Flau’jae Johnson’s new song, “Woah,” used to help promote the 2026 WNBA, felt almost prescient by early in Monday’s second round.
The star LSU guard was selected No. 8 overall by the Golden State Valkyries, but traded about an hour later to the Seattle Storm in a deal quickly tabbed as “stunning” and “confounding.”
Woah, indeed.
Regardless, Johnson extends the Lady Tigers’ run to now a selection in five straight draft classes and a top-10 selection each of the past three years.
“When I was in high school, I wasn’t ranked,” she told ESPN with another deep breath. “It took a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, and now I’m here at the draft. This is incredible to me.”
She joins Aneesah Morrow (2025, No. 7, Connecticut Sun), Angel Reese (2024, No. 7, Chicago Sky), LaDazhia Williams (2023, No. 17, Indiana Fever), Alexis Morris (2023, No. 22, Connecticut Sun) and Khayla Pointer (2022, No. 13, Las Vegas Aces) in that span.
Johnson is also the 25th LSU player all-time selected in the draft and 10th in the first round.
Johnson recently capped a decorated, four-year career in Baton Rouge with a second-straight season earning First-Team All-SEC and Third-Team All-American recognitions.
The 5-foot-10 senior started all 35 games and averaged 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per contest to wrap up one of the most prolific careers in program history.
Her 141 games played (No. 4), 139 starts (No. 2), 123 victories (No. 2) and 2,063 career points (No. 6) all rank in the Lady Tigers’ top-10 all-time.
The Savannah, Ga., native signed with LSU in 2022 as a McDonald’s All-American and Naismith All-American and earned SEC Freshman of the Years honors in 2023 as already one of the standouts of the program’s first-ever national-title run.
She and the Lady Tigers reached at least the Sweet 16 in each of her four seasons, and she finished with career averaged of 14.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks.
Golden State received only Seattle’s No. 16 overall pick, TCU forward Marta Suarez, and another second-rounder in 2028 in exchange for Johnson, whom the Valkyries selected eight picks earlier.
“Simply put, this is a shocker for everyone involved. Why didn’t Golden State just take Suárez, unless that 2028 second rounder is a coveted asset for the Valkyries? How lucky is Seattle here?” Cory Woodruff wrote for Yahoo! Sports, adding with his “A” grade for the Storm’s acquisition: “Somehow, the Storm traded for Johnson in the second round with Golden State and only gave up its selection in the second round and a 2028 second rounder to facilitate the deal. Johnson is going to likely start right away for the Storm and could develop into a star with Seattle. We absolutely love this for everyone involved.”
Johnson’s contract has been reported as a four-year deal worth just under $1.4 million, according to Front Office Sports.
