LSU, Angel Reese share thoughts, feelings about Iowa rivalry, Caitlin Clark
Reese says "it's not personal" with Caitlin Clark and Iowa
By Susan Harman
ALBANY, N.Y.—Maybe LSU is just misunderstood.
After last year’s NCAA championship game fans of various stripes hurled accusations about the antics of the players. All American Angel Reese was cast both as villain and hero depending upon your perspective. Politicians even got involved to their detriment. Sportsmanship suddenly became a national topic along with culture, race, the proliferation of media, the loss of privacy, the creation of celebrity and the actions of coaches.
LSU, which takes on Iowa Monday night at 6 p.m. (CDT) on ESPN, is much the same this year both in terms of personnel and attitude. Reese is still the Queen Pin, but sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson is more than a worthy sidekick. In addition to her ball-handling and scoring she, at 5-foot-9, blocked a shot by UCLA’s 6-7 Lauren Betts.
The Tigers have added 6-1 forward Aneesah Morrow from DePaul, where she was a prolific scorer and rebounder, and Hailey Van Lith from Louisville. Van Lith has moved from a shooting guard to the point with LSU, with mixed results. But she can still shoot it. Super freshman Mikaylah Williams averages 14.5 points.
The Tigers lost Jasmine Carson, who torched Iowa for 22 points in the title game by making 5-of-6 3-point shots. Also gone are Alexis Morris, who scored 21 points against Iowa, and Kateri Poole. All three of those players were guards, but don’t weep for LSU. In addition to Johnson, who scored 24 against UCLA, they have plenty of scorers and a lot of quickness on the perimeter, even if statistics say LSU doesn’t shoot many threes.
Johnson and Reese have profited from the availability of NIL and other sources of income. Johnson is a rapper with a record deal with Jay-Z’s RocNation and a deal with a financial services company. Reese has her own clothing line, a deal with Reebok, and has been a cover model in magazines, among other things.
Among the clothing selections on Reese’s site (theangelreese.com) is a shirt with a replication of her eyes staring out underneath the words “Unapologetically Me.” Another one: “If you ain’t a dog, you dog food.” And of course: “Bayou Barbie.”
These togs reflect the attitude that has infuriated some fans as disrespectful or rude but has met with approval by LSU fans and fans who favor a more direct, in-your-face competitor. While Caitlin Clark’s T-shirts and posters have tended to be friendlier, so to speak, her actions and emotions on the court itself are akin to Reese’s.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder sees the similarities: “They’re both dynamic players. They’re both emotional. They’re both passionate about the game. They’re highly competitive. They are both excellent at their craft.”
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said, “Heck yeah,” to a question whether Reese and Clark have similarities despite not playing the same position.
“You’ve got two very talented players that have brought a lot of attention to our sport. They both trash talk. They both make their teammates better. They both have their teammates’ backs. They have both elevated our game to where we have people watching that never watched women’s basketball before. Those are tough women.”
“It’s part of the game,” Van Lith said. “It’s why people want to watch the game. It’s our personalities. It’s what makes the game fun for us. I think a lot of times people make assumptions, and they don’t really know what we’re saying, and they don’t really know the backstory or anything about it.”
Imagine that, people making assumptions off a couple seconds of interaction by 20-year-olds on a basketball court.
“I don’t think people realize it’s not personal,” Reese said. “I think people take it like we hate each other. Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super competitive game. Once I get between those lines, we’re not friends; we’re not buddies. I’m going to talk trash to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game we can kick it.”
Reese said the on-court talk was more self-motivating than something to rile up an opponent.
“I’m from Baltimore, so that’s just kind of what we do. I like to get things going,” she said.
Clark said: “I think the main similarity is how bad and how competitive we are. We both grew up loving this game, and we’re going to do anything we can to help our teams win.”
Are these kids misunderstood? They certainly don’t behave as some mid-century relics were taught to behave during competition. But maybe instead of disrespect or cultural differences it’s simply a matter of age. These are new times, and these players are a product of a rapidly changing media environment. The economics are different. The celebrity is different. The kids? Maybe they’re all right after all.