Flau’jae Johnson has stirred speculation that the Indiana Fever might sign her after she showered praise on their new head coach, Stephanie White.
Johnson, a rising star with the LSU Tigers, has quickly become a standout player at the college level, fueling excitement about her potential WNBA future.
At 21 years old, Johnson is draft-eligible in 2025, and there is growing buzz about a potential partnership with the 2024 Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark, at the Fever.
On a recent episode of her Best of Both Worlds podcast, Johnson discussed the Fever’s recent hire of White, saying, “Let me tell y’all, the Fever, the Indiana Fever having Stephanie White as a head coach… I really like that, like I love that.
I feel like she is a players’ coach. Like I even remember when she was recruiting me at Vanderbilt, like I was like, ‘I like this lady, like, I want to go play for her.'”
White was coaching at Vanderbilt during the time Johnson was transitioning from Sprayberry High School to collegiate basketball, but by the time Johnson chose Louisiana State, White had already left her position, according to the Irish Star.
Johnson admitted that had White still been at Vanderbilt, she would have seriously considered joining the program to play under her.
“I try to go where I like the people and she seemed like a good coach,” Johnson explained.
Since starting her college basketball journey, Johnson has accumulated several accolades, including an NCAA Championship with LSU, the SEC Freshman of the Year award, and the McDonald’s All-American title in 2022.
During the 2023/24 season, as a sophomore, Johnson posted impressive stats: a 76.9% free throw average, along with 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals, two turnovers, one block, and a solid 14.9 points per game, underscoring her promising future.
White, who departed from Vanderbilt in 2021, took a two-year hiatus before returning to the WNBA as the head coach of the Connecticut Sun for the 2023/24 season.
Under her guidance, the Sun finished second in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference, with a 28-12 record.
A former player for the Fever from 2000 to 2004, White was recently announced as their head coach at the start of November, succeeding Christie Sides.
Although Sides led the Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016, they ultimately fell short against White’s Sun team.
Upon her appointment, White expressed her excitement, saying, “I am incredibly proud and honored to return home to Indiana and lead the Fever during such a pivotal moment in this franchise’s history, as well as during such an important time throughout women’s athletics.
This franchise has and always will be committed to winning, and I look forward to working every day to help deliver another WNBA title to the greatest basketball fans in the world.”
If the Fever were to draft Johnson, she would have the chance to join forces with 22-year-old standout Caitlin Clark, who took the WNBA by storm in 2024.
Clark, the first overall pick in the WNBA draft, shattered multiple records in her debut season, earning 66 out of 67 votes for the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year.
Her record-breaking feats included the most points and assists by a rookie in a single season and becoming the fastest player to reach 100 three-pointers in women’s basketball history.
