Basketball is part of her DNA.
Louisiana State University basketball star Angel Reese is having a stellar year since leading the Tigers to a championship in 2023 and being named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.
It took plenty of hard work and dedication—but if you ask Angel, she’ll also point to the strong women in her life who inspired her not only to play her best but also to remain authentically herself.
If you’ve been following the LSU forward for a while, you might have noticed that one of those women in her cheering section is another Angel Reese. And yes, they’re related.
Curious about the family members who inspired her journey? Here’s what you need to know about Angel’s parents, plus how they played a role in her basketball career.
Her mom is also named Angel.
Yes, this mother-daughter duo share the same name, and Angel’s mom also goes by Angel Reese.
Angel’s mom hilariously shared a message on X (formerly Twitter) in 2023 that young men were sliding into her DMs, thinking she was her daughter.
Angel Reese’s mother says men are accidentally sliding in her DMs instead of her daughter’s 😆 https://t.co/MXXl5EC4rM pic.twitter.com/YvBZHA1EfV
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 28, 2023
Both of her parents played professional basketball.
Angel has basketball woven into her DNA. Both of her parents spent time on the court during their youth.
Angel Webb Reese played college and professional-level basketball. She was on the team at University of Maryland at Baltimore County and later joined a pro team in Luxembourg.
Her father, Michael Reese, played basketball at Boston College and Loyola University. He was a star player at Loyola, and The Baltimore Sun notes that he would get pretty heated on the court. Michael later played professional basketball overseas, ESPN says.
Her mom was a single parent.
Angel’s mom raised the basketball star and her younger brother, Julian “Juju” Reese, as a single mom. And she certainly passed on her love of basketball to both of her children, because they both went on to play in college.
Julian is currently a power forward for the University of Maryland’s men’s team, where the younger Angel also played for two seasons.
“My mom worked hard [when I was] growing up, raising us by herself,” Angel tells Women’s Health in her March/April cover story interview.
When it came time for college, and Angel got a full ride scholarship, Angel says “that was my payback to her.”
Clearly, Angel is very close with her mom, and she loves being able to give back to the woman who raised her. “My mom is going to the Usher concert when we go to Vegas. She’s going to have a ball, she’s going to have a good time there,” Angel tells WH.
Her mom taught her to play basketball.
Angel’s mom had some serious skills. In fact, Angel Webb was a standout player at Maryland Baltimore County, with The Baltimore Sun reporting in 1991 that, “Angel Webb can do just about anything for the women’s basketball team at UMBC.”
The paper also said that she was “heavenly” for playing on the team.
Angel would attend her mom’s games growing up.
Angel told Just Women’s Sports that her mom played in a rec league when she was growing up. “I used to go to my mom’s games when I was younger,” she said. “She used to play in a little league, and I used to always go watch her games on Sundays. That was something that was always inspiring to me.”
Her mom would also take her to professional basketball games, which Angel loved. The games also inspired her on her sports journey. “We used to go to [Washington] Mystics games all the time. She had a friend that she used to play with overseas [who was] on the Minnesota Lynx, so whenever the Lynx played the Mystics, I would always, always go to the games,” Angel tells Women’s Health. Just look at this adorable photo of young Angel with Lynx legend (and LSU alum) Seimone Augustus and try not to say, “Awww”:
Wow! Me & @seimoneaugustus🔥🔥
August 2011! Can’t wait to recreate this picture this weekend & watch a LSU legend statue go up!! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/IacQJBd2WT— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) January 11, 2023
She’s Angel’s biggest fan.
Angel Webb Reese worked hard to instill confidence in her daughter from a young age. “My mom always told me to be who you are,” the younger Angel says. “You don’t see a lot of confident women, especially confident Black women, because people overshadow us a lot.”
These days, you can often see Angel’s mom courtside cheering on her daughter. In March, Angel shared a tweet about how her mom traveled between her game and her brother’s game within 24 hours, adding, “i love my SUPERMOM!”