Angel Reese, the All-American double-double queen who led LSU to its first women’s basketball championship in March, has had a rough start to the 2023-24 season.
"Angel was not in uniform. She is a part of this basketball team," LSU coach Kim Mulkey said after the Tigers' 106-47 win over Texas Southern on Monday night.
It started when LSU, the preseason No. 1 team in the country, got drilled by Colorado in its first game of the season on Nov. 6. The Tigers lost 92-78 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.
Reese scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but shot just 6-of-15 from the field, missing lots of close looks. She was visibly frustrated throughout the game.
Speculation about Reese’s absence ramped up three days later on Nov. 17, when Reese missed the 73-50 win over Southeastern Louisiana. She was not on the bench. Again, Mulkey refused to offer details on Reese.
Reese has not spoken to the media throughout this ordeal. On Sunday, she posted a cryptic message on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, writing simply, “please don’t believe everything you read.”
LSU’s biggest non-conference game will come Thursday, Nov. 30, against No. 9 Virginia Tech, another 2023 Final Four participant.