Angel Reese, who led LSU to its first-ever NCAA women’s basketball championship in 2023 and became one of the sport’s best-known players, has signed an autograph and memorabilia deal with Panini America.
The multi-year agreement will include a wide variety of products featuring Reese, who is expected to be among the top eight picks in this week’s WNBA Draft.
Panini launched its first Reese card via its Instant platform Wednesday afternoon. Base cards are priced at $9.99 with a Versicolor (# to 5) and 1/1 Black version also available. Collectors will have to wait until Reese signs a pro contract to see her in a uniform with logos and trademarks, however.
Reese will also be part of Panini’s upcoming WNBA products including Origins, set to release in August, followed by Select Basketball and Prizm.
“As a little girl growing up you always dream of playing basketball and getting your first trading card – I can’t wait for fans everywhere to be able to start collecting my Panini cards,” Reese stated.
Autographed memorabilia items will be sold on Panini’s website.
“Angel is an outstanding talent and an electric player, and we are excited to welcome her to the Panini family as an exclusive athlete,” remarked Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations for Panini America. “We look forward to offering her fans Angel’s trading cards and memorabilia.”
Last year, Reese was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. This season the 6’3” Reese led the Tigers in both scoring and rebounding and finished her collegiate career as the SEC’s 2024 Player of the Year. LSU was beaten by Iowa in this year’s Elite 8 and shortly afterward made official what most has expected in declaring for the April 15 draft.
The highest priced solo Reese card sold on eBay so far was the 1/1 2023-24 Bowman Chrome SP Variation Superfractor Autograph that went for a best offer price of $1,500 in January of this year.
Last month, Panini announced it had signed Iowa star Caitlin Clark to a similar deal. Clark is expected to be selected by the Indiana Fever with the top pick.
The 40-game WNBA season starts May 14.
