“Itching to get on the floor”: Flau’jae Johnson puts the breaks on rapping to “lock in” for LSU

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson expressed excitement to get on the basketball court, putting the breaks on her rapping career to play for the Lady Tigers in the 2024-25 college basketball season.

Johnson showed her enthusiasm to play for a new season with LSU during the SEC Media Day special of the Paul Finebaum Show on ESPN on Wednesday. On the sports show alongside LSU coach Kim Mulkey and teammate Aneesah Morrow, she gave fans a glimpse of what to expect from the Lady Tigers this coming season.

The incoming junior told Finebaum that she's happy to play basketball and rap at the same time while at school but noted that she's now focused on helping LSU win the national championship for the second time in three seasons.

"I'm really locked in on the season like coach said we got a new team. Every day we have to come in and play hard and try to stack days that's what it's about right now. Music is where my heart is, but I'm itching to play like I'm itching to get on the floor," Johnson said (from 1:56).

Johnson was an integral part of LSU's campaign in the past two seasons, tallying averages of 13.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

The media covering the SEC beat acknowledged Johnson's abilities on the court, voting her and teammate Aneesah Morrow as the co-SEC Preseason Players of the Year and First Team All-SEC.

Johnson and Morrow were tied with Madison Booker of Texas for the preseason accolade.

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LSU coach Kim Mulkey discusses team expectations going into the 2024-25 season

LSU coach Kim Mulkey talked about team expectations going into the 2024-25 college basketball season. Mulkey, a four-time champion coach with Baylor and LSU, held back on her forecast, noting that the Tigers aren't 100% healthy.

"Once we get them all on the same page and we can get into a game type setting every week I'll get a better feel for it," Mulkey said (6:24).

She believes that having a mixture of experienced and new players on the roster increases the level of competition within the team as they all compete for playing time and the coach's trust in each game.

"I know that we have returning players that have great experience she has a national championship ring (Flau'jae Johnson) she has an Elite Eight experience (Aneesah Morrow).

"It's so important and then you add the mixture of new players we have transfers we have one freshman and they're all competing every day and trying to get a little playing time," she added (6:32).

The Tigers will play two exhibition games before their regular season opener on Nov. 4 against Eastern Kentucky. They will meet Xavier (New Orleans) on Oct. 24 and LSU Alexandria on Oct. 30.

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