Angel Reese Controversy Continues, LSU Star Likely To Miss 3rd, 4th Straight Games At Cayman Islands Classic

Angel Reese's suspension from the LSU women's basketball team is no day at the beach for the junior All-American and most valuable player of the Final Four last spring.

Angel Reese was not seen with the LSU team when it arrived on the Cayman Islands on Wednesday or at any point Thursday or Friday, according to the Associated Press. LSU plays two games in the Cayman Islands Classic this weekend.

Angel Reese looks dejected during No. 1 LSU's season-opening loss to No. 20 Colorado in Las Vegans on Nov. 6 (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The No. 7 Tigers (5-1) meet Niagara (2-2) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands and a resort, cruise ship port of call. A British territory and popular vacation spot, the Cayman Islands sit 450 miles south of Miami and below Cuba.

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The Tigers play again Saturday at 5 p.m. against Virginia (3-1). Neither game will be televised.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey was asked on Monday after a home win over Texas Southern if Reese would be with the team for the Cayman Islands Classic. She would not say either way.

"I’ll say it again. Angel was not in uniform tonight. Angel is a part of this basketball team," she said. "And Angel will be back sooner than later."

Looks like later.

An Associated Press reporter on in George Town Wednesday "observed players, coaches and support personnel" exiting their flight and entering a bus at the George Town airport. Reese, who graced the covers of Sports Illustrated and won ESPY and BET awards in recent months, was not seen.

The reporter asked LSU women's basketball spokesman Grant Kauvar a routine question concerning the whereabouts of one of women's basketball's most famous current players. Kauvar said the university is referring questions about Angel Reese to Mulkey, the highest paid women's basketball coach in the country with a 10-year, $36 million contract.

She and Reese led LSU to its first national championship in basketball last season.

Reese has numerous Name, Image & Likeness deals with various companies worth an estimated $1.7 million.

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OutKick first reported Reese's suspension on Nov. 16, quoting a source who said Mulkey was suspending Reese for an "attitude adjustment."

Mulkey benched Reese at halftime of LSU's home win over Kent State on Nov. 14. Reese was not with the team for LSU's next two games - on Nov. 17 at Southeastern Louisiana and on Nov. 20 against Texas Southern.

After LSU's two games at the Cayman Islands, the Tigers host No. 9 Virginia Tech (3-1) on Thursday, Nov. 30 (9 p.m., ESPN). LSU beat Virginia Tech in a Final Four semifinal last season before beating Iowa for the national title.

The fact that Mulkey has never made it clear why she suspended Reese has led to speculation about other possible reasons for her suspension.

KIM MULKEY: 'JUST WRITE WHAT I TELL YOU'

"You always have to deal with locker room issues," Mulkey said after the Texas Southern game on Nov. 20. "That's just part of coaching. That’s what coaches do. Sometimes, y’all know about them, and sometimes you don’t. And sometimes you want to know more than you’re entitled to know."

Kim Mulkey says she views her team as a family.

"I’m going to protect my players always," she said. "They are more important. It’s like a family. If you do some discipline of your own children, do you think we’re entitled to know that? That’s a family in that locker room. It doesn’t really matter what I say to you guys, you’re going to write and interpret things the way you want to. Just write what I tell you."