Taking Lessons From Olivia Dunne, Angel Reese Reflects on Life Before Fame

Angel Reese’s unassuming life before her shot to fame is a classic case of individual glory. But every success comes with its own cost. And the Bayou Barbie who’s currently leading the popularity faces of college circuit athletes learned it a hard way. She had to quote the case of her fellow LSU athlete to score her point while featuring on the cover of the Women’s Health Magazine.

Taking cognizance of her thrilling ride, the Magazine reporter Amanda Lucci took an interview that had Reese recounting her journey. And one point that captured the attention of all fans was when she spoke about getting famous.

What did Reese say?

Reese acknowledged the instant fame brought her a lot of accolades and hate. An honest Angel talked about life before being famous and after becoming a common American household name: “Everybody used to talk about how Livvy wasn’t even able to go to class and stuff [because of her fame]. I could only imagine what she was dealing with. And then when it happened to me [after the championship game], I was like, ‘Well, dang.’”

Olivia Dunne is a gymnast at the LSU, and her fame has seen her amass a significant following on the internet as well as NIL deals worth millions. On the other hand, Reese was previously a usual student at Maryland for two years before transferring to the Louisiana State University, where things started changing for her.

In Reese’s first year itself, her team under coach Kim Mulkey made it to the Final of the NCAA Championship 2022-23. It shattered records for a women’s basketball game with around 9.9 million viewers. But Reese was embroiled in a controversy as well.

She did John Cena’s “You can’t see me” move against the Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark. Apart from the LSU defeating the Hawkeyes, Reese’s antics grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Her videos doing the same went viral and divided the netizens. While some supported Reese, others blamed her for being frivolous.

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It was under these circumstances that NBA legends like Shaquille O’Neal came forward to support her. And the next thing after the incident was that Reese had amassed a lot of following and became a star. But there’s more to her college part.

What about her college?

Recently, when Reese was absent from the LSU games, news that made rounds on the internet was of her low grades. Angel Reese’s teammate Flau’jae Johnson’s mother had apparently scoffed off at Reese’s mother by stating: “Your daughter [Angel Reese] got a 2.0-or-less grade point average,” as per The Guardian on Instagram.

The Bayou Barbie’s story is nothing short of a rags-to-riches story. And with Reese not able to attend college, her classmates will hopefully provide her some support to excel in class while she helps America take college basketball a notch higher up.

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