Angel Reese hadn’t set foot on a WNBA court, and she was already one of the most popular players in all of college basketball — and that’s for both men and women.
That’s why leaving LSU for the pros was a somewhat easy decision. He was eligible to declare for the WNBA Draft, and after deep playoff runs in college and a brewing rivalry with Caitlin Clark, it was about time.
Even so, she faced some backlash for her decision not to run it back in college. Recently, the Chicago Sky star discussed that decision with her manager, Jeanine Ogbonnaya.
Angel Reese says she outgrew college basketball
“Let’s be realistic, I was tired of college,” Reese said. “Not going to lie, I was tired. I’m not saying I got bigger than the program but I just outgrew it.”
Angel Reese, forward of the Chicago Sky, reacts during a WNBA game
Then, they discussed the narrative about her being able to make more money off of NIL deals than what he ultimately made by turning pro. Needless to say, they respectfully disagreed:
“From the moment I started hearing that narrative, I was like that’s literally not true,” Ogbonnaya replied. “At this point, you transcend sport so it doesn’t matter if you’re in college.”
“They don’t even know how much we have missed out when I was in college,” Reese said.
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At the end of the day, Reese clearly made the best decision for her. She wound up being the seventh overall pick in the WNBA Draft, and she was named to the All-Star Game in just her first season in the league.
