“It’s a blessing, honestly. I’ve kind of embraced it. People are watching me,” said LSU basketball champion Angel Reese during a recent interview with People magazine. “I mean, it’s a fast life I’m living. I think I have to mature quickly.”
Reese became a household name as a star of the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team as they won the 2023 NCAA Championship game in April against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Nearly 10 million people tuned in to the game.
While most of the attention Reese has received has been positive, there was also controversy. Some criticized playful competitive teasing between Reese and Hawkeye’s player Caitlin Clark – Clark herself defended Reese. Then, Reese criticized First Lady Jill Biden for inviting the losing team to the White House for a victory event.
“I’ll go down in history for doing what I did, and our team will for winning. I’m happy we were able to do that for Louisiana,” said Reese of her work to get the championship trophy while speaking with People on the set of Starry’s new commercial in Los Angeles.
However, she admitted that she does feel overwhelmed sometimes.
“I’m going to learn from mistakes that I make, but I have a lot of great people around me that help me and I’m blessed to have them around me,” she said. “I’m happy.”
Part of maturing quickly and becoming well-known at just 21 includes living a quieter life than many college students in some respects.
“I don’t party, I don’t date, I’m just living my life,” she said. Reese went on to explain that she’s not at LSU’s Baton Rouge campus much due to security concerns.
“So I stay at my apartment and my teammates come over and we’ll eat,” she said. “We’ll cook or we’ll do whatever, have fun, watch movies, listen to music, do whatever. TikTok.”
In addition to basketball, school, having fun with friends at home and her other favorite ways to relax – shopping and sleeping – Reese has been busy with other ventures. She can be seen in the new Starry commercial, in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and in a new music video with Latto and Cardi B.
Through all the changes over the past few months, Reese said that faith has helped her.
“I’ve been through so many things, and I think that the only way I’m getting through these things is just taking time with God and giving him his time,” she told People. “That’s something I’ve emphasized this year.”
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