LSU’s Sa’Myah Smith Faints While Joe Biden Delivers Speech During White House Visit

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Iowa’s Caitlin Clark may have initially emerged as the star of this year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, but when everything was said and done, Angel Reese and LSU stole the show en route to walking away as national champions.

We were treated to a fair amount of drama in the wake of their win thanks in no small part to the laughable amount of blowback Reese received for using Clark’s own taunt against her (which the Hawkeyes star made it clear she had absolutely no issue with).

First Lady Jill Biden also ruffled more than a few feathers when she suggested both Iowa and LSU deserved to be invited to the White House, which obviously didn’t sit that well with the members of the Tigers who understandably felt it would be a fairly disrespectful move that minimized what the team was able to achieve (a sentiment Clark also echoed).

When everything was said and done, LSU was the only squad to receive an invite to the White House, and on Friday, Joe Biden welcomed them into the residence where he’s resided since 2021 to celebrate their title.

However, the visit wasn’t without its own share of drama, as things took an unexpected turn after Biden’s speech was temporarily put on hold after forward Sa’Myah Smith fainted while standing on the stage behind the president.

Smith’s teammates were thankfully able to catch her before she hit the ground, and medical personnel quickly rushed to her aid before procuring a wheelchair that was used to transport her to further treatment.

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The ceremony eventually resumed, and LSU head coach Kim Mulkey assured everyone Smith was fine (aside from being “embarrassed”) while joking about what transpired, saying, “As you can see, we leave our mark where we go. Sa’Myah planned that” (Biden also acknowledged she was far from the first person to pass out at the White House as the result of a long day).

It’s good to hear it was nothing serious.