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Before Flau'jae Johnson thrived for LSU women's basketball, she was a baseball phenom
- Story byThe Daily Advertiser
- Before Flau'jae Johnson thrived for LSU women's basketball, she was a baseball phenom
Ballplayers from the other teams finished their games and crammed along the chain-linked fence to catch a glimpse of the talk of the park.
Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club baseball team had become a can't-miss attraction at Chatham County Park in Savannah and other fields around Georgia.
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The team beamed with talent, but it was the pitcher who stole the show. FCBC's ace was the lone girl on the squad, Flau'jae Johnson .
Yes, the LSU women's basketball star commanded attention long before she signed on as a rapper with Roc Nation, Jay-Z's label or blossomed into the No. 26 high school basketball recruit in the country and a McDonald's All-American out of Sprayberry High School in Marietta.
Long before, of course, she became the SEC's freshman of the year or returned No. 3 seed LSU (30-2) to March Madness' Sweet 16, where the Tigers will face No. 2 seed Utah (27-4) on Friday (4 p.m. CT, ESPN).
The spotlight gravitated to her, and it first shined brightest on her on the baseball field.
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'Talk of the park'
Johnson played with FCBC from ages 6 to 12, before ultimately moving on to basketball.
Her mother, Kia Brooks, remembers the smile on her daughter's face as she began her journey with her friends on the diamond. After all, Johnson had just been through something she detested.
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"I hated ballet," Johnson laughingly shrieked. "I don't even mention it. She put me in this ballet thing, and she made me wear this bun and all this makeup. I hated it. I cried right after the recital. Only did the one and it was done."
Her friends were involved at the boys and girls club, playing baseball, and Johnson talked her mom into joining them.
LSU women's basketball freshman Flau'jae Johnson got her start playing baseball in little league.
It didn't take long before she made an impression.
"She was a natural, all-around talent," Brooks said. "It just so happened, she was really good at it. She wanted to play with her friends, and it was like, 'Damn, this girl is pretty good.'"
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Her youth baseball coach Maurice Kirkland saw Johnson's competitiveness from the outset.
"We had other guys throw the ball for us, but she just threw the ball with an attitude," said Kirkland, who in 16 years hadn't coached another girl on his team other than Johnson until this year. "She made it her business to throw the ball as hard as she could playing with the boys. And she was striking these boys out.
"Our team was good as a whole but she was becoming the talk of the park. It got to one point where other teams' games would be over and they would come to the fence and watch us play. After the game they're asking her to sign autographs. She's 8, 9 years old. She's been that person that's always had the spotlight."
'Flau'jae just wants to win'
At first, most boys around the ballpark couldn't believe how good Johnson was. It wasn't just her pitching. As Kirkland puts it, she was also one of the team's best hitters.
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"(Baseball) showed her what she was capable of and that she's athletic across the board," Brooks said. "It showed her talent. She is an athlete and super competitor who wants to win no matter what she's doing. She just so happen to always be the dominate player on her team.
"But she's a team player. She don't care about that, Flau'jae just wants to win."
And the Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club baseball team won with Johnson a lot. Over her six years with the program, Kirkland said the team won five championships between county and city leagues.
Flau'jae Johnson receives a trophy playing with the Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club from Savannah, Georgia.
"During that time, she was our consistent pitcher. And when she wasn't pitching, she'd volunteer to play catcher," Kirkland said. "She's fearless and she'd try it all. She wasn't scared to try it."
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'When the lights come on, it's on'
Baseball ultimately was the perfect precursor for Johnson, who became the first girl to have her basketball jersey number retired at Sprayberry High School after notching a school-record 1,615 career points.
Johnson credited her start in baseball with setting her up to excel athletically.
"Being an athlete, knowing where the ball was going to go, jumping high, running fast. I think it all ties into what I'm doing now," Johnson said. "I think it's just movement."
Not only did she follow up her budding youth baseball career with a phenomenal high school basketball career, she signed with LSU and became a day-one starter for legendary coach Kim Mulkey.
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Johnson's the Tigers' third leading scorer behind Angel Reese and senior point guard Alexis Morris in her first collegiate season.
In her first NCAA Tournament game against Hawaii last weekend, Johnson thrived with one her best all-around performances: 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in the 73-50 win for LSU.
It was the biggest stage of her young college basketball career, but no one who knows her was surprised how she flourished.
Johnson has always done it.
"It's something you always saw. Her relentlessness, competitiveness, she's going to put on a show," Kirkland said. "She might be quiet for a while but it's only a matter of time. She's streaky and she can go off. When she does, she don't go off.
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"When the light comes on, it's on."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU women's basketball: Flau'jae Johnson was first a baseball phenom
