In a cover interview with “Women’s Health,” the LSU star reflected on the trash talk she and Clark exchanged last April in the national championship.

Almost one year after their “You can’t see me” taunts at the NCAA women’s championship went viral, Angel Reese has perspective about her relationship with Caitlin Clark.

“I love that we’re able to compete and still be cool after, regardless of the outside noise,” the LSU star, 21, told Women’s Health magazine in a cover story interview.

Reese added, “People even say Magic [Johnson] and Larry Bird, that era [of basketball] and how it was. If that’s who we are, then okay, cool. … I think we’re both happy about what’s going on.”

And while the rivals’ trash talk — and misguided racial implications — seemingly took center stage after LSU defeated Clark’s Iowa for the national title last April, Reese has had some time to reflect about the experience.

At the start of this year’s season, Reese stepped away for four games for a mental health break.

“Taking time for yourself is really important,” she said in December. “I feel like that’s something that was important, resetting and focusing within the team.”

Reese said at the time that she was thankful for the support she was shown, and added: “My mental health is the most important before anything, and I’m gonna make sure I’m okay before anything, because I don’t wanna cause any harm or cancer in the locker room.”

Now, as Reese navigates her off-the-court success as a NIL star, she contemplates returning for another year of eligibility next season — or declaring for the WNBA draft, where she told Women’s Health that her goal is to be among the top 5.

On the eve of Clark breaking the NCAA scoring record — the Iowa point guard needs just 8 points in Thursday night’s game against Michigan to make history — Reese is taking time to revel in her own accomplishments.

“People are going to say what they want to say, but I know how many people I have impacted in a positive way,” she told the magazine. “I don’t live with any regrets.”

Hot news: Kateri Poole ‘no longer on team’ as Angel Reese makes feelings clear Angel Reese posted an emotional message for Kateri Poole after she was removed from LSU Women’s Basketball program, raising more concerns about the recent ‘locker room issues’.

Junior guard Kateri Poole is no longer part of the LSU women’s basketball program – and Angel Reese is devastated to see her go.

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey announced on Sunday that Poole was “no longer with us” and refused to give any more detail on the matter. It’s not known if Poole has been removed from the team or if both parties have agreed to part ways, but the young player is no longer part of LSU.

Poole was a major reason that Reese signed for LSU in the first place, and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament posted a disappointed message on Instagram after hearing the news.

“Forever my dawg! You know I love you and 10 behind you,” Reese captioned a picture of them together.

LSU is 9-1 this season, but that doesn’t tell the full story as Mulkey has navigated controversial player absences over the past few months. Reese missed four games in November and only returned on Nov. 30 against Virginia Tech after being sidelined for an unknown reason.

Again, Mulkey refused to go into detail when being pressed by reporters but did explain Reese’s importance to the team on the eve of her return.

“She will play tomorrow,” Mulkey said before Reese faced Virginia Tech. “It’s a boost having her back, period.

“It’s not just against Virginia Tech. It’s just for our team.

She’s just a tremendous player, one of the best players in the country. I really think Angel will just be like Angel. She’s just been really good in practice.”

Reese will now have to continue without one of her closest friends on the team, who only managed to play in four games this season. Poole was also a member of the National Championship-winning side, playing in the last five games of last season when Reese was later named Most Outstanding Player.

But Poole has averaged just two points and 1.8 rebounds this season, and in recent weeks has only played for five minutes after being left on the bench due to a “coach’s decision”.

Poole averaged 4.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 22.4 minutes in 2022-23.

There has been a lot of change on the LSU roster, as Sa’Maya Smith is now out for the season after suffering a knee injury in the Cayman Islands Classic a few weeks ago. Reese’s return to the lineup is therefore convenient for Mulkey, who praised her star player.

“Timing is everything in life and the timing of her injury is just so sad for her because she has improved by leaps and bounds,” Mulkey said.

“The timing of Angel being back kind of helps, but there’s no substitution for the value that Sa’Maya has to our team and what she’s meant thus far.”

Hot news: Geno Auriemma claims best UConn teams were ‘ahead of our time’ in response to new NCAA landscape UConn women’s basketball remains an iconic program, and head coach Geno Auriemma believes some of his former squads would have been far more popular had they competed in the current era.

UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma claimed this week that his most dominant teams were ahead of their time.

He also suggested that former players such as Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore would have reached the level of fame of active NCAA stars like Caitlin Clark if they were born later.

Still, Auriemma gave props to the current student-athletes who have helped raise the profile of women’s basketball beyond anything seen before. The coach, who earned his 1,200th career victory this year, said the brighter spotlight was long overdue.

“That’s how you build a national brand like we’ve have for so long, and we were willing to go to any part of the country to play anybody anywhere to spread that brand,” Auriemma said via CT Insider.

“So, yeah, we were a little bit ahead of our time. And people now are starting to experience what we experienced for all those years. And they’re also starting to appreciate more how difficult it is to be in that situation.”

Auriemma led back-to-back undefeated seasons on two occasions and went unbeaten six times overall, helping the Huskies become a nationally revered powerhouse. UConn went 78-0 between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns.

The school accounts for 66 percent of all the undefeated seasons in NCAA women’s basketball history, a remarkable accomplishment underlining its historic dominance.

However, rival programs have seemingly caught up with UConn on the court and in the public eye.

By some measures, including win percentage, this is the weakest team Auriemma has coached in at least 20 years relative to other national title contenders.

Some of the squad’s struggles are the result of poor injury luck, yet even at full strength, this season’s Huskies likely wouldn’t have drawn the record-breaking attention of Caitlin Clark and Iowa or Angel Reese and LSU.

That’s not to say UConn isn’t popular – with the help of star guard Paige Bueckers, the team retains national relevance and could rebound in a big way next season. But even Auriemma has acknowledged throughout 2023-24 that the playing field has become more difficult for him than before.

“It’s obviously been a long time coming,” he added on the rise of women’s basketball beyond being a niche source of entertainment. “When we traveled back before all this other stuff, the crowds that Maya [Moore] generated, that [Breanna Stewart] generated – those guys didn’t have necessarily as much of a benefit as these kids do with social media.

“And now it’s just been magnified, and it’s the right kind of kids with the right kind of personalities, and everything that goes into being popular and being impactful to a bunch of kids. And the fact that the coverage is just so much more widespread than it’s ever been, they’re all taking advantage of it. God bless them.”

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