Kim Mulkey: No matter what Angel Reese decides on future, she has 'left her mark' at LSU

Since stepping on LSU’s campus last year, Angel Reese has seemingly done it all. She helped lead the Tigers to a national championship, and earlier this week, won SEC Player of the Year amid another special season.

With four years under her belt, Reese is eligible to declare for the WNBA Draft. Head coach Kim Mulkey recently indicated the plan was for her to do just that, although Reese still has one more year to use via the COVID-19 waiver.

No matter what she decides to do, though, Mulkey said it’s time to take a close look at Reese’s impact in Baton Rouge.

“What Angel Reese has done at LSU in two years, we really need to step back and go, ‘Wow,'” Mulkey said at halftime of Thursday’s game between Arkansas and Auburn. “She won a national championship last year, she’s a celebrity now. And then, to come back this year and get Player of the Year – she was an All-Defensive player, as well – she’s left her mark.

“Whether she comes back next year or not, that young lady has left her mark on LSU women’s basketball.”

Reese has started all 26 games in which she’s appeared this season and is putting up big numbers once again. She enters the SEC Tournament averaging 19.1 points, 13.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals to help LSU to a No. 1 seed in the field.

Reese’s Player of the Year award comes after a huge debut season with the Tigers in 2022-23 with 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds after transferring in from Maryland. In the process, she earned NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors as well as a unanimous first team All-American selection.

If she declares for the WNBA Draft, Reese appears likely to go in the Top 10. In ESPN’s latest mock draft released Thursday, Michael Voepel projected her to go No. 7 overall to the Minnesota Lynx.

Reese has also seen her star rise in the NIL space. She enters the SEC Tournament with an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.7 million, which ranks eighth in the On3 NIL 100 – the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation. She also sits at No. 2 in the On3 College Women’s Basketball NIL Ranking behind Caitlin Clark.

LSU will tip off the 2024 SEC Tournament on Friday against the winner of Arkansas vs. Auburn.