Flau'jae Johnson makes WNBA Draft decision after Angel Reese admission (nuna)

LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson has confirmed that she plans to join former teammate Angel Reese in the WNBA once she’s ready.

Johnson recently admitted the pair aren’t as close as they used to be. However, they could soon be reunited in the WNBA with Johnson deciding she does eventually want declare for the WNBA Draft and try and follow Reese into the professional ranks.

Since Reese declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft the spotlight has been on Johnson at LSU, and the 20-year-old now wants to make her mark on the Tigers program. Johnson has also seen her rap career take off after being signed by Roc Nation, but for now, her priority continues to be basketball.

“I am going to choose to go to the WNBA. I don’t know how soon… just depending on how, you know, how my season goes and things like that,” Johnson told the New York Post. The 20-year-old, who turns 21 on Nov. 3, is eligible to declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft, but it sounds like she’s in no rush to leave LSU.

“I already won a national championship, but one’s not enough when I have two, two more years left maybe, you know?” she added. “I just want to I want to leave my impact, make my mark. I’m doing something like nobody has ever really done before. So I wanted to be special.”

Johnson is certain that the Tigers have played a major part in boosting the popularity of women’s basketball and the WNBA in particular, and wants to continue on the journey. When LSU won the 2023 national championship game the on-court beef between Reese and then-Iowa star Caitlin Clark put the spotlight on women’s basketball, and has continued to shine.

“But I think like for me, it’s beautiful to be able to see the WNBA flourish more and I think it’s directly from the impact that our LSU team had,” Johnson said. “You can’t deny the fact that after Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and LSU that women’s basketball had a surge.

Johnson will have the spotlight on her at LSU next season.© Getty Images

“And so just to even be a part of that and now being able to go into the game and still continue to help grow it and just be a part of that. I think those are the best women in the world playing basketball. Just being able to play with those top-caliber women, that’s a dream come true.”

Reese and Clark remain under the spotlight in the WNBA, and Johnson is still a big supporter of her former teammate. However, they’ve drifted apart since Reese left the Tigers program.

Reese commented on her relationship with Johnson on her “Unapologetically Angel” podcast, offering a similar narrative. “I still support Flau’jae. We aren’t as close as we used to be,” Reese said. “And there’s no hard feelings or anything, but we aren’t as close as we used to be.

“That’s why people always expect us to still posting each other but we aren’t as close. It happens. You don’t have the best relationships with everybody and don’t always continue relationships with people. So, I wish her the best always. I’m always going to support her.”

Johnson still appears to think of Reese very highly and has been defensive of the rookie when she’s come under criticism in the WNBA. “Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her,” Johnson previously told reporters. “Y’all don’t know Angel Reese. I know Angel Reese. I know the real Angel Reese and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person.

“The crown she wears is heavy. She’s the type of teammate that’s going to make you believe in yourself. The leap that I took from my freshman to my sophomore year, Angel gave me that confidence to go be a dog.”