{"id":775000,"date":"2023-03-13T13:30:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T17:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=775000"},"modified":"2023-04-06T18:38:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T22:38:02","slug":"angel-reese-flaujae-johnson-243","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/angel-reese-flaujae-johnson-243\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel Reese and Flau\u2019jae Johnson are the Missing Pieces Needed to Transform LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you\u2019re putting together a puzzle, you begin by zooming out and seeing all the pieces you have. It is here when you\u2019re able to see how each piece is unique\u2014the specific edges every individual piece has, what colors they hold and how those factors play into the final image you\u2019re trying to put together. That\u2019s what it\u2019s been like for the LSU women\u2019s basketball program. Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey has been meticulously putting together the pieces to what is one of the most exciting teams in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are two pieces that have led this team through the whole season: Angel Reese and Flau\u2019jae Johnson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SLAM 243 featuring LSU’s Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson is out now. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHOP NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a bright, sunny Tuesday afternoon in Baton Rouge. Walking past Tiger Stadium, which resembles more of an NFL stadium than a college one, to the spaceship-looking Pete Maravich Assembly Center (better known as the PMAC), there\u2019s a sense of grandeur to just about everything you pass. As Angel and Flau\u2019jae arrive for their SLAM shoot, they walk past a sign that reads \u201cRespect the Past, Embrace the Future\u201d on the practice facility walls, which are adorned with images of LSU greats like Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air is refreshing, the atmosphere is calm, a complete contrast to what it was like just a few weeks prior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PMAC was packed and fans were roaring so loud that there was no point in trying to communicate on the court. LSU was facing Arkansas and it was a tightly contested back and forth game. There were about five minutes left and LSU had just extended the lead to 10. As Angel and Flau\u2019jae made their way down the court to get back on defense, Arkansas\u2019 Chrissy Carr drove down the baseline and dished out to the free-throw line. Somehow, as Angel closed in on help defense, she slid out of her shoe. As she tried to quickly pick up her shoe and get the referees\u2019 attention, the Razorbacks\u2019 Samara Spencer drove into the lane. Angel didn\u2019t hesitate to toss her Nike Freak 4 to her left hand so that she could get the block with her right. The block was emphatic, sending Spencer to the floor. Angel stood above her screaming \u201cGIMME THAT SHIT!\u201d while still <\/em>holding her sneaker with her left hand. Flau\u2019jae was right next to her hyping her up. The PMAC was going wild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know how I got out [of] my shoe,\u201d Angel tells SLAM. \u201cI know if I took that play off and they had scored, the coach would have been upset with me because I didn\u2019t get to help defense. I was trying to get the ref\u2019s attention to be like, Can I put my shoe on?<\/em> She didn\u2019t respond to me. So, I just picked [up] the shoe, I put it in my other hand and I just blocked the shot. I was in that mode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a viral highlight that amassed millions of views across social and TV. It\u2019s a highlight that perfectly exemplifies the type of showtime basketball that this program brings every time they step on the floor. Top to bottom, the roster is filled with dawgs. In a season that was supposed to be a \u201crebuild year\u201d after adding nine newcomers last summer, they far exceeded what anyone thought this team could achieve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have expectations,\u201d Reese says in early February. \u201cWe\u2019re not supposed to be 23-0 right now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just a few days after our shoot, the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the reigning national champs, the South Carolina Gamecocks. But what makes this team so scary is that they have no fear, because they\u2019re not supposed to be here. Just two years ago, no one would\u2019ve believed you if you said LSU would be a top team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Reese was trying to find her way as a freshman at Maryland, coming off the bench, while Johnson was barely ranked in the top 100 in her recruiting class. And Kim Mulkey? She was still at Baylor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 21 years of building Baylor\u2019s women\u2019s basketball program, which amassed three national championships and counts a plethora of WNBA greats among its alumni, Mulkey was ready for something new, and in April of 2021, she was officially announced as LSU\u2019s new head coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t just happen with a phone call,\u201d the Hall of Fame coach shared during her introductory press conference. \u201cIt takes a lot of people pulling a lot of strings and committing to women\u2019s basketball.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want you to look at those banners,\u201d Mulkey continued, as she looked up at the rafters of the PMAC. \u201cFinal Four, Final Four, Final Four, Final Four, Final Four. Nowhere on there does it say National Champion. That\u2019s what I came here to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that, the new era of LSU women\u2019s basketball began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first order of business for the new Tigers head coach was to get acquainted with the pieces she had inherited while also lighting a fire on the recruiting trail to start building the winning culture she expected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time, Flau\u2019jae Johnson was wrapping up her junior year. At the time, she was more known for rapping than hooping. Just three years earlier, a 14-year-old Flau\u2019jae stepped on stage at NBC\u2019s America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em> and shocked the world with her bars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did a song about gun violence, it\u2019s called \u2018Guns Down,\u2019\u201d the Savannah, GA, native explained on stage to Simon Cowell in 2018. \u201cMy dad\u2019s name was Camouflauge, he was an up-and-coming rapper, he was gonna be signed to Universal Records, but two days before he was gonna sign the contract, he was murdered, and my mom was pregnant with me. My whole goal is to continue my father\u2019s legacy,\u201d she told the AGT<\/em> judges as she wiped tears from her eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on to give a performance that went viral and earned her the Golden Buzzer, and at the same time that her music career was taking off, she was hooping, too, although she wasn\u2019t seeing the same level of success. Yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy journey in basketball is unbelievable,\u201d Johnson tells us. \u201cLike, I came out of my junior year and I wasn\u2019t ranked, I didn\u2019t have any offers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GET YOUR COPY OF SLAM 243 NOW!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That summer, the 5-10 guard joined the Atlanta-based FBC BounceNation21 AAU program to get on the grassroots travel circuit, and she quickly started making some noise. After just a few months, she went from unranked to No. 55 in her class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she realized how good she was,\u201d Sprayberry coach Kellie Avery told the Washington Post<\/em> last summer. \u201cShe does so much in her off time with her music that I don\u2019t think basketball had balanced out until her sophomore year. Then she was like, Maybe I could do both<\/em>. She got on the right AAU team this year, and it showed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then got a coveted invite to the 2021 SLAM Summer Classic and really showed out. As the lowest ranked player in the game, she knew there were haters doubting her skills. Puzzled people asked, Isn\u2019t she the girl from The Rap Game?<\/em> when she arrived in New York for the weekend. But just a couple days later, they not only knew Flau\u2019jae the rapper but also Flau\u2019jae the hooper<\/em>, when she walked away with the game\u2019s Terrence Clarke MVP award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMan, that was the game I was like, Oh, this my opportunity,<\/em>\u201d the LSU guard remembers. \u201cI always said just give me an opportunity, I\u2019m gonna make it happen. I saw they had all the top kids\u2014Kiki Rice and Janiah Barker\u2014that\u2019s all I needed to see, because I knew that they were the top in my class. So I was like, Oh, yeah, I gotta go up there and dominate<\/em>, and I came out MVP. I did what I had to do. I was working because I knew when I get that call, I\u2019m gonna be ready.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many college coaches took notice that summer, but one stood out: Kim Mulkey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within just a few months of receiving a list of offers to different schools, Flau\u2019jae committed to LSU in the only way Flau\u2019jae \u201cBig Four\u201d Johnson could\u2014with a track titled \u201cAll Falls Down,\u201d<\/em> featuring Baton Rouge\u2019s Lil Boosie and a music video with special words from Mike WiLL Made-It. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I would want to have experiences at any other college,\u201d the freshman phenom shares with a smile. \u201cBecause it feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on to finish her senior year of high school as the No. 6 guard in her class, and at the time of our shoot, was the Tigers\u2019 second leading scorer behind Angel, averaging 13 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Flau\u2019jae Johnson, Mulkey found her very first puzzle piece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While Johnson was finding her way through the recruiting process, Angel was trying to find her place at the collegiate level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reese was the No. 2 overall player in the Class of 2020 coming out of the DMV. Being near family was a big factor for her, and she chose to play close to home at the University of Maryland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By her sophomore year, Reese was averaging an impressive 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, but something didn\u2019t feel right. At the end of April, Angel sent the NCAA hoops world into chaos after announcing that she would be transferring out of Maryland. She immediately became the top player in the transfer portal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually didn\u2019t want to be in the portal that long,\u201d the National Player of the Year candidate recalls. \u201cI think I was in the portal for maybe 12 days, if that. I didn\u2019t want to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During those near two weeks, Angel and her family went through the process of setting up visits and speaking with coaches, but LSU wasn\u2019t on the list of potential schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, technically, I didn\u2019t think I was coming to LSU,\u201d the 6-3 forward says. \u201cKateri [Poole] was the one that called me to ask about LSU. And I was like, I don\u2019t know, I already have visits set up. I\u2019m not sure.<\/em> So, I don\u2019t think Coach thought she could get me because she already thought I was going somewhere else. So, when she called me, I was like, Alright, I\u2019ll take a visit, I guess<\/em>, and, happily, she was the first visit I had set up. After I came down here for my visit, I canceled the rest of my visits. It was wrapped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angel was looking for a family outside of basketball, one that she could feel at home with beyond the court. She also wanted a program that would help her grow as a person just as much as a player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just wanted to figure out who really is Angel Reese,\u201d she says. \u201cComing to LSU, I feel like I figured out who I am. I\u2019m able to be myself here. It\u2019s just something I really love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s clear to see that now in the way she\u2019s playing this season, putting up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-type numbers\u2014 averaging 23.4 points and 15.5 rebounds a game, at the time of our shoot. The \u201cBayou Barbie\u201d (which she\u2019s dubbed and trademarked) is appointment TV, making viral highlight plays seemingly every night of the week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Angel Reese, Kim Mulkey found her second puzzle piece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a host of other notable transfers\u2014Kateri Poole, LaDazhia Williams, Jasmine Carson and Last-Tear Poa\u2014along with the players who stayed, including Alexis Morris and Sa\u2019Myah Smith, the Tigers have the best show in college basketball. But it\u2019s taken time to hone everyone\u2019s skills, as every player finds their role on this team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just really enjoy playing with each other,\u201d Flau\u2019jae says. \u201cOnce we\u2019re in our rhythm and we\u2019re bouncing off each other, Angel doing her thing, Jaz hitting threes, it\u2019s like we\u2019re really going. Like, we really get the flow on the floor [going] and nobody can roll with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that comes from this roster putting in the work from top to bottom, pushing each other, day in and day out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis team is really competitive,\u201d the Bayou Barbie says. \u201cWe can critique each other, and I think that\u2019s just something that you don\u2019t really see, being able to critique each other and not take it personal. It\u2019s just fun how we compete against each other, so by the time we compete on the court, it\u2019s just, like, we\u2019re all together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a team no one expected to be among the best going into March. The Tigers had a lot of doubters at the start of the season, with many shaking their heads at a perceived easy out-of-conference schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are going to say our out- of-conference schedule was terrible,\u201d Angel says while laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s fine. Y\u2019all can say that. But it\u2019s the Free Smoke Tour. I don\u2019t think anybody on the team is scared of anything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey mistake our confidence for arrogance,\u201d Flau\u2019jae quickly adds. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna pop it regardless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s truly nothing scarier than a team that has nothing to lose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angel and Flau\u2019jae are the puzzle pieces that were needed to put together this new era of LSU basketball. When those lights come on, you know it\u2019s showtime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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