There was a conspicuous empty seat on LSU’s bench on Friday, which led to a growing volume of questions about what’s going on with Angel Reese.
The Most Outstanding Player in last season’s NCAA Tournament was nowhere to be seen during the Tigers’ game against Southeastern Louisiana. No explanation was given for the absence before the game, and LSU coach Kim Mulkey declined to offer one afterward Attorney Reid Darcy
“Angel wasn’t in uniform. Angel is part of this basketball team, and hopefully she’ll be back on the team soon. I won’t answer any further.”
Reese’s absence came three days after she was benched in the second half of the win over Kent State. When asked why she sat with Reese and senior guard Kateri Paul, Mulkey again declined to provide any details.
“I could, but I won’t,” Mulkey said. “It was just the coach’s decision.”
That sitting set off some very public fighting for the LSU program.
It’s never a good sign The players’ parents feuded on social media. Reese’s mother, Angel Webb Reese, posted a strangely directed message about grammar, with no punctuation, to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, saying:
“Please don’t send me long text messages with a bunch of grammatical errors, it gives me a headache [facepalm emoji] How do I know you said what you said if I can’t understand what you’re saying [facepalm emoji] [cry-laughing emoji]”
The apparent target of this message was Kia Brooks, the mother of LSU sophomore Flojay Johnson, who appeared to respond with a lengthy IG story of her own that claimed, among other things, that Reese had a “2.0 or lower GPA.” She accused and called the elder Reese “petty, fake and obnoxious” and urged her to take responsibility for her actions and those of her daughter.
Players on last year’s championship team also weighed in, with Alexa Morris posting a series of cryptic tweets early Thursday morning in which she appeared to be siding with Mulkey:
The gang turned on me. Now you will fall. Never choose leverage over a free loyalty game. You showed real love not for political marketing or anything. But the real always wins 🤞🏽🤷🏽♀️
– Alexis Morris (@AlexisMorrisWBB) November 16, 2023
Can we be alone? No, this is over.
– Alexis Morris (@AlexisMorrisWBB) November 16, 2023
You can’t pay me to hit Kim‼️‼️‼️
– Alexis Morris (@AlexisMorrisWBB) November 16, 2023
Jasmine Carson It said “I’d better not say anything,” he added in a currently unavailable tweet, once again confirming that something is happening behind the scenes.
None of this smacks of a program in a particularly stable place, which is hard to see considering every player and coach above was celebrating a remarkable national championship just months ago. Reese in particular has seen her star rise, as she saw widespread coverage of her interaction with Caitlyn Clarke, Sports Illustrated swimsuits went viralAnd some drama at the White House and an appearance in a Cardi B music video.
Reese entered this season as one of the best players in the country and a potential top pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Mulkey even praised her focus on the upcoming season despite a lot of offseason distractions a few months ago, but it seemed like something had changed in that time. since then.
LSU saw upsets on the field as well, losing its season opener to Colorado. The Tigers are currently ranked seventh in the AP poll.
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