The college basketball season is heading towards its business end with March Madness just around the corner. Having said that, another angle that has piqued the interest of many, especially after Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark announced her decision, is who else among these top collegiate athletes will be declaring for the WNBA draft. Anyhow, LSU’s boss Kim Mulkey doesn’t see it that way. With two of her players eligible for the draft, the NCAA championship-winning coach doesn’t wish to intervene on the subject.

One among them is Caitlin’s arch-nemesis Angel Reese. She and her teammate Hailey Van Lith will have a chance to turn pro by the end of the season. However, head coach Kim Mulkey seems to be unconcerned about what they decide. She said, “Angel said when she came here, she’d stay two years, and Hailey said she’d stay one. I’m just not the kind of coach to sit people down and influence them on what agents to pick or talk about what they want to do.” 

Both these players have an additional year with the Lady Tigers. While Reese joined LSU as a junior, Van Lith came in after spending three seasons at Louisville. Mulkey further added, “They surely know they have the COVID year to come back, and they would be more than welcome, but I try to stay away from having any kind of influential conversations… They made it perfectly clear what they wanted to do.”

In addition to this, both these players are also part of lucrative NIL deals and turning pro might not be as lucrative as returning for another year.

What is the NIL worth of Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith?

As the two of them are projected to be among the top 10 draft picks, they do have noteworthy positions in the NIL sphere as well. The Bayou Barbie is one of the top NIL personalities as she is the 7th-most profitable athlete on the On3’s NIL tracker. Moreover, she earns $1.7M annually which is the most by any women’s college basketball player.

Read More- “I Never Take That for Granted”: Kim Mulkey Appreciates Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow’s Staggering Season

At the same time, Van Lith also occupies a position in the Women’s Top 10 NIL valuations. Her NIL worth of $563K makes her among the four top earners from the LSU locker room.

We will have to wait and see if both of these players will stay for another year or leave college basketball. While the fans would want to see both of these Lady Tigers for some more time, Mulkey seems to be unaffected. Hopefully, we will get to see the end of it soon. Do you think both of these players should stay for another year? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

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