The LSU women’s basketball program travels like a world-renowned music group. Recognition, adoration and acclaim follow them wherever they go.
Be it in hotel lobbies or long after the final buzzer has sounded following a road game, fans wait for a chance to get a photo with coach Kim Mulkey, an autograph from guard Flau’jae Johnson or even just a glimpse of the team as it loads up the bus.
The attention is something Mulkey encourages her team to embrace.
‘‘You compartmentalize,’’ Mulkey told the Sun-Times. ‘‘When we’re on the floor to practice, we don’t have all those people hanging from the rafters; we’re working. When it’s game time, it’s like putting on a performance; it’s like a concert.
‘‘When that game is over, whether you played good, bad or indifferent, we have an obligation to give back. If signing an autograph or taking a picture is all that’s required, then we need to do it.’’
In all of the madness, one question continues to be asked.
‘‘A lot of people still ask us, ‘Where’s Angel?’ ’’ said forward Aneesah Morrow, who played high school ball at Simeon and started her college career at DePaul before transferring to LSU.
Reese wrapped up a historic rookie season in the WNBA in September and is in Florida to prepare for the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a three-on-three league co-founded by the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier.
Morrow smiled, relaying the message she shares with fans searching for Reese: ‘‘She’s doing her own thing.’’
Reese always has. It’s a quality that, at just 22 years old, has made her a household name, setting a standard for women’s professional athletes with lucrative partnerships and her own podcast, ‘‘Unapologetically Angel.’’
Beyond the rebounding records Reese set last season, the spotlight that shined on her in college translated to increased viewership and attendance for the WNBA. Two of the Sky’s road games — against the Aces and Mystics — were moved to bigger arenas to accommodate larger crowds. Within a month after drafting Kamilla Cardoso and Reese with the Nos. 3 and 7 overall picks last spring, the Sky’s merchandise sales exceeded those from the previous season.
‘‘What Angel’s done for the game cannot be replaced,’’ Morrow said.
Reese’s impact might not be able to be replicated, but it’s Mulkey’s job to find players with the championship characteristics Reese and her teammates showed in winning the NCAA title in 2023 and reaching the Elite Eight last season. Morrow said LSU’s goal this season is to return to the Final Four.
To get there, the No. 6 Tigers not only will have to replace Reese but also point guard Hailey Van Lith, who transferred to TCU after one season in Baton Rouge.
‘‘She was dominant every night,’’ Morrow said of Reese. ‘‘She never seemed like she was rattled. No matter what a team threw at her, she was ready for it. That’s been the same thing for me this season.’’
Morrow has stepped up significantly to fill Reese’s shoes. She is averaging 18.3 points — second on the team to Johnson’s 20.9 — and 14 rebounds and leads the country in total rebounds and rebounds per game.
LSU is undefeated at 14-0, but what has to be taken into account is its strength of schedule early in the season. The Tigers have one victory against a Top 25 team, beating then-No. 25 N.C. State in the championship game Nov. 27 of a tournament in the Bahamas. Since then, they’ve racked up six more victories against unranked opponents, including one Dec. 19 against UIC.
The biggest concern for Mulkey’s squad is the absence of a reliable passer.
‘‘Being able to have our [point guard],’’ Morrow said when she was asked what LSU still must address this season. ‘‘We switch a lot. Figuring that out and just playing together. With the change of the [point guard], we can never really get the flow.’’
Senior transfer Shayeann Day-Wilson started eight of the nine games for which she was available before suffering an ankle injury Dec. 5 against Stanford. She was unavailable for the Tigers’ next four games but might return Sunday against Albany.
Even with Day-Wilson available, however, Mulkey was unwilling to commit to her as LSU’s lead guard.
