwards' words to assume that she thinks Reese deserves the award, but that "politics" will make it so fellow rookie Caitlin Clark ends up getting the honor.
"Lmfao! POLITICS !?!? I love Angel Reese but y’all tripping if they don’t give it to Caitlin Clark," one X user wrote in a reply.
A Clark fan account quoted the initial video and included a statistic comparison between Clark and Reese with the caption, "'It depends on how much politics play into rookie of the year'
"The politics in question:"
“It depends on how much politics play into rookie of the year”
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) August 8, 2024
The politics in question: https://t.co/5U0WtXCYVi pic.twitter.com/GgNjljgGYy
Other fans are noting that Edwards is committed to the University of South Carolina, which may influence why she's going with Reese over Clark for some reason.
Regardless of who ends up winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, the hope is that it goes to whoever is the most deserving; and that no "politics" need to get involved.
GRANT YOUNG
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.