Chicago Sky star and 2023 NCAA Women's National Champion Angel Reese sent a special message to an HBCU star who she has a special tie to from her childhood. Southern University had an astounding run to the SWAC championship and a rather dominant showing in the First Four against UC San Diego that set them up for a huge matchup with Lauren Betts and top-ranked UCLA. Before the game, Reese delivered a message to Southern Univesity star Aniya Gourdine.

“It’s your very first tournament and I’m super excited for you,” Reese said in a March Madness video on social media. “…We literally grew up together, literally were best friends growing up from third grade to high school. We was learning how to play basketball together, to winning championships together, to playing at high school together, to you going to college and I’m super proud of your growth on and off the court,” Reese said in the video, which was posted to the March Madness Instagram account.

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Gourdine and Reese grew up in Baltimore and played basketball at St. Frances Academy, a private Catholic high school in the city. They both eventually grew to become women's basketball stars, with Reese having immense success at Maryland and then LSU. Gourdine, meanwhile, transitioned to Temple University and then found her way to Southern University, where she was a key contributor for the Lady Jaguars.

Gourdine stepped up when it mattered most for Southern. She was a kek contributor in the team's SWAC Championship victory over Alcorn, earning MVP honors for her play, and their huge win over UC San Diego. Although the Jaguars fell to the Bruins 84-46 in the opening round, Gourdine finished 10 points, two assists, and one rebound.

This isn't the first time Angel Reese has shown love for HBCU basketball. After a win over Coppin State in the 2023-2024 season, Reese spoke about how she would've loved to have attended an HBCU.

“I mean, honestly, I would have loved to go to HBCU. Having the resources and opportunities they don't, they're not the same, of course. But one day, being able to give back to a community like this, and being able to, you know, we came here and we had to pay them to play us. So being able to do that, of course, I remember my experience playing against Poly at Morgan was just like this. And being able to have the whole city coming out and so many people coming out tonight and supporting us has just been amazing for me.”