LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese announced on Wednesday that she declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft.
The decision comes on the heels of the Tiger's heartbreaking 94-87 loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa women's basketball in the Women's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on Monday.
Reese, who is projected to be a top pick, announced her WNBA draft intentions in an Instagram post and X post captioned “BAYOU BARBIE⏩WNBA.”
BAYOU BARBIE⏩WNBA.
all that rah-rah never was the icon issue. Magazines, i’m covering the icon issue…VOGUE, I got REAL issues.💋 @voguemagazine pic.twitter.com/51MomWrEXr— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) April 3, 2024
According to WNBA regulations, players wishing to enter the draft are required to make their declaration by April 1. However, those participating in the Elite Eight or beyond are granted an additional 48-hour window post their final game to withdraw from NCAA eligibility and enter the draft.
Given this timeframe, Reese faced a Wednesday night deadline to make her decision. Despite having the opportunity to extend her college career at LSU for another year due to a COVID-19 exemption, she opted to pursue a future in the WNBA.
The upcoming WNBA Draft is scheduled for April 15, 2024.
Since her transfer to LSU from Maryland in 2022, the 6-foot-3 Reese has been a powerhouse in college basketball. In her debut season with Baton Rouge, she clinched a national championship, earned a spot on the first-team All-American, and was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA tournament. She boasted an average of 23 points, 15.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, as reported by Sean Leahy of Yahoo Sports.
In the following season, Reese maintained impressive stats with an average of 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, achieving 20 double-doubles across 33 regular-season games for the Tigers. During the NCAA tournament, she continued her exceptional performance, recording seven additional double-doubles, including a standout 17-point, 20-rebound game against Iowa.
Angel Reese planned to declare for WNBA Draft since March
In a March interview with Vogue, which dropped at the same time Reese made her WNBA announcement, the college basketball star had made the decision to declare for the draft back in March.
“I’ve won a national championship, I’ve gotten (Southeastern Conference) Player of the Year, I’ve been an All-American. My ultimate goal is to be a pro—and to be one of the greatest basketball players to play, ever. I feel like I'm ready,” Reese said, as reported by Leah Faye Cooper of Vogue.
According to Cooper, Reese drew inspiration from Serena William's announcing her retirement in Vogue.
“Of course, I like to do everything big … I didn’t want anything to be basic,” Reese said.
She is acutely aware of the intense competition at the next level. The WNBA consists of only 144 positions spread across 12 teams, and only 36 newcomers are welcomed each season. Should Reese be selected in the draft on April 15, as anticipated, she acknowledges, “I’ll be working with grown women,” adding, “I’ll be working with women that have kids, women that have a family to feed. I’m going to have to work my butt off every single day and grind. And who wouldn’t want that? I don’t want anything in my life to be easy.”
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