Baltimore-area native Angel Reese drafted by WNBA’s Chicago Sky with No. 7 pick

Angel Reese, the Randallstown native who helped lead the LSU Tigers to a national championship in 2023, was taken seventh overall in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky on Monday night.

Reese played at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore and the University of Maryland before transferring to LSU, where she became a national figure known for by the nickname “Bayou Barbie.”

She declared for the WNBA draft earlier this month with characteristic flair: a fashion shoot with Vogue magazine.

“I’m leaving college with everything I ever wanted: a degree, a national championship and this platform I could have never imagined,” Reese said in a video she shared on social media. “This is for the girls who look like me, that’s gonna speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you.”

The two-time All-American at LSU was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 tournament, when she famously helped to defeat Iowa and flaunted the victory at demonstrative Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark. That title — at the time the highest-rated game in women’s college basketball history with more than 10 million viewers — catapulted Reese into stardom, allowing her to cash in on name, image and likeness deals with Reebok and other major companies.

In her junior season, the 6-foot-3 Reese averaged 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds in 33 games for 31-6 Tigers.

Clark was taken first overall by the Indiana Fever.

The former Iowa star also became a household name among basketball fans during her record-breaking college career, and she will now try and help revive the Indiana franchise along with last season’s No. 1 pick, Aliyah Boston.

“The organization has one of the best post players in the entire world. My point guard eyes light up with that,” Clark said.

The NCAA’s all-time scoring leader was a big reason why a record 18.9 million viewers tuned in to the national championship game, which Iowa lost to unbeaten South Carolina.

The draft was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in front of 1,000 fans, who bought all the tickets within 15 minutes of them going on sale a few months ago.

Los Angeles chose Stanford’s Cameron Brink at No. 2. She’ll get to stay in California and will give the Sparks a two-way player. The prolific scorer was also the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. The Sparks needed to replace franchise player Nneka Ogwumike, who left for Seattle in free agency.

Chicago had the third pick and chose South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso before the Sparks were on the clock again and and selected Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson.

Dallas took Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon with the fifth pick. Washington drafted Aaliyah Edwards of UConn sixth before Chicago took Reese, pairing her with Cardoso.

“She’s a great player and I’m a great player. Nobody’s going to get no rebounds on us,” the 6-foot-7 Cardoso said, laughing.

Even though Reese became a national star after leaving home, she takes pride in her Baltimore roots and likes being an inspiration for young girls in the area — such as the ones who packed Coppin State’s Physical Education Complex for a sold-out game between the Tigers and Eagles last December.

“Being someone they look up to is something I’ve embraced,” she said. “Being able to come home and do that means a little bit more to me. I’m from Baltimore. I was the Baltimore Barbie before the Bayou Barbie.”

Baltimore Banner columnist Kyle Goon contributed to this story.

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