The idea to have Iowa join national champion LSU on their White House visit was short-lived, but Angel Reese isn't interested in an apology.
It was First Lady Jill Biden -- who attended the game in Dallas -- to make the initial suggestion, which she called back quickly. Reese said she expected it was due to a flood of calls and criticism she received, but it's still too little, too late.
"I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t accept that apology because of, you said what you said. … You can’t go back on certain things that you say," Reese said during an interview on the I Am Athlete podcast. "You felt like they should’ve came because of sportsmanship, right? They can have that spotlight. We’ll go to the Obamas. We’ll see Michelle. We’ll see Barack.”
The sportsmanship conversation got much louder during the final seconds of the Tigers' 102-85 win in the title game, particularly when cameras spotted Angel Reese trailing Hawkeyes sharpshooter Caitlin Clark while waving her hand in a "you can't see me" celebration and pointing to her ring finger. It was effectively mirroring Clark's own celebration back at her from a victory over Louisville earlier in the tournament, plus interest.
But Reese also revealed a bit more of the subplot as it pertained to Jill Biden. The First Lady was planning to meet with both championship teams prior to the game, but LSU declined. Why? They saw President Joe Biden's bracket, and took it as a personal challenge.
“He didn’t even put us on his bracket to get out of Baton Rouge, so I was like, bet,” Reese said.
The LSU forward couldn't say whether Biden visited Iowa, and it's unclear how much of that played into her later suggestion. Regardless, it adds another layer to an odd subplot from an otherwise exhilarating weekend for the program.
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“If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House, and I remember she made a comment that both teams should be invited because it was poor sportsmanship," Reese said. "And I’m like, are you saying that because of what I did? Stuff like that, it bothers me, because you are a woman at the end of the day. You’re supposed to be standing behind us before anything, so it’s hard to see things like that and not to comment back on it.”
In the end it's mostly just background noise to the larger celebration. Still, it could potentially add some tension if Reese and teammate Alexis Morris -- who also suggested the team meet with the Obamas rather than the Bidens -- are committed to that idea.
Joining SportsTalk on Tuesday, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said the team had not yet received an invite to the White House, but it was expected to arrive soon. It's a trip she's made multiple times as a head coach with Baylor, and she left no doubt whether her team would be accepting that invite this year.
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"We will sure go to that White House and get to do things that not many people get to do," Mulkey told WWL. "You can tour the White House and all that, but you don’t get to go behind the scenes and go in that Oval Office. This will be my fourth team and I’m looking forward to it.”
The title Tigers are continuing to be honored throughout the state, including Morris throwing out the first pitch at the LSU baseball game on Tuesday, a championship parade and celebration on Wednesday in Baton Rouge, and a celebration with the Pelicans on Friday at the Smoothie King Center.
"When it all settles down," Mulkey said, "I’m going to go: What in the world did we just do?”
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