LSU star Angel Reese heaps praise on $3.1 million NIL-valued Caitlin Clark ahead of highly anticipated Elite Eight showdown: "She's just a killer"
LSU forward Angel Reese registered a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 78-69 win against the UCLA Bruins on Sunday and snag a place in the Elite Eight. Their prize is a repeat of last year's national championship game against her old foe: $3.1 million NIL-valued Caitlin Clark (as per On3) and the No. 1-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes on Monday night.
Reese was complimentary of the Iowa star despite their perceived rivalry on Sunday.
“She’s just a killer. … She's just a really smart player," Reese said. "She has a great mentality to get everyone involved, but also takes great shots and makes great shots."
Caitlin Clark has her say on Angel Reese beef
During the national championship game that pitted Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes against Angel Reese's LSU Tigers last year, the latter pulled out her bag of trash talk replicating John Cena's "you can't see me" celebration aimed at Clark, who had also used the move.
As their 102-85 victory wound down, Reese pulled out Steph Curry's finger-tapping celebration pointing at where the natty ring would be placed. Joe Burrow also used the gesture as the LSU Tigers won the 2019 NCAA title.
The fallout from the LSU forward's actions was immediate and widespread with some of the audience calling them classless while the others defended Reese, pointing out that Clark did the same against Louisville in their Elite Eight clash first.
It took the popular Clark giving an interview a few days later pointing out that the actions by Reese were appreciated and not taken in bad spirits before the furor calmed down.
Before this year's Elite Eight clash, the record-breaking Clark again pointed out similarities between herself and Angel Reese, showing her classy side.
“There’s that competitive fire," Clark said. "Both of us want to win more than anything, and that’s how it should be when you’re a competitor and you get into a situation like this, whether it was the national championship, whether it’s the Elite Eight. That goes for LSU’s entire roster. That goes for Iowa’s entire roster.
"Every single one of us wants this so bad. We want to advance to the Final Four so bad. So, I think that’s the main similarity is how bad and how competitive we are. We both grew up loving this game, and we’re going to do anything we can to help our teams win.”
Angel Reese versus Caitlin Clark will be viewed as one of women's college basketball's greatest rivalries both for what it represents on and off the court and the cultural impact it has had on college hoops.