ESPN reports that Louisiana State University junior Flau’Jae Johnson will return for her senior season instead of entering the WNBA Draft.
Johnson has until April 23 to enter the transfer portal. She will decide, depending on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) offers, whether she will return to LSU or go to another school.
Johnson helped LSU win the NCAA Tournament in her freshman season. This year, the team was defeated by UCLA, 72-65, in the regional finals.
Johnson will turn 22 in November, which makes her eligible to enter the WNBA Draft this year, even though she hasn’t played four seasons of college ball. But she is star. Her numbers have improved every season. In 2024-25, she was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association after averaging a career-high 18.6 points for the Tigers.
Her stat line in 34 starts was 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.7 steal a game. She also received All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) first-team honors. In 106 career games (104 of them as a starter), she has averaged 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.
Despite LSU’s stature as a big-time program, Johnson has made it clear that she wants to win a championships as a star. In the Tigers’ 2023 championship, Angel Reese, now a star in the WNBA and a burgeoning celebrity, was the headliner.
“Once I taste the national championship more and more,” Johnson said after LSU’s loss to UCLA. “I feel like that national championship I have, yeah, I was a big factor in it, but there were bigger factors. I want my own one, you know what I’m saying? Where I lead the team. That’s what you really want.”
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