The dynamic of the LSU women’s basketball team that yielded an NCAA championship almost wasn’t. Freshman Flau’Jae Johnson came to the team full of energy, and her exuberance could have been to the team’s detriment if the elder statesman, Angel Reese, didn’t pull her coat.
“Well when I first came in here, I was talking crazy,” Flau’jae said during an interview last week on “The Pivot” podcast, one where she was joined by Reese. “Nobody wanted to play with my team. Remember that come to Jesus meeting we had? We were just competitors. When you’re on a court full of dogs, like, that’s just how it go. I’m from Savannah, Georgia. We going to talk how we want to talk but, like, we hooping. I grew up playing with the guys so like that’s just how we played and I came here in the summer and I was just talking that talk.”
Come To Jesus Moment
Johnson pointed to Reese to explain further.
“We had a couple of come to Jesus meetings,” Reese explained. “I mean, you never see somebody as like a freshman come in that’s so confident. So a lot of the girls weren’t used to, for one. So I was trying to tell her like just watch how you’re talking to others. Me and you can talk to each other a certain way, but not everybody else can talk that way.
“Flau’jae was a handful when she came. Coming in late, not knowing what to wear, stuff like that. I was like, uh-oh, we’re going to have an issue. So we bumped heads in the beginning, and then something clicked, I guess. Maybe when coach said she not playing no more if she’s late one more time then you might have to go home? Something clicked for her and after that its been up ever since.”
A dynamic guard who is the No. 26 player and No. 6 guard in the country, according to ESPN, Johnson is rated as a four-star player. She is the first McDonald’s All-American recruited to LSU by head coach Kim Mulkey and earned a spot on the Naismith All-America Team.
A Budding Legend In Two Games
Johnson also played in the Jordan Brand Classic and earned MVP honors after scoring 27 points. She was the only female to play in the Iverson Classic and had her No. 4 jersey retired at Sprayberry High School after scoring a school record over 1,615 career points. Johnson had numerous impressive games as a senior, recording 40 points, 14 rebound double-double, and even had one game with 47 points where she knocked down 12 three-pointers.
Named the Georgia Region 6-6A Player of the Year for her efforts on the court as a senior. Johnson is also a budding rap star, with a record deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, and it took a little kick in the butt from her coach to create the Johnson the world is getting to know.
“No, it clicked when I had to run them stadium (steps),” Johnson said, still shellshocked from the punishment workout. “I was late to weights, and then I had to run the stadium for 30 minutes. Then, my coach, she said you’re showing them that you can’t do it; you’re proving them right.’
“Because they was saying that you can’t balance being an athlete and being a rapper, and I was like, ‘Dang, I really am being late.’ After that, I’ve been punctual. Like, I’m going to be on time and before time.”
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