During Women's History Month in March, theScore is publishing stories that illustrate how women in sports lead, inspire change, and navigate their careers.
Flau'jae Johnson is seated at the corner of the court with her eyes closed and legs crossed, approximately two hours before LSU tips off against North Carolina Central at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers star is locked into her pregame meditation routine, unfazed by everything around her.
It's a rare moment of silence in the life of Johnson, who's become a pioneer in the name, image, and likeness (NIL) space, balancing a burgeoning career as both a hooper and rapper.
"Flau'jae has just this crazy work ethic," LSU head coach Kim Mulkey told theScore after Johnson tallied a game-high 22 points in the Tigers' rout of North Carolina Central in early December. "This kid gets up at 5 in the morning (for workouts). She has to go to school. She has to do her music. She has to work on her game. Then she has to come to practice."
Mulkey added: "I don't know how she does it, but she does it and makes it work."
Johnson is expected to be back in the lineup for LSU's NCAA Tournament opener Saturday versus San Diego State. The junior guard was enjoying her best campaign before shin inflammation sidelined her for the regular-season finale and SEC Tournament.
Johnson was pacing the 3-seed Tigers in scoring with a career-high 18.9 points per contest to go along with 5.8 boards, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 stocks across 30 appearances in 2024-25. She ranked ninth in the SEC in free-throw attempts (125) and was among the nation's leaders in points produced (527) at the time of her injury. Johnson's just the third LSU player over the past 25 seasons with multiple 25-point, five-rebound, and five-assist performances in a single campaign.
The 21-year-old's strong play earned her national recognition. The Georgia native's an AP All-America third-team selection, one of five finalists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year award, and among 15 players on the national ballot for the Wooden Award. She also earned All-SEC first-team honors alongside teammates Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams.
Johnson's music has ascended at the same time. She has an independent distribution deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation record label and has approximately 139,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. She released her debut studio EP, "Best of Both Worlds," last summer. The title is a nod to Johnson's dual career aspirations and features the track "Came Out Like a Beast," a collaboration with rap icon Lil Wayne.
Johnson and the five-time Grammy-winner star in a music video that's totaled over 2.5 million views on YouTube and features appearances from Mulkey and her teammates. She also performed the song at last year's ESPY Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards.
LSU assistant coach Gary Redus II has witnessed Johnson's growth firsthand since her freshman year. Be it on the court or in the recording studio, he says Johnson's approach remains the same.
"Not only does she want to be a platinum-selling, Grammy-winning recording artist, she wants to be National Player of the Year. She wants to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft," Redus told theScore. "She has humongous goals because even if she doesn't reach them, she knows that she's gonna be really close to it.
"She makes plans of what she wants to do, details out when she wants to work, and how much she feels it's gonna take ... she feels like someone is getting a leg up on her if she isn't doing the things that she sets out to do."
Johnson's days begin early, with extra shooting and ball-handling work before class. She's often in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center by herself and returns later with Redus or another member of Mulkey's staff. Outside of games and team practices, her routine includes weight training and film review with coaches on certain days of the week at specific times.
Johnson dissects past matchups and practice footage with LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey and Tigers legend Seimone Augustus, providing input on plays they could run for her and brainstorming ways to get her teammates more involved. She's always looking for ways to get better.
The 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year spent time in the offseason training with Indiana Fever phenom Caitlin Clark and UConn star Paige Bueckers, according to ESPN's Holly Rowe. Johnson took in Clark's ability to slowly read defenses without compromising speed as well as the tempo and pace Bueckers plays with.
Johnson's attention to detail has helped her set new personal bests this season in threes made (1.4 per contest), free-throw attempts (4.2), assist percentage (13.2%), mid-range field-goal percentage (42.9%), and player efficiency rating (26.4).
"She attacks (workouts) in a more mature way now. Like it's not just her getting into the gym," Redus said. "When she first got here ... she wanted to play one-on-one with (ex-LSU guard Alexis Morris) and myself. We just used to kind of get after it.
"She's now understanding even more kind of how she needs to work. That's the beauty of it all. She really just gets it."
Johnson's junior year hasn't been all linear: She spent the past several months getting accustomed to a leadership role with star forward Angel Reese off to the WNBA.
Although Johnson was voted by her teammates as one of LSU's captains last season, she wasn't too outspoken - Reese often took charge.
Redus credits Reese, Morris, and all the other upperclassmen Johnson played with as a freshman for showing her how to lead. Johnson started all 36 games alongside the aforementioned duo when the Tigers captured their maiden national championship two years ago, so she saw how Reese and Morris conducted themselves on the court and their work behind the scenes during that title-winning campaign. Both players were calming influences and commanded respect in the locker room.
Those lessons were instilled in Johnson early on and have helped her become more comfortable vocalizing her thoughts and feelings when appropriate.
"What you don't see is the tough times in practice or those huddles when everyone can be down. Her uplifting everyone ... she gets what needs to be said," Redus explains. "She gets when to calm everyone down and when to hype everyone up.
"She gets when she needs to go over to a teammate and give them some encouragement or when she needs to get on a teammate. It's been really good to see that growth because we need it as a younger team."
Johnson is a perfectionist, which can cause her to be too hard on herself at times. Redus has worked with Johnson on using positive self-talk and giving herself grace whenever things aren't going her way. The LSU assistant wants Johnson to understand that she can be tough on herself, while also mindful of the way she shows it as the whole team is looking to her for guidance.
Mulkey echoed Redus' thoughts.
"When she does bad, she has a tendency to get down on herself," the Hall of Fame coach said of Johnson. "It's our job as coaches to make her understand, 'When Coach Mulkey has a bad day, I can't ever let any of you know it. So when you have a bad day, you can't ever let your teammates know it.'
"Those are things that you teach young people as they become captains and try to lead teams."
Music has been Johnson's outlet throughout her life, especially as she tackles the challenges of being a student-athlete. The All-SEC guard began rapping at age seven, inspired by her late father. Jason Johnson, an emerging rapper better known as Camouflage, was fatally shot outside of his recording studio nearly six months before his daughter was born.
Johnson's music is a way to connect with her father and carry on his legacy. Her first name is derived from Jason's stage name, and his music has influenced her style. When Johnson was 14 years old, she performed an original song on "America's Got Talent" about ending gun violence. The audition left Simon Cowell - the show's famously harsh judge - in awe.
"I believe we are witnessing the start of somebody's career big time," Cowell said. "I genuinely do."
The NCAA's adoption of NIL in 2021 gave Johnson the unique opportunity to pursue music and basketball simultaneously. Mulkey's support of Johnson's passions was a decisive factor during the recruiting process - some schools wanted her to focus exclusively on basketball.
"It's a full-time job for her. But I think that at times, it feels really good to her," Redus said. "You'll see her on the back of the plane standing up. We'll just have played a game. Everybody else is sleeping and you'll see her back there with her headphones on kind of bobbing her head.
"You see her like typing things out in her phone and you know she's writing rhymes. You know she's listening to beats and different things like that. I think that (music) just gives her a separate kind of release ... It's very therapeutic for her. She loves to do it."
Johnson's redefining what's possible for student-athletes in today's NIL world. The McDonald's All-American's dual talents have helped her land major endorsement deals with a number of brands, including a multi-year shoe contract with Puma. She was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 sports list for 2025, which annually recognizes young entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders making an impact in their respective fields.
Johnson started on a national championship squad as a freshman, is an up-and-comer in the rap scene, and could potentially be among the top picks in next year's WNBA draft. She's successfully intertwined both of her worlds - and she's just getting started.
"It's easy to notice that someone is doing something great, but I think that a lot of times you should tell them," Redus said. "She doesn't think about it a lot because it's just her and she's just kind of doing her thing. It really is amazing to be able to do all these different things. I don't know when she sleeps because she's always doing something."
Johnson's making a difference for others as well. She's helping erase $5 million in debt for Louisiana families as part of her partnership with financial company Experian. The company will relieve an extra $100,000 for each LSU win during the NCAA Tournament.
"The kid is just really selfless," Redus said. "It's easy to root for kids like Flau'jae because you want them to do well. She deserves it. She really gets out what she puts in it."
