Is Angel Reese playing vs Virginia Tech? LSU WBB star expected to come back after missing 4 games

It has been a chaotic few weeks for LSU basketball star Angel Reese with the social media stratosphere buzzing with multiple rumors swirling about news of her absence. She missed the Cayman Islands Classic doubleheader against Niagara and Virginia which LSU won to make it four consecutive missed games.

So, will Reese be back for the game pitting No. 7 LSU (7-1) against No. 9 Virginia Tech (5-1) on Thursday?

Is Angel Reese playing vs Virginia Tech?

LSU coach Kim Mulkey confirmed in her weekly news conference that Angel Reese would be back for the clash against the Virginia Tech Hokies, a rematch of last season's Final Four game, where the team won 79-72.

Sophomore Sa'Myah Smith who had started the season well tore both her ACL and MCL during the Cayman Islands Classic and will be out for the rest of the season. This might explain why Reese has been allowed back to play with into the team.

The background of Angel Reese's absence

Angel Reese being benched for the entire second half of LSU's win over Kent State on November 14 was big news by itself, but little did the college basketball world know that the situation was about to go supernova.

When she missed the game against Southeastern Louisiana on November 17, the CBB world's curiosity was piqued due to coach Mulkey's comments after the game.

“Angel is a part of this basketball team, and we hope she’s back with the team soon. I’m not going to answer any more than that,” Mulkey said.

On November 20, she missed another game against Texas Southern and Kim Mulkey's comments suggested that there was a problem in the background:

"You always have to deal with locker room issues," Mulkey told the media. "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."

"I'm going to protect my players always, 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"

Reese has missed four games and the real reason may be revealed someday, but at the moment, LSU fans will just be glad that their star player is back with the team.

Before her absence, the player was averaging 17.0 points and 10.3 rebounds, and the Tigers could do with her help in a Final Four rematch and top 10 showdown with Virginia Tech.