NCAA

Caitlin Clark won't be the only bonafide superstar in the WNBA Draft ... Angel Reese just announced she, too, will be bringing her talents to the pros!

The LSU standout revealed her decision in a new Vogue interview, saying she's done everything she wanted to at the Baton Rouge college and is ready to move on.

"My ultimate goal is to be a pro," the 21-year-old said, "and to be one of the greatest basketball players to play, ever. I feel like I'm ready."

Of course, the former McDonald's All-American had an outstanding college basketball career. She averaged 18.6 points and 12.3 rebounds in four seasons (at Maryland from 2020-2022, and then LSU).

Reese also racked up a ton of big-time awards. She was named SEC Player of the Year, BET's Sportswoman of the Year, SEC All-Defensive Team, ESPY's Best Breakthrough Athlete, and more.

She also led the Tigers to their first NCAA title in school history.

Now, Angel is ready to face the challenges in the WNBA ... and go up against big dogs like Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson, and Skylar Diggins-Smith.

"I’ll be working with grown women," Reese said.

"I’m going to have to work my butt off every single day and grind. And who wouldn’t want that? I don’t want anything in my life to be easy."

Reese -- who recorded 27 double-doubles this season -- is projected to be one of the top 10 picks in the draft.

LeBron James is addressing the recent rumblings surrounding Bronny's college basketball future ... saying he has no idea where the reports are coming from, but he'll support the young hooper no matter what he decides to do.

Longtime sportswriter Dick Weiss reported Tuesday the 19-year-old USC Trojan planned to transfer to a new program following head coach Andy Enfield's departure for SMU.

Weiss later backtracked and admitted he couldn't confirm the story ... but that didn't stop Lakers reporters from inquiring about it following L.A.'s 128-111 win over the Toronto Raptors.

"I don't know where it came from, but at the end of the day, Bronny's his own man and he has some tough decisions to make," Bron told reporters. "And when he's ready to make those decisions, he'll let us all know."

"But as his family, we're going to support whatever he does."

There's a lot of speculation regarding Bronny -- he was once believed to be a 2024 NBA Draft prospect, but he averaged less than 5 points, 3 rebounds and just over 2 assists a game in his freshman campaign after recovering from his offseason cardiac arrest.

Some analysts think he would benefit from staying in school another year to develop his game for the next level ... but 39-year-old LeBron has long stated it is his dream to be in the Association alongside his eldest son.

The University of Connecticut isn't playing around this year ... with both their men's and women's hoops teams in the Final Four, the U isn't takin' any chances, removing all the light poles from the campus to stop any debauchery square in its tracks!

TMZ Sports talked to UConn on Tuesday -- and with both basketball teams just two wins away from Natty's -- we asked about precautions ... given how crazy things got during last year's celebration after the men won.

Remember, students caused hella damage to the Storrs campus, including ripping down light poles and throwing them through buildings.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's highly anticipated rematch dominated the ratings on Monday ... 'cause ESPN says the Iowa vs. LSU women's Elite Eight contest generated 12.3 million viewers -- making it the most-watched women's game on record.

The sports network confirmed the massive numbers less than 24 hours after the Hawkeye beat the Tigers, 94-87 ... clinching their 2nd-straight trip to the Final Four.

Not only was it the most-viewed women's game -- ESPN added it was the biggest audience ever for a college basketball game on its platform.

Women's hoops has continuously risen in popularity ... as the Sweet Sixteen round broke a record with 2.4 million views -- a 96% increase!!

The overall women's tournament has also seen a huge spike ... with an average of 1.1 million viewers.

Of course, hats off to stars like Clark, Reese, Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins, Flau'jae Johnson and Kamilla Cardoso ... who have undoubtedly helped bring in new eyeballs this season.

Their influence has also resulted in NIL deals ... as well as a $5 million offer for Clark to join Ice Cube's Big3 league.

Caitlin Clark ... that's why Angel Reese is famous, according to Jason Whitlock who says the LSU hooper only got big 'cause she taunted the Iowa superstar -- no more, no less.

The polarizing columnist and host shared his harsh opinion after Reese -- the SEC Player of the Year -- and the Tigers lost to the Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the Women's NCAA tournament on Monday.

Clark was unstoppable ... leading all scoring with 41 points. Reese put up her 27th double-double of the season (17 points and 20 rebounds) ... but that didn't change JW's opinion.

"We can officially quit putting Angel Reese on Caitlin Clark's level," the 56-year-old said. "Stop it."

"One is an all-time great player. The other got famous for taunting. The rivalry is dead."

Of course, Whitlock is referencing to last tourney's memorable moment ... when Angel mocked Caitlin during the title game, which LSU won, 102-85.

AR also used John Cena's famous "You Can't See Me" hand gesture ... something Clark had previously employed.

Reese became a big star after the calendar flipped on March Madness ... and has since been everywhere, including the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

But, it's clearly taken a toll on her. Following the end of LSU's season last night, Reese talked about some of the struggles since becoming famous.

As for Clark, she's in the process of collecting just about every record that exists ... but she hasn't won a title (yet).

The journalist who called LSU women's basketball players "dirty debutantes" in a column last week has just issued an apology ... admitting, "I have failed miserably in my choice of words."

Ben Bolch wrote the controversial piece for the Los Angeles Times last Friday ... and it was almost immediately met with backlash. Critics slammed the way he compared the UCLA women's basketball team to "milk and cookies," while calling the Tigers' players "Louisiana hot sauce" -- insisting it was both racist and misogynistic.

In fact, LSU coach Kim Mulkey and her star player, Hailey Van Lith, were so offended by the article, they both used portions of their meetings with media members over the weekend to rail against Bolch.

The reporter clearly heard the criticism ... because on Monday afternoon, he issued a lengthy mea culpa.

In his statement -- which he posted to his X page -- Bolch acknowledged his words were "not appropriate" and were "deeply offensive."

"It was not my intent to be hurtful," he said, adding his employer did not require him to write the note, "but I now understand that I terribly missed the mark."

He concluded his message by writing, "I am deeply sorry."

For the L.A. Times' part, they swapped out portions of Bolch's original article ... writing in an editor's note, "The original version of this commentary did not meet Times editorial standards. It has been edited to remove language that was inappropriate and offensive."

Larry David seems to have had a miserable time watching UConn make its way into the Final Four on Saturday ... at least that's what the internet is thinking from this footage of him.

The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star couldn't hide his disdain as UConn beat out Illinois during the March Madness faceoff on Saturday at TD Garden in Boston. The famous curmudgeon was filmed biting his nails and looking seriously annoyed as UConn dominated Illinois.

LD appeared less than comfortable in his front row seat too ... as he was also photographed stretching out his onto the banister in front of him.

Robbie Avila's about to make himself a LOT of money ... 'cause the Indiana State hoops star tells TMZ Sports there are eyewear companies lining up to work with him after becoming a viral sensation!!

The 6'11" goggle-wearing center was quite the fan favorite this college basketball season ... with his impressive highlights earning him nicknames like Cream Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Nerd, and, his favorite, Rob Wave.

Since then, the NIL business has been boomin' for the Sycamores star ... and he's lovin' it!

"NIL is huge now!" Avila told TMZ Sports. "It's a really big thing with college sports."

"Obviously, I've had a couple of eyewear companies reach out to kinda brand with my goggles. Being able to take full advantage of this is, you know, something I'm able to do here."

The sophomore athlete -- who averaged 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season -- said the team doesn't mind all the attention he and his specs have been getting ... but admitted it can get bothersome at times when he's out and about.

Despite the rising stardom, Avila and the team's focal point is the National Invitation Tournament semifinals on Tuesday against the No. 2-seeded Utah Utes.

"They're another really, really good team playing at a high level right now," Avila said. "So just being able to execute what we need to do well."

Caitlin Clark's got a tough decision ahead of her -- play in the WNBA or take $5 mil to shoot in the Big3 -- but Reggie Theus tells TMZ Sports if he were the Iowa superstar, the choice would be simple ... play in the women's league.

We caught up with the 2022 Big3 Coach of the Year out at LAX this week just after it was revealed Ice Cube had offered the Hawkeyes hooper 5 Ms to play in as little as eight games … and it wasn't hard to tell he's glad he's not in Clark's shoes in this situation.

He told us on the one hand, the cash would be incredible ... but on the other, playing in the WNBA is lifelong dream material.

Ice Cube will have to wait a bit longer to get an answer from Caitlin Clark on his $5 million Big3 offer ... the Iowa superstar just revealed she hasn't considered the deal yet -- as her current focus is solely on winning the NCAA tournament.

The 22-year-old spoke with reporters about Cube's proposal on Friday afternoon -- one day before she's slated to take the court against Colorado in the Sweet 16 -- and she made it clear, it's not even remotely on her mind right now.

In fact, she said she just learned of the offer this week -- at "the same exact time you all did."

Duke Blue Devils star Jared McCain is offering up his apologies to anyone up in arms over a little bit of nail polish ... saying painting his fingertips is a form of self-care for him -- and he's gonna keep being himself.

Dudes wearing nail polish has always been a pearl-clutching controversy for some reason ... despite big celebs like Harry Styles, Machine Gun Kelly and Heisman winner Caleb Williams famously rocking the look lately.

The freshman guard -- who dropped 30 points in Duke's win over James Madison on Sunday -- has also donned flashy nails on the court throughout his college career ... showing team spirit with some blue and white paint during games.

McCain's fashion choice even landed him a Name, Image and Likeness deal with Sally Hansen ... and when he was doing a paid promo with the brand, he explained why he made it a tradition.

"Just do some self care time, I think everybody should do some self care for themselves," McCain said. "For me, it's nail painting. Sorry if that offends any of you guys."

McCain revealed "there's really no crazy reason to it" -- ultimately, it's a practical move as it keeps him from biting his nails ... and one day, he thought it would be cool to add some color.

McCain explained he then had a basketball game after that appointment ... and when he had a good performance, he decided to keep up with it (even though he doesn't consider himself superstitious).

Seems pretty harmless, but some folks can't get over it -- even Williams has faced backlash during his stellar college career for painting his nails, too.

Forget poppin' bubbly, the Illinois men's basketball team got in a water gun fight to celebrate its big Sweet 16 win on Thursday ... and the celly got so wild, head coach Brad Underwood actually ditched his top for it!

The H2O battle happened just minutes after the Fighting Illini pulled off a 72-69 upset win over No. 2-seeded Iowa State in the NCAA tournament.

Underwood -- sans tee -- kicked off the war by busting through a curtain with his staff and blasting a giant super soaker on his players.

Quincy Guerrier, Max Williams, AJ Redd and the rest of the dudes came prepared, though, and returned fire with their own smaller water pistols.

The whole celebration was a vibe ... and the team certainly deserved it -- as this is the first Elite Eight they've reached since 2005.

"This team's got swag," Underwood said after the win. "They don't fear the moment, they don't fear anything, they compete."

Jeremy Roach isn't planning on letting a dislocated finger get in the way of him putting on a show in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday ... the Duke hoops star tells TMZ Sports he'll be good to go against Houston!

ICYMI, the senior guard injured his pinky during the Blue Devils' NCAA tournament win over James Madison on Sunday.

Even though it looked painful as hell, it thankfully wasn't broken ... and according to Roach, he won't be limited much by the dinged digit when Duke faces off with the Cougars.

Michigan politician Matt Maddock is adamant that several buses filled with the Gonzaga men's basketball team were actually packed with "illegal invaders" -- and despite being proven wrong ... he's still insisting it's true.

Maddock posted the nonsense on his X page on Wednesday night ... after seeing three large buses get a police escort away from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The MI House of Representatives member -- a Republican -- said to his nearly 2,000 followers, "Happening right now. Three buses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro."

Vanessa Bryant surprised the UConn men's basketball team with some Kobe kicks ahead of its Sweet 16 matchup with SDSU ... gifting the unreleased "Italian Camo" Protros to the squad -- and the players loved them!!

The Huskies got the amazing gifts on Wednesday, some 24 hours before they take on the No. 5 Aztecs in Boston as part of the NCAA tournament's next round.

In video posted by the team, you can see the Big East champs had no idea they were going to get the presents from Vanessa ... and the players went nuts when they officially got to unwrap the Nike sneakers -- which won't be available to the public 'til April.

"I just wanna say thank you to Vanessa Bryant and the Bryant family. We appreciate you," senior guard Hassan Diarra said after getting his pair. "We're gonna show out in the NCAA tournament!"

The shoes have been dubbed the "Italian Camos" ... and they were created to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant's Italian background.

This, of course, is not the first time UConn's gotten some custom Bryant footwear ... during last year's tourney, the team -- which is part of the Nike Mamba Program -- was gifted custom Huskies Kobe 8 Protros.

Remember, Kobe always had a soft spot for UConn ... he was famously a big fan of the school's men's and women's basketball teams when he was alive -- as was his daughter, Gianna, who went to several games with Dad during her life.

El equipo de Caitlin Clark no ha respondido a la oferta de 5 millones de dólares de Big3 todavía, y Ice Cube reveló que su liga de baloncesto no sabe si ella va a aceptar el dinero.

El cofundador de la organización 3 contra 3 se unió al "Pat McAfee Show" el miércoles para hablar de la histórica propuesta, y a pesar del silencio por parte de Clark hasta el momento,  a él le gustaría escuchar un sí.

"Estaremos encantados de que juegue en el Big3", dijo Cube.