Flau'jae Johnson of the LSU Tigers takes down the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, LA at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Sunday, March 24, 2024.
SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK
Flau'jae Johnson of the LSU Tigers takes down the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, LA at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Sunday, March 24, 2024.
SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK
Star guard Flau'jae Johnson announced Wednesday that she is continuing her college basketball career at LSU. "Yes, I'm coming back to LSU," Johnson told Front Office Sports. Digging a little deeper, Johnson said her decision dealt with having conversations with head coach Kim Mulkey as opposed to testing the transfer portal -- which officially closed on Wednesday. "This is my last year," Johnson said. "I definitely want to win, but I want to make sure I'm being developed to be the player that I want to be in the WNBA. Trying to find out how I can make that happen this year. I want to be as prepared as possible." Johnson is one of the sport's most marketable players and also a rapper who has released three albums. She has NIL deals with Powerade, Puma, Amazon, Experian and several other companies. On3 estimates her NIL valuation at $1.5 million. Johnson, 21, was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference and third-team All-America selection last season. She averaged 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 34 games (all starts). Johnson won a national championship with LSU as a freshman in 2022-23 and has career averages of 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 106 games (104 starts). She helped the Tigers finish 31-6 this past season, but they lost to top-seeded UCLA in an NCAA Tournament regional final. --Field Level Media