Flau’jae Johnson admits being surprised after Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal: “Why is everybody leaving”

Basketball star Olivia Miles shocked fans and analysts when she opted against declaring for the 2025 WNBA draft and instead entered the transfer portal from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. According to the latest ESPN WNBA mock draft before her decision, Miles had been projected to be picked No. 2 overall behind UConn Huskies standout Paige Bueckers.

During Thursday's segment of the "Best of Both Worlds" podcast, LSU Tigers star Flau'jae Johnson, who also opted against declaring for the draft, revealed her surprise at Miles' portal decision (20:36).

"I've seen a lot of crazy stuff," Flau'jae Johnson said. "A lot of top players in the portal. People committing really quick and really early. People got a lot of 'Do not contact' so you can't contact them. If they're in the portal, they're probably already talking to a school. I was surprised at the whole dang near whole Notre Dame team leaving. That was crazy. I was like, 'Why is everybody leaving?

Johnson detailed her surprise that Olivia Miles left the strong Fighting Irish setup under coach Niele Ivey, where she partnered with Wooden Award finalist Hannah Hidalgo.

"Where is y'all going?' Nobody's talking about that, I wanna know what's going on 'cause I would not have expected Olivia Miles to get gone bro. They was a cold trio. Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Neal Ivey. Eitherway, a lot of people are transferring so I ain't expect her to go to TCU though. That was crazy. TCU must have thrown that bag because, back-to-back top transfers, I like it."

Miles will be playing the 2025-2026 season under coach Mark Campbell at TCU. The Horned Frogs had a stellar campaign in the Big 12 before losing out in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Notably, TCU dispatched Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 earlier this year.

Olivia Miles details her Fighting Irish legacy

Olivia Miles joined Notre Dame in 2021 as a five-star prospect and started in 95 of her 101 games for the Fighting Irish. In her Notre Dame career, she was named first-team All-ACC, second-team All-American by the Associated Press (AP), and third-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

Speaking about her legacy with The Fighting Irish, Miles revealed:

"When I think about legacy I think more about the impact that I leave on people," Miles said. "Winning is great. Obviously, everyone wants to do it. But as Coach Ivey said, as long as you leave the place better than you found it, you left a really good impact.

"At the end of the day, my goal coming to Notre Dame was to leave Notre Dame better than I found it and I think I did a pretty good job of that. I hope so."

Olivia Miles will fill the gap left behind by Hailey Van Lith, who helped to power the TCU Horned Frogs to their first Big 12 Tournament title under coach Mark Campbell and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.