Who Is Angel Reese's Brother, Julian Reese? All About the Basketball Player Who Signed with the Los Angeles Lakers

NEED TO KNOW

• Angel Reese's younger brother, Julian Reese, was born on June 30, 2003
• The siblings both played basketball at St. Frances Academy and the University of Maryland
• Julian signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers and debuted in the NBA Summer League on July 6

Angel Reese and her brother, Julian Reese, have always had one big thing in common: basketball.

Long before Angel played for the WNBA, she and Julian grew up playing the sport together in Baltimore, Maryland, at St. Frances Academy, but they've both come a long way since then. In June 2025, Julian was signed to play with the Los Angeles Lakers as an undrafted free agent in the NBA Summer League, and Angel has already offered him some sisterly advice.

“I told him to show up first and make sure you’re at the front of the line for drills," Angel told reporters after the news broke, later adding, "I text him everyday ... I'm really happy for him and proud of him."

Julian was born on June 30, 2003, just a little over a year after Angel, to Michael Reese and Angel Webb Reese. The siblings have always been close and pushed each other to be better athletes, creating a drive in both of them from an early age.

“Everything was always competitive with my younger brother,” Angel told What’s Up? in March 2022. “We had a basketball court in front of our house, and it was always very competitive and intense. We played all the time together. It helped shape me to who I am now.”

From playing basketball together as kids to both attending the University of Maryland, here’s everything to know about Angel Reese’s brother, Julian.

They grew up in Maryland

Though they were not born in Baltimore, both Angel and Julian did attend school there, playing for Saint Frances Academy.

“Our school was literally across the street from a prison,” Angel told Women’s Health in February 2024. “I was lucky enough to have skills and be able to make it out of there.”

They disagree on who was the better player when they were kids

In an October 2023 Q&A posted on March Madness’ YouTube, an interviewer asked both siblings the same question — and they gave hilariously opposite answers.

When asked who would always win when they were little, both Angel and Julian said themselves. When they told Angel that Julian said he would beat her 100 to 20 times, she said, “100 to 20?! He’s out of his mind. He knows I have the better shoe, he buys expensive stuff though.”

Both said each other when asked who was their parents’ favorite, however, they agreed that Angel was the troublemaker.

“I probably was the troublemaker because I would do it, and he would get in trouble for it,” she said.

They both attended the University of Maryland

Before Angel became an LSU star, she played for two years at Maryland. A year after she started at the school, her brother followed in her footsteps.

The siblings planned a sweet surprise announcement for their mom when Julian committed on Mother’s Day in 2020. Julian told the Baltimore Sunthat he called his mom downstairs and handed her a black sweatshirt that had a picture of Julian and Angel on a visit to Maryland on the front and the word “committed” on the back.

“It meant a lot to me,” Julian told the outlet in June 2020. “I felt like that was [my mom’s] top pick too, so I feel like that would have been a good surprise for Mother’s Day.”

Both Angel and Julian committed before they graduated high school, so neither knew the pressure or expectations that would come upon them when they played at the same school.

“It makes for a good storyline indeed,” their mom said. “However, I think it puts different pressures on both of them. For Angel, she is so highly ranked, so there’s a lot of pressure for her to immediately do well. And for Julian, he’s playing at the same school where his sister is already known. So he’s expected to do well.”

He was a starting forward on the University of Maryland’s basketball team

Julian was a forward for the University of Maryland, where he played for four seasons, starting in his freshman year. In his years with the program, Julian proved himself to be a valuable defensive player, putting Maryland in the 97th percentile of defenses when he was on the court.

“He knows our drop coverage really well. He’s a smart basketball player. So it makes life on everybody else a little bit easier,” Coach Kevin Willard told The Diamondback in March 2024. “And he’s 6-foot-10, he’s physical, and he throws his body around, which really helps in this league.”

In the 2023-24 season, Julian had the 13th-most minutes played in the Big Ten league, proving his necessity to the team, but his success amid Maryland’s struggles had fans rumbling that he may enter the transfer portal.

“Just focus on the task at hand,” Julian told the outlet in response to the rumors. “I like my guys in here, just staying with them and not worrying about stuff like that.”

He also helped lead Maryland to the NCAA Tournament in March 2025, though the team was eliminated after losing to Florida 87-71 in what would be the final game of Julian's college career.

Angel looks out for him

After the NCAA approved name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in 2021, Angel immediately began to take advantage of the opportunities it provided her, and included her brother in her ventures.

She told Sports Illustratedin March 2022 that she always planned to sign deals with Julian and that whenever businesses tell her they’re looking for a male athlete to partner with, she suggests her brother.

“They’re like, ‘Do you know any players?’ And I’m like, ‘My brother?’ ” she said. “I try to include him in as many deals as I can because once I’m able to leave here [Maryland], hopefully we can sign with the same agency and do everything together, and my mom can just be right there, too. I think it’ll be easy for both of us.”

Their mom has described Julian as "laid back"

Angel and Julian’s mom told Sports Illustrated that while her daughter has a “very strong personality,” her son is more “laid back.”

“You will see him, definitely, before you hear him,” she said. “He’s not a young man of many words.”

An example of his relaxed attitude happened when the siblings landed a deal with Tom Brady. While Angel couldn’t contain her excitement, Julian kept more of a poker face.

“The Tom Brady deal, when I found out about it I was like, ‘You’re going to New York!’ They’re gonna fly you there — first class!’ ” she said. “He was so nonchalant about it. I was like, ‘You’re representing Tom Brady! Tom Brady!’ ”

He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as an undrafted free agent

Though Julian wasn't selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, he soon ended up with another opportunity to go pro. In June 2025, he signed with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent and played his first game with the team in the NBA Summer League on July 6.

Angel celebrated Julian's contract with a post on X, writing, "OPPORTUNITY. COME ON JU."

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