Angel Reese is going pro!
The star athlete announced her decision to enter the 2024 WNBA draft in grand fashion – quite literally – with a luxury style shoot with Vogue digital on April 3.
“I didn’t want anything to be basic,” Reese told the outlet of her decision to break the news with a fashion shoot – a decision she says was heavily inspired by Serena Williams’ retirement announcement.
The 21-year-old LSU forward kept her decision under wraps until nearly the end of the deadline to declare her intentions, with the plan to let her coach know privately after the last season game before announcing publicly, as ESPN reported during live LSU vs. Iowa coverage.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to in college. I’ve won a national championship, I’ve gotten [Southeastern Conference] Player of the Year, I’ve been an All-American,” Reese told Vogue. “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 is currently one of the best-known names in women’s Basketball, skyrocketing to overnight recognition after 2023’s NCAA tournament win, where she infamously taunted back at Iowa Guard Caitlin Clark with the same face-wave hand gesture the player used at the beginning of the game. Amid praise for the win, attacks on her character, and subsequent racialized debates, Angel Reese’s stardom was born.
But though her past year has been full of private flights, red carpets, music video cameos, and brand deal after brand deal, Reese is fully aware that the notoriety and accommodation she has become accustomed to may no longer be the norm once she’s settled onto a WNBA team. However, Reese says she’s more than prepared to scale back on the “celebrity” experience.
“I want to start at the bottom again,” she says. “I want to be a rookie again and build myself back up; I want to be knocked down and learn and grow at the next level.”
“I’ll be working with grown women,” she says of the transition to pro ball. “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.”
Her high profile at the college level already hasn’t been all that easy. Reese tearfully addressed the onslaught of criticism, judgment, and blatant, often racist attacks she’s faced since the spotlight began to shine on her.
“I’ve been through so much,” Reese tearfully expressed during Monday night’s post-game presser. “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.”