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Golden State Valkyries Select LSU Tigers Guard Flau'jae Johnson With No. 8 Pick
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- Golden State Valkyries Select LSU Tigers Guard Flau'jae Johnson With No. 8 Pick
(© Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
UPDATE: Johnson has since been traded to the Seattle Storm in a shocking move.
The Golden State Valkyries have selected former LSU Tigers guard Flau'jae Johnson with the No. 8 pick in the 2026 WNBA draft. The second first-round pick in franchise history, as they joined the league just last year.
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Johnson now gets to go to a team searching for an identity and a new fanbase looking for players to root for. There are few better people to build a team around, both on and off the court. She has the tools to be a leader for this Valkyries team in just a few seasons.
The Savannah, GA native averaged 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals on 46.5/39.3/69.3 shooting splits. It was a bit of a dip in production, but that was a product of how the team was built. The Tigers got everyone involved, rather than seeing just a few players put up big numbers. When LSU needed Johnson, she stepped up.
As a junior, Johnson averaged 18.6 points on 46.5/38.3/81.0 splits, just to show that she certainly could put up bigger numbers.
Throughout her college career, she played a key role in getting the school's first-ever NCAA championship as a freshman, made two All-American teams and added three All-SEC nods.
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Johnson has now made this five straight WNBA drafts to feature a Tiger, each year of the Kim Mulkey era. Mulkey has completely changed the outlook of this program in every way, and Johnson was a big part of that. This is the third one to feature a first-rounder, joining Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow .
