Angel Reese is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago sky of the women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Reese was born to Angel Webb Reese and Michael Reese, and she grew up in Randallstown, about 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Baltimore. Both of her parents played basketball in college and overseas, and her younger brother, Julian Reese, also excelled at the sport. As kids, the two siblings often played on the basketball court in front of their house, which she credited with honing her competitive style. Her parents broke up when she was young, and Reese was raised by her mother. She attended Saint Frances Academy, a Catholic school in Baltimore, where she led her basketball team to three consecutive Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland championships (2017, 2018, and 2019).

Reese was highly recruited, and in 2020 she enrolled at the University of Maryland on a basketball scholarship. After a difficult freshman season in which she was hindered by a foot injury, she had a breakout sophomore year. Reese led the team with 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, and Maryland was selected for the 2022 NCAA tournament. There the Terps advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, and although Reese had an outstanding game—25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks—the team lost to Stanford. Reese subsequently decided to transfer to Louisiana State University. “I chose LSU and [Coach] Kim Mulkey because of the winning culture,” she said at the time.

The 6-foot 3-inch (1.9-meter) Reese quickly had an impact at LSU, which plays in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). During her first season (2022–23), she averaged 23 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. In the 2023 NCAA tournament, LSU reached the championship game, and it defeated the University of Iowa, 102–85. During the contest Reese waved her hand in front of her face in a “You can’t see me” gesture as she stared at Iowa guard Caitlin Clark. It became a viral moment, but many—including Clark—criticized the resulting controversy. Some argued there was a racial double standard, since Clark, who is white, had made the gesture earlier in the tournament, without generating any push back. Reese stood by the gestures in her postgame comments: “I don’t fit in the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto.…this is for the girls that look like me.”