Flau’jae Johnson talks about first NIL deal, negotiations with mom

Flau’jae Johnson has been making moves with NIL before she even got the college. The LSU star signed her first contract, a shoe deal with Puma, while finishing up her senior year at Sprayberry High School in Savannah, Georgia.

It was around a year after NIL went into effect when Johnson inked the deal with Puma. She had already gained name recognition as a McDonald’s All-American on the court as well as a burgeoning music career.

Johnson is a rapper who appeared on television shows America’s Got Talent and The Rap Game as a teenager. It was that combined with a matter of timing that companies were just beginning to enter the NIL space that allowed her the opportunity.

“I was doing negotiations and studying for exams in high school,” she told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. “The year that I was going into college was when NIL had really became — people wasn’t scared to dibble and dabble in it. I got my shoe deal and it was one of a kind. I was so blessed. I was going to a Nike school and still having a shoe deal was crazy.”

Johnson credits her mother, Kia J. Brooks, for helping her navigate the business side of things early in her career. Brooks owns a marketing company, TFNA Management, and was there to help her daughter through the negotiations.

Having someone in her corner who clearly had her best interests at heart gave Johnson the confidence she needed to dive headfirst into the NIL space.

“Momma’s gonna make sure it’s right and my momma don’t play,” she said. “But my momma, she take her percentage or whatever because she said, ‘Baby, this is my business now.’ But she handles it. My momma’s the one.”

Johnson wasn’t sure at first whether she wanted to continue to pursue music when she got to college. However, it was Brooks who was there to tell her that doing both was not only possible, but that she would be a star.

Now that she’s two years in, it’s hard to imagine it going any other way.

Johnson leads all women’s basketball players and ranks No. 14 among college athletes with an NIL valuation of 1.2 million according to On3. She’s certainly come a long way since signing that Puma deal, and thanks to her mom, she’s only continuing to rise.

“My mom, she always told me ‘You can make it happen,'” Johnson said. “I kind of see that growing up. My mom raised me and my brother by herself after my father was murdered. She made it happen for us. I said I wanted to rap and she quit her job and got me on TV shows. I wanna play basketball and I don’t wanna rap no more, she’s like, ‘No, baby, you’re gonna do both. You’re gonna be one of the biggest stars in the world.’ That’s what she told me.

“So my momma kind of conjured up this whole plan and I just happen to be extremely talented in music and an exceptional hard worker on the basketball court.”