Savannah's Flau'jae Johnson returns to give back with Back to School event
· Yahoo Sports
It was the fourth annual Back to School Giveback put on by Savannah's most famous No. 4 ― Flau'jae Johnson, the native of the Hostess City who is a standout rookie guard with the WNBA's Seattle Storm, while a growing star in her career as a rap artist.
The 22-year old Johnson is following in the musical footsteps of her father, Camouflage, the Savannah rapping legend who was killed in 2003 at the age of 21. Flau'jae has a recent release called "Remember When" that touches on how tough it was for her mother to raise her and how she tries to carry on his name.
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Flau'jae created her own legacy on the basketball court as she learned the fundamentals of the game as a youngster at Savannah's Frank Callen Boy's & Girls Club. She moved to Atlanta and played high school ball at Sprayberry High, where she became a McDonald's All-American. The 4-star recruit signed with LSU and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023, as she helped lead the Tigers to an NCAA title.
In April, Flau'jae was invited to New York City as one of 15 players on site for the WNBA Draft, She was selected in the first round, with the eighth overall pick, by the Golden State Valkyries, and was traded later the same night to the Seattle Storm.
Flau'jae's event Sunday at Enmarket Arena came on the WNBA's All-Star weekend. She may have to pick a different date for next year because she is already performing at an All-Star level ― averaging 13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
"The biggest adjustment playing in the WNBA has been the amount of games we play and just taking care of your body," Johnson said. "I feel like I was ready because coming out of college and playing in the SEC is like a gauntlet ― playing great teams night in and night out. We had the most draft picks in the last draft. I think I'm used to playing against high caliber players, but now they're just more experienced and smarter players, so that has also been an adjustment there."
This was the fourth annual Back to School Giveback, put on by More to 4 ― The Flau'jae Johnson Foundation, a non-profit that she founded to help give back to communities like her hometown of Savannah.
It was the biggest one yet as thousands showed up to Enmarket Arena for the free event where students were able to pick up free backpacks, shoes, school supplies and uniforms, while free haircuts and braiding were also available.
Flau'jae took hundreds of photos with attendees with a constant smile on her face, and gave out hundreds of autographed photos.
Cleja Duncan, a 15-year-old girls who attends Beach High School, waited patiently in line for her chance to meet Flau'jae and get her picture taken with her.
"We just wanted to see her," Duncan said. "She's an inspiration for us."
Amya Blue of Beaufort, S.C. brought her kids, Za'Niyah, 9, and Antonio, 10, who were thrilled when they got Flau'jae's autographed photos.
"I've followed her journey and wanted them to meet her," Blue said.
Flau'jae said giving back to her hometown is one of her top priorities.
"It's important for the kids to see me and to see that once you do it big ― you come back and you give back and support your community," she said. "I think that if I do that, then the next kid who makes it will do that and it will create a ripple effect of positive change."
Flau'jae was caught off guard while taking pictures with the endless line of kids when Raudy Perez, of Experian, one of the event's sponsors, cut in line to present Flau'jae and her foundation with an oversized check ― a donation of $50,000.
"Shout out to my partners at Experian, that means so much to me," she said. "People see the intentionality of what I'm doing and they want to support it. This is going to help so many people."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's Flau'jae Johnson returns to give back with Back to School event