Angel Reese knew she’d be a first round pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. What she didn’t know is which team would pick her. But the deeper she got into the league’s pre-draft process, the more she hoped it would be the Sky.

“I wanted to come to Chicago,” Reese told NBC5 during a 1 on 1 interview on Wednesday. “When the 6^th pick went past, I was like, ‘Okay – I’m good’. When I heard my name, I just dropped my head and started getting emotional because I was just so happy.”

The biggest reason the 21 year-old felt so glad to land with the Sky is the team’s new head coach, Teresa Weatherspoon, who reminds her of her coach at LSU, the demanding and decorated Kim Mulkey.

“Talking to T Spoon over the phone during my whole draft process, I was like, ‘This is somebody I need in my life’,” Reese remembers. “I like having a relationship with my coach on and off the court. That’s what I had with Coach Mulkey, so being able to have that here is like a mother figure away from home,” adds the rookie.

Less than three weeks after the Sky made her the 7^th pick in the draft, Reese is feeling comfortable in her new home, bringing her patented spark and a swagger to Training Camp practices at Sachs Recreation Center in Deerfield.

“We had dinner before training camp, and I told them, ‘I’m going to be vocal. I’m a rookie, but I’m going to be vocal, I’m going to be confident, come in here, work every day, and push everybody in practice because I know the greatness out of all of you guys’,” Reese says.

The Baltimore-area native transferred from Maryland to LSU in 2022, and her profile quickly rose in her first season in Baton Rouge. Reese helped the Tigers win a national championship in 2023 and reach the Elite 8 in 2024. Her talent, combined with her personality, helped aid the skyrocketing growth of women’s basketball.

Last month, after Caitlin Clark and Iowa faced South Carolina – led by fellow Sky first round pick Kamilla Cardoso – in the NCAA Women’s National Championship game, Nielson reported the game peaked at 24.1 million viewers, the most for any basketball game since 2019. For Reese, playing a role in more people paying attention to the sport she loves is very fulfilling.

“Being able to see sold out games, sold out jerseys, sold out everything, for women – and, more people are watching the games,” Reese says. “I walk down the street and [people say], ‘Hey Angel Reese’. You don’t see women being able to be recognized like that.”

“It’s an honor, and so many little girls look up to me, and that’s why, even the hate I get, I still stand strong every single day because I have people that look up to me and if I let myself down and be down, they might think they don’t have somebody who can do these things,” Reese continues. “Being able to stay confident every day, understand the bigger picture – we’ve done so many great things, we’re on the rise right now, and I think we’re in a really good space right now for women’s basketball.”

As for why people seem to gravitate to her, Reese believes it’s because she’s unapologetically herself, and that’ll never change.

“Everybody loves me because I’m super competitive,” the former All-American says. “I don’t take anything personal on the court. I’m going to go after you, no matter who you are, if we’re friends or not. I’m super competitive, I talk trash, and I just have a winning mentality. Every single day, I want to win everything.”