Louisiana State University (LSU) star forward Angel Reese said on Friday that she will go to the White House to celebrate her team’s championship win, after she called out first lady Jill Biden for initially suggesting that the runners-up would also be invited.
Reese told ESPN that because her team wants to go and she’s a team player and the captain, she will visit the White House after winning the NCAA Division I women’s basketball national championship game.
“In the beginning we were hurt. It was emotional because we know how hard we worked all year for everything,” Reese said on “SportsCenter.”
“You don’t get that experience ever,” she added, referring to visiting the White House. “And I know my team probably wants to go for sure, and my coaches are supportive of that, so I’m going to do what’s best for the team, and we’ve decided we’re going to go.”
Reese said on a podcast published Tuesday that she would go visit the Obamas over going to the White House and that she doesn’t accept Biden’s apology. The first lady suggested that the Iowa Hawkeyes should also be invited to the White House while speaking at an event in Denver on Monday.
After receiving criticism over her suggestion, Biden’s office walked back her suggestion the following day. Reese said on the podcast that the first lady’s comment about both teams being invited bothers her and questioned if LSU would have been invited if they were to have lost.
Additionally, Reese said on the podcast that her team refused to meet with the first lady before the championship game, noting their dissatisfaction that her husband, President Biden, had chosen LSU to lose in the second round of the tournament and instead have his wife’s alma mater, Villanova University, win the tournament.
LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 on Sunday, giving the school its first national championship in either its men’s or women’s basketball programs.