Contrary to the infamous hand gesture Angel Reese famously flashed in the national championship game, you can actually see LSU Tigers superstar Angel Reese – lot of her.
Reese will flash her bikini-clad physique in the latest edition of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue when it debuts later in May 2023, the publication announced on its Instagram page.
Reese appears to have become an overnight pop culture sensation after her LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes and won the women’s college national championship in April 2023.
What is just as compelling as her unabashedly bold and flamboyant personality, is her resilience in the face of the tidal wave of hate that came her way when she gave fellow collegiate superstar Caitlyn Clark the “you can’t see me” hand gesture in the closing minutes of the victory.
ANGEL REESE TO CAITLIN CLARK 😳 pic.twitter.com/2NY0CEzwJ3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 2, 2023
Reese is not technically an overnight phenomenon, however. She was already a major force in college basketball as an All-American and record-breaking forward. But winning the title in the fashion her team did help balloon her national profile exponentially. Moreover, her NIL (name, image and likeness) valuation rocketed from around $300K to over $1.7 million — and counting — and also quadrupled her social media following.
Furthermore, the game between the Tigers and Hawkeyes attracted the most viewers in women’s college basketball history with nearly 10 million sets of eyes glued to the thrilling contest.
The woman who calls herself the “Bayou Barbie” has parlayed both the hate and the admiration into unprecedented attention to the women’s game as well as made her a multimillionaire before her 21st birthday.
Reese, who has the most NIL deals of anyone in men’s and women’s collegiate athletics, also notified her nearly two million IG followers that she has signed yet another NIL deal, this one with the inrernationally recognized sports magazine.
“Having so many people come back to me and say, ‘You guys have changed the game. You guys have been a part of history,’ I embraced that,” Reese told SI. “Just being able to be a part of this has just been amazing for me this year, and it’s been a blessing.”
