The NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2023– Angel Reese– is not having an ideal start to her campaign. After facing a humiliating defeat in her season opener, the Bayou Barbie was benched in the second half of LSU’s victory over Kent State. Following this, she was excluded from Kim Mulkey’s squad for 4 consecutive games. However, after sitting out for almost 2 weeks, Reese finally joined the Lady Tigers in their clash against Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, in her absence from the court, Iowa’s stellar point guard Caitlin Clark has been busy headlining the competition.
The Iowa Hawkeyes dynamic No.22 has added another feather to her cap. In a recently conducted 2024 WNBA mock draft, she was the top pick for popular American sportswriter Michael Voepel. But her nemesis who pulled off John Cena on her missed the top slot.
Angel Reese misses out on WNBA’s top 5 draft pick
The reigning national player of the year leads an elite list which includes Paige Beuckers, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and Aaliyah Edwards. Surprisingly, her fierce rival from the LSU camp Angel Reese was sitting at the 8th spot above senior guard Georgia Amoore and Ohio State’s No.4 Jacy Sheldon.
These latest rankings have created quite a stir following Reese’s absence from the top five. The All-American forward has been one of the most hyped in every preseason poll along with Clark. Unfortunately, her recent sabbatical from the court has had some adverse effects on her campaign.
In addition to this, Reese has not performed according to the standards she had set in the previous season for LSU. Also, various rumors circulating regarding her rift with Kim Mulkey or drama involving Flau’jae Johnson’s mother has somehow influenced her game.
As a result, Caitlin Clark is ahead of Reese in the opening month of the tournament.
Tournament stats of Reese and Clark
The 2023 AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark is leading the competition so far with her exceptional average of 29.6 points per game. She is currently ranked 4th in terms of assists and also has 6.7 rebounds per game. Moreover, she carries an impressive field goal percentage of 45.9. Additionally, Clark reached yet another milestone by becoming the 15th Division I player to reach 3000 points. Apparently, she now has a great opportunity to break Kelsey Plum’s all-time NCAA scoring record. On the other hand, the reining national champion Reese is way behind Clark’s average and is currently sitting on 17.4 points per game. Furthermore, she has a dismal assist rate of 1.6 per game. Nonetheless, she is ahead of Caitlin when it comes to rebounds and field goal percentage. Currently, Reese averages 10 rebounds per game with a 47.5 field goal percentage.
There is no denying that both of these players have been instrumental in their teams success last season. Moreover, both these players have the potential to be among the greatest college basketball athletes of all time. However, fans will still be hoping that Reese gets her campaign back on track and contribute like she did last season.
