The LSU women's basketball team is going to visit the White House after winning the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and it appears that Angel Reese will be a part of the visiting party.
Reese had previously expressed she was unsure if she would attend the White House celebration. This came after she took issue with comments made by first lady Jill Biden, during which Biden expressed an interest in inviting runner-up Iowa to the White House in a gesture of sportsmanship.
However, Reese explained during an interview on ESPN Friday that she had decided she would attend the White House visit. Why?
MORE: Angel Reese says LSU should visit Obamas, not White House
"I'm a team player," Reese said. "I'm going to do what's best for the team, and I'm the captain. I know the team would love it."
"I'm a team player, I'm gonna do what's best for the team." @Reese10Angel confirms she'll join LSU at the White House.
— ESPN (@espn) April 7, 2023
(via @RandyScottESPN) pic.twitter.com/aY89aL6VS2
That said, Reese wanted to make it clear that she was still "hurt" by Biden's comments. She had previously said that it felt like Biden's reference to "sportsmanship" in her invitation to Iowa was a shot at Reese's trash-talking of Iowa star Caitlin Clark.
"I remember [Biden] made a comment about, 'Both teams should be invited because it was for sportsmanship.' And I'm like, are you saying [that] because of what I did?" Reese said on "The Paper Route" podcast. "Stuff like that, it bothers me because you are a woman, at the end of the day, white, Black, it doesn't matter, you're a woman, you're supposed to be standing behind us before anything."
Still, while Reese hasn't forgiven Biden for her comments, she realized that she didn't want to turn down the one-in-a-lifetime-type opportunity of visiting the White House.
"It was emotional for us, because we know how hard we worked all year, for everything," Reese said on ESPN. "That hurt us in the moment. But just going back on it, the team, you don't get that experience [of visiting the White House] ever. So being able to go back, and I know my team probably wants to go for sure, and my coach is supportive of that. So I'm going to do what's best for the team."
MORE: Reese calls Jill Biden's suggestion to invite Iowa to White House 'a joke'
So, Reese will join her teammates as they celebrate LSU's first women's basketball championship in school history. A date for the visit has yet to be announced.