81°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Latest Weather Blog
Flau'jae Johnson drafted and traded in wild WNBA night
Related Story
NEW YORK — LSU women's basketball star Flau'Jae Johnson was drafted 8th overall to the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night in the first round of the WNBA Draft before being traded to the Seattle Storm for the Storm's second-round pick in 2028 and forward Marta Suarez, the 16th overall pick.
Johnson becomes the third LSU player in a row to be selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft joining teammates Angel Reese taken by the Chicago Sky with the seventh pick in 2024 and Annesah Morrow picked seventh overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2025.
Johnson, a Georgia native, was the only Tiger in the 2026 draft. Johnson joined LSU as a freshman in 2022, and started in all 36 games through her freshman year. She scored 10 points in the 2023 National Championship game to help the Tigers win the title.
More information from a school release can be read below:
Johnson signals the 25th LSU player to be selected in the WNBA Draft and the seventh since Coach Kim Mulkey took over the program. Johnson is the 26th player to get drafted with Mulkey as their college head coach.
This marks the fifth year in a row that LSU has had a player selected in the WNBA Draft. The WNBA season begins on May 8.
Johnson, a native of Savannah, Ga., recently completed an incredible four-year career with LSU, which has become rare in the transfer portal era. She played and started in all 35 games the Tigers played and was LSU’s second-leading scorer, averaging 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. Johnson scored in double digits 27 times including nine outings with 20-plus points.
Johnson finished her career as one of 14 active players in the 2025-26 season to have 2,000-plus points while in college. For her efforts, she earned a spot on the Third Team for All-America lists published by the Associated Press and USBWA and was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which is given to the nation’s top shooting guard. Johnson was also selected to the All-SEC First Team for the second straight season.
Johnson contributed to the Tigers’ 95 points per game which established the SEC record for scoring offense. She also played a vital role in LSU’s 16 100-point games that set an NCAA Division I record for 100-point games in a season.
In the SEC Tournament against Oklahoma, Johnson became the sixth LSU player to surpass 2,000 career points. She joined Joyce Walker (2,906), Seimone Augustus (2,702), Julie Gross (2,488), Cornelia Gayden (2,451), Sylvia Fowles (2,234). Johnson closed her time in Baton Rouge with 2,063 points.
Her community service shined in her final season, earning the inaugural Kay Yow Servant Leader of the Year Award. She was also selected as LSU’s representative on the SEC Community Service Team.
In her senior season, Johnson led the team in field goals made (190) and field goal attempts (409). She also finished her career ranked No. 4 at LSU in games played (141) and No. 2 in games started (139). She also ranks 7th at LSU all-time in postseason games played with 17, reaching the Final Four once, Elite Eight twice, and Sweet 16 four times.
Johnson capped her career with one national championship that came during her freshman season.
News
Radar
7 Days
