On Friday, Angel Reese returned to LSU for a long-awaited homecoming — and former head coach Kim Mulkey had some high praise.
The second-year forward went back to Baton Rouge for the first time since graduating as part of a preseason matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Brazilian national team. As Reese racked up 11 first-half points, leading a very dominant-looking Chicago past Brazil, Mulkey spoke on the broadcast about her former forward.
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“Angel just has a personality. She just attracts a lot of attention, and she’s authentic, and she’s a competitor. What is there not to like about Angel Reese when you’re pulling for her and she’s on your team?” Mulkey said.
In particular, Mulkey had praise for Reese’s rebounding ability. The 22-year-old forward led the WNBA in rebounds last year, despite missing the final few weeks of the season with a wrist injury.
“Angel is aware of where the ball’s coming off the rim. When her teammates shoot it, she is always positioning herself to do the offensive rebound,” Mulkey said.
The Tigers coach added that she had a chance to appreciate this quality even more while watching Reese “as a fan.”
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“I never get to see that in a game,” Mulkey said. “She did it (her) whole career here, but I never saw that ’cause I was looking at the whole team, but she just has a knack for finding the basketball.”
Reese transferred to LSU after two seasons at Maryland, with Mulkey pointing out that Reese was injured during her first year with the Terrapins and didn’t get a chance to showcase her full ability there. But though Mulkey knew that she was talented, she didn’t quite realize that Reese was going to be, in her words, “a walking double-double.”
Mulkey, who has a reputation as an intense coach, was transparent about how hard she pushed Reese during her time with the Tigers.
“I think that when you play this game, you play it hard, and Angel played hard. There were moments where she would get tired and fatigued and I would push her to fight through that, and I’m sure she didn’t like me many times, but that’s okay, it’s not personal,” Mulkey said. “I think that if you look at championship teams and coaches who coach championship teams, we all kind of have that type of personality to push them just a little bit further than they think they can go.”
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The game also marked a homecoming for Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith, who spent one season at LSU before transferring to TCU this past season. Van Lith got a big cheer from the LSU home crowd, despite her short time with the Tigers.
Going forward, Mulkey said that she’s excited to see what the second-year players like Reese and Caitlin Clark do after their big rookie seasons.
“I think when you’re a rookie, you kind of feel your way, and I think the publicity that came with Angel and Caitlin Clark is great. Now, I think as they evolve into leaders for their respective teams, you’re gonna just see better basketball,” Mulkey said. “So as they become more comfortable, I think you’re just gonna see them do some many wonderful things for the league … They sure did bring a lot to the league just in new fans from the college level because both played at institutions that value women’s basketball.”
The Sky have two more preseason games, both against the Minnesota Lynx, before kicking off the regular season against the Indiana Fever on May 17.
