“To sum it up, it’s been crazy,” she says of her time at LSU. A self-described “girly girl” who’s also calls herself “a killer on the court,” she relishes the opportunity to be herself. “I didn’t have to be in a box,” she says. A fan of crop tops and mini skirts, Reese’s youthful, splashy outfits are punctuated with designer accessories: Chanel bags, Rick Owens sneakers, Prada beanies, etc. While Mulkey—who herself is known for her high-wattage personal style—encouraged Reese to embrace her individuality, at the same time, Reese says, the coach pushed her. “She gets on me hard, and that’s something I need. We have that kind of relationship where we can bump heads but also be on the same page: We just want to win.”
With another year of college eligibility left, her decision to go pro, Reese says, was not made lightly—especially considering all that she’s leaving behind. She may never experience a fan base like the one she has in Baton Rouge, she tells Vogue; the resources in most WNBA organizations, from the staff down to the locker room facilities, pale in comparison to those at LSU; and flying private, as she has rather frequently over the past few years, will no longer be the norm. Reese, though, is okay with all of that. “I want to start at the bottom again,” she says. “I want to be a rookie again and build myself back up; I want to be knocked down and learn and grow at the next level.”