At the height of her college basketball career, Angel Reese certainly gave the other players a run for their money. In 2023,

Reese and her team, the Louisiana State University Tigers, beat the University of lowa Hawkeyes the team of her pseudo-competition, Caitlin Clark to secure the NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball national title.

That same year, she was named the SEC Player of the Week seven times and won BET and ESPY awards. After a successful college run, the basketball star announced through an interview with Vogue that she would be entering the 2024 WNBA draft.

Reese, who was moved to share the big news like tennis legend Serena Williams did when she made her exit in 2022, told the outlet, “I’ve done everything I wanted to in college… My ultimate goal is to be a pro- and to be one of the greatest players to play, ever.

I feel like I’m ready.” Reese’s WNBA dreams came true when she was picked by the Chicago Sky as the seventh overall selection. There’s no doubt that the sky’s the limit for Reese – no pun intended and there’s no better time to unearth some lesser-known facts about the basketball prodigy.

Angel Reese was inspired to play basketball by her mom

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Angel Reese was born on May 6, 2002 to Michael Reese and Angel Webb Reese. She’s a chip off the old block since both her parents played basketball. Her mother was a standout player at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County from 1988 to 1992 and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.

Webb raised her daughter and her son, Julian Reese, who was born a little over a year after Angel arrived, on her own after she and Michael split. She ultimately went on to play the game semi-professionally after she finished college, and even played professionally for a time in Europe.

Her skill on the court made Angel take great interest in the sport. “I used to go to my mom’s games when I was younger. She used to play in a little league, and I used to always go watch her games on Sundays,” she recounted to Just Women’s Sports.

“That was something that was always inspiring to me.” Growing up, Angel’s own basketball beginnings were in the small court in their front yard, going against her brother while Webb acted as the umpire-slash-coach. The brother-sister duo developed such a fierce competitive spirit that the court had to be removed. In a chat with ESPN, Angel attributed the tight-knit relationship with her family as the drive she needed to succeed in basketball. The real reason Angel Reese always wears one legging

The WNBA is no stranger to the one-legging style.

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson is credited with perp

etuating the trend back in 2018. While her purpose was to maintain a dose of warmth, it’s far from Angel Reese’s real reason to rock one legging. “I had surgery two years ago on my shin. I have a rod in my leg.” Reese revealed at a post-game conference in 2023 (via Nola).

“Many people don’t know that. I cover the scar for one, then my two players that I really admire, Te’a Cooper and A’ja Wilson, they also wear it, too. So it’s swag. But I’ve used it to cover my scar. Prior to going the one-legging way, Reese wore knee-length tights that also matched the colors of her jerseys.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only injury Reese incurred while playing for the University of Maryland Terrapins. In December 2020, she fractured her toe. The injury not only left her with physical pain, but also warranted emotional turmoil. Upon her rehabilitation coach’s suggestion, Reese decided to leave social media for a while in order to pick up habits like meditation and journaling, which changed her approach toward basketball. “I think it was a growth moment for me, and I think I needed that, honestly,” she explained to The Athletic at the time. “I just saw the game different, like I was able to… mature more (by) being able to see basketball differently from a different point of view.” She was afraid of leaving Baltimore

In her hometown of Baltimore, Angel Reese attended and played on the basketball team for St. Frances Academy. She was sought out by many colleges for her basketball prowess, but the thought of leaving her family frightened her.

Instead, Reese accepted a scholarship to the University of Maryland and joined the Terrapins. The past was evidently repeating itself, as Reese’s mother had the same dilemma when she joined the University of Maryland at the expense of a career with the Virginia Tech Hokies.

When Reese decided her time with the Terrapins was up and she entered the transfer portal, Reese was still crippled by the fear of being far from her loved ones. “I was scared to go away from home, even coming out of high school… that’s why I stayed home at Maryland,” Reese admitted on the “Paper Route” podcast.

Despite the fear, Reese was set to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks. However, she changed her mind when she visited the LSU Tigers after an invite from her friend, Kateri Poole. “Everything was perfect,” Reese, who had been disheartened after getting injured, recalled. “They laid everything out for me as far as my plan, my goals… and they never promised me points, a statue (or] anything ….I wanted to be happy again. And I wanted to gain confidence again within my game.” The dark side of her mainstream success

In a 2023 game that recorded the most views in NCAA history at the time, the LSU Tigers triumphed over the lowa Hawkeyes to secure their first NCAA title. Subsequently, Angel Reese and her team received a lot of praise from fans and a controversial invite to the White House from FLOTUS Jill Biden.

The tables turned during the next year’s March Madness when the Hawkeyes beat the defending champions to secure a spot in the Final Four. Speaking at a press conference afterward, Reese divulged that she had been harassed by fans since LSU won the NCAA championship.

“I don’t really get to stand up for myself,” an emotional Reese voiced (via ESPN). “I’ve been through so much. I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats, I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things and I’ve stood strong every single time.”

While some accused Reese of being a sore loser, most empathized with the player’s plight. Reese’s then-teammates, guard Flau’jae Johnson and Hailey Van Lith, testified to her great leadership and called out the media for painting her as a villain.

“I know the real Angel Reese,” Johnson declared (via Bleacher Report). “And the person I see everyday is a strong person. Is a caring, loving person, but the crown she wear(s) is heavy.” Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso are ‘cool’

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Ah, a good ol’ college basketball rivalry. During their games together, Angel Reese would often butt heads with former South Carolina Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso.

In a March 2024 game between the LSU Tigers and the Gamecocks, Reese swung her arm while blocking, hit Cardoso in the face, and was called for an intentional foul. Later in the chaotic game, a fight broke out that resulted in the ejection of six players (including Cardoso), but the referees failed to catch one thing -Reese pulling Cardoso’s hair at breakneck speed.

In a twist of fate, the pair were both picked by the Chicago Sky in the 2024 WNBA draft. Although fans may have expected a showdown between the college enemies, Cardoso quickly squashed any animosity during her inaugural press conference by saying Reese would be a fantastic teammate.

Her sentiments were echoed in a clip that went viral on social media, in which she said, “When we played against each other, yes, I didn’t like her. She didn’t like me. It’s competition. That’s what it’s called. Like, we’re playing against each other. We’re playing for something. But we playing together, we cool. Outside of basketball, we cool.” Her secret to winning deceptively simple