Angel Reese Wants To Grow The WNBA's Popularity: 'I Know The Game Is About To Go Crazy'

LSU Tigers star Angel Reese helped make women's college basketball more popular than it ever has been. Now, she's ready to accept the new challenges of growing the popularity of the WNBA.

The reigning SEC Player of the Year will leave Baton Rouge as a national champion and one of the program’s most impactful stars. Over her four-year career, she averaged 18.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

After helping the college game increase its viewership, Reese is hoping that her personality and marketability can have the same effect on the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark (left, 22) and Angel Reese (right, 10) helped make women's college basketball immensely popular. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

"I think I’ve done a lot in college and so many different players have done the same thing. Being able to take this to the W is where you want to do it at. And I think they deserve it, especially the vets. I mean they’ve done a great job, laying the groundwork for us," Reese said while working a pre-draft "shift" at Raising Cane’s in Astor Place in Manhattan.

The 21-year-old is projected by most websites to be drafted somewhere in the No. 6-No. 8 range. She is one of the 15 invitees to this year’s WNBA draft in Brooklyn, NY.

Reese believes that the WNBA is about to experience a viewership spike unlike anything previously seen in the league's 28-year history.

Reese is ready to help grow the WNBA. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

"I’m gonna be a rookie in a big league where there are a lot of women out there that have been great before me and they set the tone. I’m going in with respect for who they are and what they have done…" Reese said. "I know the game is about to go crazy. I know the viewership is going up and I’ve been seeing all the things on social media like how it would elevate that, even if it’s just the rookies, being able to give that publicity to the vets because they do deserve it."

By the time she is done with her career, she hopes to be considered among the best players to ever play in the league.

"I want to be a great player and I want to leave my legacy within the league. And also just have that impact that I do have," she said. "I think so many different things are going to change within the league and it’s going to be able to go up more and more…..Women are leading the way right now."