The real reason for Angel Reese’s surprisingly questionable status at LSU had been a topic of intense conversation over the past 48 hours.
It all started last week, when Reese – the best player on college basketball’s best team last season – was randomly benched for the second half of a game. One game later, she didn’t participate altogether.
After that outing, Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey was pressed on what happened to Reese.
“You want me to explain why? It’s very obvious Angel was not in uniform. Angel is a part of this basketball team and we hope to see her sooner rather than later.”@LSUwbkb Kim Mulkey on Angel Reese not attending Friday’s game at Southeastern. #LSU @WAFB pic.twitter.com/d2JP5J6mRU
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) November 18, 2023
“You want me to explain why? It’s very obvious Angel was not in uniform,” Mulkey said.
“Angel is a part of this basketball team and we hope to see her sooner than later.”
So what happened? One theory that emerged in the immediate aftermath of Reese’s absence was that her grades had slipped below an acceptable threshold.
This idea was perpetuated by Kia Brooks, the mom of LSU sophomore Flau’jae Johnson when she suggested that Reese had a “2.0 or less GPA” in a social media post.
Understandably, folks ran with that. Unfortunately, that idea makes no sense. Reese played in the first half of LSU’s game against Kent State. If she was academically ineligible, she couldn’t have done that.
Reese confirmed the GPA theory was gibberish in a follow-up message on social media:
please don’t believe everything you read.
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) November 19, 2023
When it became clear that GPA wasn’t a real issue, a second theory emerged:
Angel Reese wins a national title, grabs a nice NIL payday and now thinks shes bigger than the program. Just another product of todays generation that thinks they’re entitled.
— Primetime (@PrimeTimeBS15) November 18, 2023
This, of course, is more plausible. Reese has become an international celebrity over the past year. Between her wild partying with Olivia Dunne, the rumors she was secretly dating a teammate and her public flirtation with the world’s best rapper, she has been in the headlines nonstop.
It could be that her newfound stardom has caused some issues. It is hard to take orders, especially from someone like Mulkey, when you don’t need to.
Trevor Lawrence’s Wife Marissa Puts His Name On Her Crotch (Photos): https://t.co/O9Fa1elRvz
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 20, 2023
One way or another, this saga seems to be chugging alone. An answer regarding what truly transpired will reveal itself.
What is the real reason for Reese’s suddenly-perilous status at LSU? Time will tell.
Related: NFL Fans Call Out ESPN’s Sam Ponder For Scandalous Outfit (Photos)
Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
