Johnson unsure of WNBA decision after LSU loss
SPOKANE, Wash. — After the LSU Tigers’ season ended with a 72-65 loss to the UCLA Bruins in Sunday’s regional final, junior guard Flau’Jae Johnson did not have an update on whether she might turn pro early.
“I don’t know,” Johnson said in a somber locker room.
Because Johnson will turn 22 in November, she is eligible to enter this year’s WNBA draft despite not having completed a full four college seasons. In addition to the WNBA, Unrivaled is also in Johnson’s professional future.
Unrivaled signed Johnson, as well as UConn’s Paige Bueckers — who has announced her intention to enter the WNBA draft — to NIL deals that include equity in the league and set the stage for them to join once their college careers are concluded.
Asked what she’ll weigh in her decision, Johnson said, “Everything.”
“Got to talk to coach (Kim) Mulkey, talk to my family. I don’t know.”
Johnson scored 24 of her 28 points Sunday in the final 16:13 of the game after the Bruins had taken their largest lead, 14 points. LSU cut the deficit to three with 3:24 remaining on an 8-0 run behind six consecutive points from Johnson, but UCLA answered with a 6-0 run and the Tigers never got the game back to a one-possession margin.
Postgame, Johnson took the blame for her slow start.
“I mean I did leave it all on the court, but it was too late and it just doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “Should have did it earlier. Should have executed better. I feel like it’s all on me. I can take that because I know I went to another level and I gave more than I thought I had. I’ve got to be more in attack mode. That’s my fault. Being too passive, I’m done with that.”
Mulkey agreed that Johnson’s outburst came after LSU had already cost itself the game, but did not put the blame on her star player.
“The game was lost in the second quarter,” Mulkey said. “That’s where the game was lost. We didn’t capitalize on (UCLA center Lauren) Betts being off the floor. And she feels like she was a big part of that not having played up to what she — her standards are for herself in the second quarter.
“In the third and fourth quarter, I think she really, really tried. That’s what All-Americans do. They just try to figure out some way to impact the game, and she did. She did.”
The 2024-25 season was the best of Johnson’s three in Baton Rouge thus far, which began with her starting for the Tigers team that won the 2023 national championship as a freshman. This year, Johnson averaged a career-high 18.6 PPG and was named third team All-America by both The Associated Press and the USBWA.
