To gain Caitlin Clark’s attention, Louisiana State University star Angel Reese, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and the 2023 NCAA women’s champion, utilized the “You can’t see me” gesture.
White public commentators Keith Olbermann and Dave Portnoy, among others, critiqued the 20-year-old, calling her a “f****** idiot” and a “classless piece of s***” for her behavior.
Julian Ken, who is in his second year as a public relations major at Florida A&M University, is a cheerful Reese fan.
“I only see a winner,” Ken said. “I don’t think she did anything wrong. Athletes are always show-boating when they accomplish something. Your first reaction after winning something is to celebrate and that’s exactly what she did.”
Angel Reese was chastised for disrespecting Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in the waning seconds of the national championship game, but Shaquille O’Neal defended her.
In reaction to their scathing remarks, Shaq tweeted, “So is your mother” to Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, and “Shut your dumb a** up and leave Angel Reese alone” to Olbermann, the anchor of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”
James Garner, a senior at Florida A&M University studying public relations, has been keeping up with the young MVP’s classless week.
” There’s nothing classless about it; if John Cena can do it without criticism, why shouldn’t she,” Garner said. ” She’s had a crazy week, from winning the championships to being blasted on Twitter for how she celebrated it, the team deserves to just celebrate right now.”
Reese said last week that she and her team would not be attending the White House after comments Jill Biden made following the win.
“So I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, as we always do,” Jill Biden remarked. “So, we’re hoping LSU will come, but I’m going to tell Joe [Biden] that I believe Iowa should come as well, since they played such a fantastic game,”
The Tigers defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 to capture their first NCAA women’s basketball national championship earlier this month.
Traditionally, national victors are invited to the White House. Despite the fact that the losing team had never been invited before, First Lady Biden initially welcomed both LSU and Iowa.
“I believe inviting them was overkill. The purpose of the White House visit is to celebrate LSU’s victory. It may have seemed like a kind gesture at the time, but LSU worked really hard, and I doubt LSU would have been invited if the tables were turned,” Ken said.
Reese said on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, “I just know if the roles were reversed, that it wouldn’t be the same. If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House,” Reese said. “And I remember, she made a comment about both teams should be invited because it was [about] sportsmanship. I was like, ‘Are you saying that because of what I did?’ Stuff like that, it bothers me.”
FAMU’s Ken is rooting for the Tigers to go to Washington.
“I hope they do end up going. It is a once in a lifetime experience for some people,” Ken added.
According to CNN, Reese has said that she would accompany her team to the White House after her previous comments.