01x03 - You Can't See Me

[bunniefuu]

[announcer] When the Prudential

Halftime Report continues,

you'll meet a man with a lot on his mind

LSU's sensational Shaquille O'Neal.

[applause]

[man] Give me your best.

Let me see your best.

- You all right?

- Yeah, I'm all right.

Is he a student? 'Cause I saw him

at the club the other night.

- [laughter]

- You all right? You okay?

Where is my mosh pit? ♪

It's actually really good to be back,

especially to see this gentleman here.

This gentleman was the one

who helped create the Shaq brand.

I owe this man everything.

Who's the man that can

jam over any man? ♪

Shaq ♪

When I first came to LSU,

I had a very bad stuttering problem,

and he used to make the students

get up in front of class and he'd be like,

"Shaq, want to speak?"

I'd be like, "Nope, I'll take the zero."

I'm sitting around at my office,

piling around,

and I get a knock at the door

and this nice, polite young kid

pokes his head in

and very humbly says,

"They tell me I might have a good career

when college is over,

and I wanna be a good speaker.

Would you mind helping me?"

How do you speak from the diaphragm?

Just have to take a breath and let it out.

You know, some people when they speak

from their throat,

they try to hold their breath and speak.

But if you let it out,

let it flow out your mouth, off your lips.

You can feel the vibration right here.

I would come back every day,

hours upon hours,

and I finally developed that confidence.

Ain't life grand?

This gentleman helped me create

the character known as Shaq.

Shaquille O'Neal, AKA Shaq!

Shaq.

[announcer] O'Neallook out!

[dramatic music plays]

[O'Neal] They saw

that I had a sense of humor,

so he was like, "You can use this."

Greetings, television viewers.

[laughter, applause]

I love it.

And you've been successful at that.

- I'm always laughing.

- Very successful. Thank you.

[laughter]

Right now, are there any student athletes

that come to mind

that you think are just k*lling it

at the NIL game?

Angel. Yeah, she's-yeah, she's k*lling it.

[woman] Mm-hmm.

When I purchased Reebok,

Angel was my first call,

and, you know, I did an NIL deal with her.

[Karam] I think the true test of NIL's

gonna be

how the fans accept it.

It won't take long for the fans

to turn on the university

if these athletes overdo the money

and the fame thing.

The more money they make,

they're gonna expect these athletes

to carry themselves

like professional athletes

carry themselves.

For real. So the more money you make,

they're gonna expect you

to have perfect games.

They'll expect you to be flawless.

[dramatic electronic music plays]

- [woman] Name, image, and likeness.

- [man] Name, image, and likeness.

NIL.

This ruling could, quite literally,

change everything.

Let's go!

[tiger roar]

[indistinct chatter]

[woman] What else?

This is the dressing room.

Uh, but yeah, you're our first of three,

hopefully, amazing women

that's going to be part of this campaign.

- [Reese] Hi.

- [women] Hey.

- [Reese] Hey, guys.

- So this is Whitney.

Whitney works at Beats.

She's our lead producer on the project.

[both] Nice to meet you.

So all of this is primarily gonna be

2D for a new product

that is releasing throughout the year.

[Whitney] And this is one look option

that we're thinking.

[woman] You'll pick one of these looks.

Go back. I liketwo more.

I like that a lot.

- We love that pop of color.

- Yeah.

And the black I thought was cool, too.

- Yeah. Yeah.

- [Reese] Don't even get Jeanine started.

Jeanine is the lady that leads it all.

Jeanine gets most of my deals.

[man] You mind giving me like a little

yeah.

- Yeah, I like this.

- That's cute.

I've been working with Angel

since the day NIL got started.

We are incredibly close.

- We're gonna have to get that kitchen.

- [laughter]

Jeanine, do you know where the kitchen is?

[Jeanine] What is a kitchen?

It's the nape of your hair.

[Jeanine] Why do they call it that?

- It's like a Black thing.

- [laughter]

So you need to go home to your husband

and tell him I know what a kitchen is.

We're trying to get Jeanine hip.

[Jeanine] Angel has not had a week, a day,

an hour off

since she won the national championship.

We're here with Beats, period.

I'm not doing a deal

just for three months.

I wanna work with these brands

for a lifetime.

And for the women's side,

stacking your money four years straight

is something that's gonna be helpful,

especially women

that may not go to the next level.

You kinda have to get how you get it.

[woman]

Gonna keep it as simple as possible today.

- Yep. Okay.

- I want you to just be yourself.

You're used to a lot of eyes on you,

but I do wanna try

and keep the world me and you.

- Yeah

- 'Cause there's gonna be a lotta

But I want you to feel good

about these too.

I got you.

[Jeanine] I would love to say

that I know the exact equation

as to why she blew up

into the way she did.

I just think it's because

she's so authentic and so herself,

and she shows the raw side of it

and people gravitate to that.

But you're always gonna get haters,

and you're always going to get people

saying things.

Unfortunately, we saw a lot of that

right after the 2023

national championship.

[announcer] Turn around for the MVP!

[reporter] The events in the waning

moments of LSU's victory

led to a national debate

on the rivalry, respect,

and the unapologetically competitive

nature of women's basketball.

My teammate Hailey, she was at Louisville.

She had played Iowa.

Caitlin had did something like this

or something like this,

and I was like, "Hailey, I got you."

Then it was like, this is gonna blow up.

This is going to blow up.

Then the next morning

you start seeing all the media coverage.

[reporter]

When does trash talking cross the line?

The media was like, how do you feel about

Angel going against Caitlin Clark?

Angel, Caitlin Clark,

Angel, Caitlin Clark.

Angelyou just see all the stuff

that they say about her on a daily basis

on Twitter and all of that,

like it's disgusting.

Why is she getting so much hate?

[notifications dinging]

I call her a classless piece of sh*t,

and off we go.

[notification sound]

[man] We see it two different ways.

When Caitlin Clark did this,

it was considered swag.

48 hours later, Angel Reese does

the exact same gestureit's classless.

It's funny how America,

society sees Black and white.

[Reese] The negativity

came from a lot of white men.

She was obnoxious.

They didn't like how a Black girl

"put down" another white woman.

We have trash talking

all the time in sports,

and they tried to make it

a white and Black thing

that was something

that it really wasn't at all.

If Caitlin had been a Black girl,

I don't think it would have been

the same response from the outside.

We've seen so many athletes

do this same exact thing.

[announcer] And Curry with

a little something to say afterwards

expressing himself.

[announcer 2] And I'm here for it.

I'm loving it.

This is the competitive spirit

and what you wanted to see.

Things have been going on

with men for years.

Now that women are doing it, it's like,

"Oh, my God, this is entertaining."

Controversy is controversy, good or bad.

Brands love to see the engagement.

I'm not sure if Angel Reese

meant to do this, but objectively,

I think what she did yesterday

was a brilliant marketing decision.

[Jeanine] You can't control the narrative,

but it's still eyeballs

at the end of the day.

And it's still followers

at the end of the day.

[interviewer] How bad did all the noise

surrounding this get for her?

We blocked it out pretty well.

[quiet music plays]

[Reese] I don't have

Instagram notifications on.

I don't have Twitter notifications on.

If I have a NIL thing I need to post,

post, get off.

[photographer]

Angel, if I tell you more attitude,

what is-what happens?

[chuckles]

And maybe like-like

if you're talking sh*t on the court

Does it make sense to, like,

a finger lickin' in this moment or no?

[Reese] Ha ha!

[photographer] Oops. I did my homework.

[Reese] I'm not able to live freely

and do what I wanna do

as I used to a year ago.

That's a blessing and a curse.

That's definitely something

I am thinking about, like

when do I want a normal life again,

and will it ever be normal?

Because my life may never,

ever be normal again.

[Alia] Um, you know, the girl I work with

in NILSU?

She gave me this planner,

and I kind of need to like

set up some stuff, uh,

so I'm not just like all over the place.

That's my checklist for today.

Finish editing, post by tonight,

and that'll be my first post.

I feel like this week

I just want to focus on As I Am.

Reebok is a question mark

because they haven't said anything back.

- They didn't reach out to you?

- No.

I DM'ed them on Instagram.

They still have yet to reach out

to me as well, so, uh

That's just a big question mark.

[mellow R&B plays]

[Evan] You just been doing

[both laugh]

- [Alia] So that's all I got so far.

- Mm-hmm.

I want to be me, like, and I'm weird,

and I like to be that.

Yeah, normal's boring, man.

[Evan] It is. Let me ask you this.

Like, you envision yourself

being like the biggest track athlete ever?

Who do you see yourself having, like,

deals with?

- New Balance. That's what I need to put.

- Alright.

When I go pro, that's who I wanna be with.

[Evan] Mm-hmm.

I love New Balance.

As an athlete, I've always been humble,

but I've never slept on myself.

Okay, uh

My goal is a million.

I know what I'm worth.

At least seven figures. At least.

No one in my life that I care about

and that I love would be struggling.

That's all I can say.

[Evan] Listen, none of that

is far off at all.

Okay, I guess.

No! No. No "I guess." Like

be confident in yourself.

- That's huge, though.

- So are you.

Look at what you about to do this year.

[Alia] My vision is I'm going to

make it out of regionals.

I will be a national champion,

and I'm going to make

the Olympic team, 100 percent.

I believe that.

But it's really,

really hard to have NIL as well,

because they also have deadlines.

I just want to set up so that way, like,

when I get to the meet, I don't worry

about cramming anything in.

I just don't really want to focus on NIL

while I'm at the track meet.

Any time I get on this topic,

I get overwhelmed, 'cause I just

like, I wanna have everything done.

But I gotta be realistic with myself.

[distant background voices]

[punchy music plays]

[Dunne] One thing that's

kind of crazy about gymnastics,

especially college gymnastics,

is that you don't know the lineups.

Like, you don't know

who's gonna be in, who's gonna be out,

until the night before the competition.

Either it can be very exciting,

sometimes quite disappointing.

But I knew that this year

I wanted to give it my all.

At the practice every day

I look around and I'm like,

everyone's so good.

Everyone that comes to LSU

were probably

one of the best gymnasts in their area.

So when everyone comes to LSU,

it's kind of like

a little bit of a competition.

You're kind of competing every day

in the gym.

A healthy competition, of course,

but it kind of pushes you to get better.

[cheers and applause]

- [man] 9, 9.5.

- [man 2] Yeah.

[woman] Come on, Liv!

[women] Go, Liv!

[women shouting encouragement]

- [man] That's amazing.

- Come on, Liv!

[man] That's amazing.

[man] Tight, tight, tight, tight, tight.

Good.

[woman] All right, Liv.

Hey, I can tell

you're still a little thinking about it.

- Just a little bit.

- Little bit.

Be patient. Keep your head in

and let the tap finish.

[Dunne] Yeah.

[man] All right, general thoughts

on the day.

Anything earth shattering change

from what we already thought?

I told Sierra to stop tumbling.

What was she struggling with, the ankle?

Yeah, but if Sierra comes out,

Liv is going first.

[woman] Right.

Who do I put on paper?

- Oh, Sierra.

- Okay.

[Clark] You still wanna leave her

in that spot right now?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

But you said they both been doing good

since the break, right?

Yeah. I told them if I call your name,

be ready to go in two to six.

You're gonna go in whoever's spot it is.

[Clark] LivI would just send her a text.

Say, I'ma warm you up on the side

because you may end up

depending on a couple of

- People out there

- scenarios, you may have to go in.

- All right. We're clear.

- Mm-hmm.

[Clark] We're in a good place.

You're prepared.

You're ready to start the season.

Tomorrow is not the NCAA championship.

Tomorrow is our starting point.

Let's be matter of fact and business-like.

We're just going in there

to get our baseline.

Ticket sales crossed over 11,000 today.

I'm expecting something

in the neighborhood of 12,000 people.

So you can get excited about that.

It's gonna be

it's gonna be loud and proud.

There's a lotta buzz about you guys

around here right now,

so embrace it, okay?

You guys look awesome. You're ready.

I want you confident. Attack it.

Just go in there and have a party.

It's our first party of many

tomorrow night.

[woman] Together, family.

[indistinct chant]

- [woman] And what?

- Together we win!

[notification sound]

[notification sound]

[thunder rumbling]

[moody music plays]

[Dunne] Last year, I was hurt,

and I kind of

felt like I missed out a little bit.

- Hi.

- [woman] Hello.

[Dunne] And I worked really hard

on the off season this year

to get where I wanted to be

for my last year of gymnastics.

My last first meet. That's crazy.

That's actually crazy to think about,

since I've been doing gymnastics

since I was three, but this is it.

I just feel like

each year that has come,

I've grown even closer to the team,

which is the best feeling.

- They're like my sisters.

- [women] Now look at me ♪

And this opportunity ♪

Is standing right in front of me ♪

But one thing I know,

it's only part luck and so ♪

I'm putting on my best show ♪

[Dunne] You have a whole team of people

that want you to do your best.

And the fact that I can just rely

and lean on my teammates

is like the best feeling.

[background chatter]

[T.I.] Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪

Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪

[announcer] Great to be back

in the sport's greatest venue.

Ladies and gentlemen,

it's time to take to your feet

and welcome your 2024 Fighting Tigers

of LSU!

[announcer 2]

They do have reason to be enthusiastic.

LSU is arguably the finest NCAA team

who has not yet won the national title.

Is this the year they get there?

[announcer 1] Out of Spring, Texas,

please welcome from Amari Drayton.

[cheers and applause]

Sierra Ballard.

Welcome Konnor McClain.

An All-American on the uneven bars,

and a former US national team member

from Hillsdale, New Jersey,

say hey to Olivia Dunne.

[announcer 2] The head coach

in his fourth season here,

but over 34 years coaching in the NCAA

and got that team through last year,

which was heroic in so many ways.

[announcer 1] It's go-time!

[Clark] In collegiate gymnastics, we have

four events, or four apparatuses.

Vault.

Bars.

Beam.

And floor.

There are six competitors on every event.

Five scores count. You drop the low.

Each event has a different set of criteria

in terms of what it takes

to have a 10-0 start value.

I like to say that it comes down

to handstands and landings,

and many times a meet is separated

by a 10th of a point,

or, in some cases less.

[announcer] But good for her!

[team cheering]

[announcer 2] This is as good as it gets

in the world.

- Oh!

- Boom!

- Yes!

- That was fabulous!

[announcer 1] Haleigh for the Tigers!

[Clark] The team with the fewest

deductions is the team that wins.

I've seen championships decided by

by less than a quarter of a 10th before.

[announcer] LSU Tigers, who have a lead

by one quarter of a point

after the first of four rotations.

Go, Sierra!

Let's go!

[Dunne] My sister sits in the same seat

at every meet

and screams her head off.

Even this year my coaches were like,

we better see Julz in that seat.

[laughing]

And I'm like, she'll be there.

Yes! Let's go!

[cheering]

Let's go!

[announcer] Her warm-up was so good.

Watch the shape in the air.

- Oh!

- Oh, darn.

[announcer 2] And that lead

is getting a little bit tighter.

[announcer 1]

LSU goes to floor. They're behind.

That's not something they've ever felt.

They need to show themselves

they've got that grit.

[Dunne] Right before I compete,

I just breathe.

My last thought is always,

this would be pretty badass

if I hit this right now.

[announcer] And next,

the floor from LSU

Olivia Dunne.

Let's go!

Let's go, Liv!

Come on!

[Dunne] I kinda learned in college

that it's more about the preparation.

Your body should just go on autopilot.

[serious music plays]

[announcer] Beautiful elevation

on those moves,

and a very difficult second leap.

Yes! Let's go!

[announcer] Those of you who are watching

and saying,

I've heard that name, Olivia Dunne

well, she has 15 million followers

on social media.

She is the number one earning

NIL athlete

for all female athletes in college.

[announcer 1] And she does gymnastics.

Let's go!

[announcer 1] Watch this finish.

[cheers and applause]

Let's go, Liv! Yeah!

[announcer] And a smile

that lights up the arena.

She's still got so much flexibility.

That is really the highlight

of her performance.

So flexible.

[announcer 2] Boy, every 10th of a point

is going to matter.

And enormous pressure

for Ohio State on the beam.

- [announcer 1] Oh!

- Oh, boy.

[announcer 1] Oh, boy.

[announcer 2] Oh

[tense string music plays]

[cheers and applause]

[announcer 2] Jojo Warga.

[announcer 1]

Not gonna finish the routine.

[announcer 2] LSU gets the win

in their home opener.

What a great way to start the NCAA season.

[Dunne] We won. It was a little closer

than it should have been.

I know that we had some hiccups

here and there.

Just getting out the nerves,

kind of seeing what it's like

to be in the competition

environment again.

[indistinct singing]

L-S-U!

But we got the dub,

so that's all that matters.

[playing end chords]

[notification sounds]

[Young] What's going on, bro?

You already know. The usual.

Yes, sir. Little extra, man. You know it.

- Trace. How we doing?

- Mr. Charlie.

- What's going on, man?

- Good to see you.

- [Trace] How you doing?

- Loving life.

- Doing good, man?

- Loving life.

- How's, uh, how's the poke?

- Oh, phenomenal.

[Charlie] We can still

work on that Trace Bowl for you.

- Absolutely.

- We need to. We need to lock it in.

We're gonna come in.

You're gonna create everything on it.

You're going to build it your own,

every every ingredient that you like,

and it's going to be the Trace Bowl.

That's the nameTrace Bowl?

Okay, I like that.

It's gonna have to be this right here.

This is the go-to.

Let's do it.

[Trace] When NIL first dropped,

I think businesses got really excited

because they were like, "Okay,

we gotta be the first to get on this."

So I had people reaching out to me.

That's when I started.

I put together an email,

I started doing research

on how to reach out to companies

and be official and be marketable.

So I would just start emailing.

"My name is Trace Young.

I've gone to your restaurant

by campus a few times

and loved the food and atmosphere.

I've had an opportunity to grow

my social followings

to over 100,000 followers on Instagram

and over 200,000 followers

on TikTok as well.

I was wondering if y'all would be open

to a potential NIL collaboration.

Let me know if you're interested.

I did something similar at my last school

with a Smoothie Bowl restaurant

and generated a lot of new customers

for them.

Excited to hear back. Thank you."

He asked me. He kinda put it in my court.

He was like, "What are you thinking

in terms of this stuff?"

And I was like,

"I just want some free food, man.

I'm in college. Trying to get some food."

So, uh, I told him I was like,

"I probably won't spend more than

like, 500, 600 bucks a month."

It sounds like a lot,

but I'd take my teammates there,

I'd take the gymnastic girls there,

like whatever.

And I just post on my story twice a month.

Recently I worked with, like, Snickers,

Nerf, Mercedes.

You know, some of these larger brands.

My going rates

my agents usually send me is

10 to $20,000.

I'm like, dang, I just had to do

a couple different posts,

and I just got a G-wagon.

That's just two posts.

It's a crazy day and age now

when you can look at things in that way.

But it's probably nothing like

Angel and Livvy.

- What's going on?

- [man] What's up brother?

How y'all doing?

Trace. Nice to meet you.

Appreciate ya.

One thing that my agent said

would help my brand grow

me modeling.

You guys let me know

if I'm being awkward or something.

I'm better behind the camera.

I'm better behind the camera

than in front of it.

That's one of those things

that kinda helps you grow

from like an influencer

to like a almost like an icon.

[photographer] Not even edited yet,

and I'm obsessed.

Look that way again.

[Trace] Once I'm done playing

basketball in these couple a years,

I'm gonna be done

and let it go and move on.

So I want to make sure

that I take full advantage

of NIL and like making my own brand

and also use any of those benefits

that I can

to set myself up

for after college as well.

All right, look right here.

[Trace] Supposed to graduate this year,

but when I transferred here,

a bunch of my credits did not transfer.

So now I graduate next year.

I think I would still stay regardless

just because it would be like

a good financial decision,

which is crazy because it's like

I'm not on a full scholarship.

So it's like

how would it be a good

financial decision

to stay in college

if you're paying for college?

But it's like the platform I'm building

and everything that's going on

with being an athlete here

NIL money makes up for it and more, so

You're the man. Appreciate you.

Hey, the first of many.

- [water running]

- [soft pop music plays]

[Alia] Alexa, play "You Will Win."

Yes, Jesus. It's my day.

You will win ♪

Hey, yeah ♪

Lay your hands on yourself

and say this ♪

It's my winning season ♪

It's my winning season ♪

Speak to your season ♪

It's my winning season ♪

Prophesy to your season ♪

So today's my season opener

of my last collegiate season.

I'm so excited.

Lay hands on your money ♪

But I put a lot of pressure on myself.

[dramatic music throughout]

Knowing that I have these opportunities

means a lot.

Like it holds a lot of weight.

When I was younger, in elementary school,

I always felt like I was different

from everybody else,

not in a c*ck way,

but I felt like I didn't have

a lot of friends.

But I kinda realized

you're cut from a different cloth,

and I found my own way to stand out.

Rhinestones are sparkly.

They're shiny.

The whole concept of

you're not like anyone else

no one does this,

so I found my own groove.

For every single meet that I run in

I say, "No one's gonna be in front of you.

No one's gonna be next to you.

They're just gonna be behind you."

And that's how confident I am in myself.

That's just what God instilled in me.

That's what my mom instilled in me

from day one,

'cause, also, she's a hurdler, too

in the past.

Growing up, my mom ran track

at Mississippi State.

She was supposed to go to the Olympics,

and then she got pregnant with my sister.

For a long time,

my mom was in a single parent household.

We were struggling really bad.

It was a situation where she was

like kind of eating our scraps.

She wasn't really eating much.

She wanted to make sure that we were okay,

we were good, we were eating well,

but she wasn't really okay.

Like, she sacrificed so much.

I think that's why I run the way I do.

Because she knows what it takes

to be the best.

[percussive music plays]

Let's go, baby.

Well, you know me.

I'm the biggest cheerleader anyway.

So I take your space.

When you ain't there, I still be cheering.

Let's go, Li Li.

[softly] Yeah!

[laughing]

"No weapon formed against us

shall prosper."

In the name of Jesus,

we thank you for this opportunity.

Lord God, you said you'd bring us to it,

you'll bring us through it.

And guess what God? We're going through

the door that you just opened.

Amen. Let's go!

[announcer] Lane five, Alia Armstrong,

LSU,

six time All-American NCAA champion.

On your marks.

[Alicia] Let's go, Li Li!

[tense string music plays]

[announcer] Set.

- [start g*n pops]

- [Alicia] Get out!

Get out! Let's go!

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

What!

[announcer] Alia Armstrong

the heat winner.

8.10.

Fifth and final heat,

the women's 60-meter hurdles.

Out the gate!

[announcer] Lane six, Vanessa Balde

from Northwestern State

19.6 and a half.

[Alicia] Go to the trainer.

Go to the trainer.

[announcer] 17.6.

Let me give you all a update.

She gone to the trainer with her back.

I don't know what's going on.

I didn't see her twist anything,

but she grabbed her back.

- [trainer] Tell me what happened.

- So I'm not used to race distance.

So I was reaching, but like when I went

to step and go over the hurdle,

I overextended my back.

- Any problem with that?

- A little.

Okay, go on your belly for me.

- That's great.

- Good?

Feels good. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Rest a little bit, then let's go get them.

Okay.

Don't want my baby to get hurt.

Dang it. That sucks.

Mama was a little worried,

but you know what, I wasn't worried.

I was worried, but I wasn't worried.

I knew it was a That's why I was like

I was worried, but I wasn't.

- I been moving it.

- Just gotta like just gotta

If you just do like this, look.

If you just twerk it and work it

and just yeah.

And just

[both laughing]

- Mama, love you.

- Okay. I love you too.

- Go get 'em, tiger.

- Okay.

[Alicia] I know you're good.

Yeah, I know you feel good.

When that g*n popgame changer.

Game over.

[Alia] I say,

"Alia, you're ready for this."

Whatever you visualize,

whatever you told yourself

before this race, it's gonna happen.

This is your race. I feel it.

This is the one.

I get in the blocks.

I put my hands down and I look forward,

and I visualize myself in the race.

I take a deep breath.

Set.

I let go and I let God.

[smooth music playing throughout]

I know it's God.

There's nothing more than

that feeling like it's God for sure.

[Alicia] Get out!

Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!

Let's go! Let's go!

Let's go!

[announcer] Alia Armstrong

your champion, 8.05.

[Alicia] Just the beginning, Lord.

Just the beginning.

One down, a season to go.

Ooh, I'm so proud of you.

Yeah, you can sleep with that tonight.

[voice fades]

[radio static, voices]

[announcer] The following

is an exclusive presentation

of the LSU Sports Radio Network.

[announcer] Live from

Maravich Assembly Center

in Baton Rouge, it's LSU,

women's basketball action

here on the LSU Sports Radio Network.

Tigers coming off of a tough season

opening loss in Las Vegas to Colorado.

[Reese] First game, Coach kept telling us

y'all number one. That don't mean nothing.

Y'all number one. That don't mean nothing.

Y'all number one. That don't mean nothing.

Colorado will beat y'all.

They will beat y'all.

They will beat y'all.

They will beat y'all.

We were like, tch,

no, they not gonna beat us.

[announcer] Hailey Van Lith!

[Reese] That was a humbling point for us,

because we don't wanna be

looking like that in March.

[announcer] At forward,

the 6'3" junior from Baltimore, Maryland,

number 10,

Angel Reese!

[Reese] Me and Flau'Jae

were the only two starters from last year,

so of course she's gonna

look at both of us first.

Me first, of course,

'cause I'm a leader on this team.

She considers me aswe go as I go.

[announcer] LSU is gonna hit the boards.

Gotta box out, look to transition,

and just get better

against this Kent State team.

[announcer] We are set to go.

LSU with the first possession,

and Reese on the floor at the opening tip.

- Reese will take a 3.

- [announcer 2] Reese might not be

the first person

you want to take a 3-point shot.

Aalyah! Angel!

[announcer 1] Maybe a little early

to be taking a 3,

because right after the dead ball,

Reese goes to the bench.

[announcer 2] I think they'll bring her

over to the bench and say, hey,

we're gonna make intentional shots,

take good shots, play good defense.

[announcer 1] Williams goes baseline,

hangs in the air,

and eases another one in.

[notification sounds]

Johnson steals it.

On her way to the rim,

lays it up and scores.

Last year, we just had people

who just wanted to win.

We just had dogs, you know what I mean?

We had a lot of leadership on that team.

I think this year

that's kind of what we're lacking.

[announcer 1] In case you're wondering

where's Angel Reese?

She got pulled by Head Coach Kim Mulkey

and now sitting on the end of the bench

with her jacket on.

So I think a point is being made.

[notification sounds]

[announcer 1] LSU wins it 109 to 79.

-That lineup was something else.

- [announcer 2] That was amazing.

[reporter] Angel didn't play

in the second half. No Kateri today.

Is therejust like your lineup

and the way they matched up?

Yeah.

Could you expand a little more

on why Poole didn't play

and why Reese didn't play

in the second half?

Yeah, I could, but I won't.

Just a coach's decision.

[interviewer] Why did you get benched?

Yeah, that was Coach's decision

to sit me the rest of the half.

Yeah.

Thank y'all.

[man] LSU. Kim Mulkey. Angel Reese.

What in the hell is going on?

[woman] Angel Reese, she was benched,

and she ain't been

back on the court since.

They should have listened to me

and made a reality TV show

about LSU women's basketball this year,

because what's going on

down in Baton Rouge right now

is what they would call in the Biz,

good television.

[notification sounds]

[announcer] And if you're wondering,

Angel Reese is not active tonight.

That is all we know.

Though she was benched

earlier in the week.

[reporter] First of all, any reasons to

explain why Angel wasn't here tonight?

You want me to explain why?

It's very obvious.

Angel was not in uniform.

Angel is a part of this basketball team,

and we hope we see her sooner than later.

Ron?

[reporter]

Does that mean it was her decision?

I'm not I'm not gonna answer any more.

That's it. That's all y'all need to know.

Okay?

[reporter] Allergy problem?

I ain't a sissy. I don't have allergies.

I got some kind of cold.

It might be COVID, but I ain't testing.

[laughter]

[man] Angel Reese? I don't know.

Sure seems like Kim Mulkey

is allowing speculation to go crazy.

[woman] There's a ton of rumors

coming out of Baton Rouge.

Among them, Angel Reese has been suspended

because she's failing her classes.

[woman] Angel is now being

spun a narrative

between her grades,

between her personal endorsements.

You know, ill.

[woman] Yet another rumor,

and maybe the most likely

NIL has divided the locker room.

[man] Look at me. What about me

would make you think that I care

about your opinion of me?

Your opinion of me is not the opinion

that I have of myself.

You ain't make me, so you can't break me.

[notification sound]

[chill electronic music plays]