After last year’s NCAA championship game, fans of Caitlin Clark and Iowa women’s basketball don’t need any extra reasons to dislike Angel Reese and LSU. But the flame was reignited when Reese surprised TikTok by exposing the side of LSU coach Kim Mulkey that people love to hate.
Mulkey co-starred in the video on Reese’s account, which amassed over 2.5 million views in less than 24 hours after their Sweet 16 victory against UCLA set up the long-awaited rematch with Iowa in the Elite Eight on Monday night. “In the cut with my twin, we be vibing,” the popular song rang out as Mulkey joined Reese and her teammates by throwing up a trademark LSU hand sign in the locker room.
It certainly wouldn’t have gotten that many views without the Hawkeye faithful. The entire comment section was flooded with one-sided replies like “Go Iowa” and “Iowa all the way” and “Hawks by a million.” The wave of interactions, even from opposing fans, boosted the video onto more people’s feeds as the hype for the big game builds. “the haters are in full effect,” noted one of the few non-Iowa comments on Reese’s video.
Angel Reese loves to be the villain
“We’re the good villains,” Reese said with her trademark confidence after beating UCLA. “Everybody wants to beat LSU. Everybody wants to be LSU. Everybody wants to play against LSU.”
The hate comes from other groups besides rival fans. Their matchup with UCLA carried extra weight after an LA Times columnist controversially described LSU as “dirty debutantes” and characterized the matchup as “good versus evil. Right versus wrong. Inclusive versus divisive.” Tensions carried onto the court, where Reese got in a verbal spat with one of the Bruins coaches.
The LA Times piece wasn’t even the most discussed article of the week involving LSU. A highly anticipated Washington Post feature on Mulkey, which she decried as a “hit piece” before it came out, revealed that the former Baylor coach treated some of her players differently based on their sexuality. But Reese and the whole LSU team still ride for their coach.  Whether they are pitted against the media, the Hawkeyes, or each other, Mulkey and her “twin” are not shy to play the villain.
