March Madness: Lil Wayne turns heads with dueling Elite 8 support for Miami's Cavinder twins, LSU

Lil Wayne is an established LSU sports fan.

The hip-hop star and New Orleans native has long professed his support for his home-state teams. So when he showed up Friday on a locker-room FaceTime call with Miami's Cavinder twins after the Hurricanes' Sweet 16 win over Villanova, he turned heads.

Is he rooting for Miami or LSU on Sunday? LSU also won Friday night, beating Utah do advance to an Elite Eight matchup against the Hurricanes. Here's evidence of the FaceTime call as shared by Miami's Hanna Cavinder. She and her sister Haley are senior guards with high-profile NIL deals and a strong social media following.

Lil Wayne didn't neglect his beloved Tigers. He sent a Twitter shout-out to LSU star Angel Reese with the message "Home Team" after LSU beat Utah.

So what's the deal? Both teams were asked about Weezy's support during their Saturday media sessions.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey, who's developed a rapport with Lil Wayne since returning to coach her home-state Tigers in 2021, was asked about his apparent dueling loyalties. She believes that he's in LSU's corner.

"Well, you understand I don't know the connection to Miami other than it's a pretty big rap scene here," Mulkey said. "Maybe that's what it is. I would think he's from Louisiana.

"I don't know him well enough to speak for him, but he's Louisiana as far as I know. I don't think that we have to worry about Lil Wayne."

She also noted that his support for Miami caught the attention of the LSU locker room, including that of freshman guard Flau'jae Johnson.

"But it's funny you say that because after the game, I could hear Flau'jae going, oh, no," Mulkey continued. "I know he didn't, Miami. We'd better hear from him."

Reese was keeping tabs. She took notice and appreciated Lil Wayne's tweet.

"I'm on him because he's from NOLA, and he called them before he called us," Reese told reporters. "So luckily he did tweet it out last night. Hopefully he comes to the game."

Mostly, Reese was appreciative of the overall support for women's basketball from Lil Wayne and others.

"But being able to grow women's basketball like that has just been amazing all year," Reese continued. "If you've seen all the different kinds of celebrities and NBA players and people that have reached out to us and showed that they were supportive.

"I think Magic Johnson last night tweeted at me. Just being able to see that just makes me happy because I'm able to grow women's basketball. So Lil Tunes, you better come pull up tomorrow."

What about Miami? Haley Cavinder also summed up his support as a win for the game.

"I think he likes women's basketball and that's a win for women's basketball," Cavinder told reporters. "Hopefully he comes to the game if he likes Angel Reese and our team. Lil Wayne, if you see this."

While the support is certainly welcome, none of this answers the question at hand. Who is Lil Wayne pulling for on Sunday? Miami's Ja'Leah Williams said it best.

"You got to ask Lil Wayne."