Kim Mulkey is extremely proud of what her alumni, Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow, have achieved in their preseason WNBA debuts. Both players scored at least 20 points in their first WNBA games, just a couple of weeks after they were drafted by the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun, respectively.
The LSU Tigers coach shared a post on her Instagram story highlighting the performances of both players. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 20 points, with three rebounds and one assist for the Seattle Storm in their victory over the Portland Fire 91-81 on Wednesday.
Aneesah Morrow, on the other hand, had 21 points, with seven rebounds and no assists in the Connecticut Sun’s 83-78 win over the Toronto Tempo.
Morrow and Johnson were both first-round picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft this past April 13, being selected seventh and eighth overall, respectively. Both of them had highly decorated All-American college careers, with Johnson having been part of the 2023 LSU national championship-winning squad.
Coach Sonia Raman on Flau’jae Johnson’s debut with the Seattle Storm
It’s safe to say that first-year Seattle Storm head coach Sonia Raman was impressed with Flau’jae Johnson’s performance in her debut. Following her 20-point debut, Raman was asked about her in the game’s aftermath and had this to say:
“She came in confident, and that’s what we love. You can’t teach that. It’s great that she has it. It’s great that it comes from within. And on top of that, we do give her a lot of freedom to be able to go off of feel and instincts, but still within the system.”
“She’s still learning, and there’s certainly things that she needs to improve on, and we’ll work on with her. But you want players to be out there with the utmost confidence. That’s huge.”
Portland’s coach, Zia Cooke, also had nothing but kind words for Kim Mulkey’s former player, calling her “a breath of fresh air.” Some analysts believe that Flau’jae Johnson should be considered a serious candidate to become the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Time will tell, but as debuts go, she could’ve hardly been asked to do more than she did on Wednesday against the Portland Fire.
Seattle plays again on Friday, against the Golden State Valkyries.
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