Over the weekend, former LSU basketball player Hailey Van Lith finally confirmed she’s transferring to TCU.
It didn’t take long before her former Tigers teammates started reacting to the news. Former LSU star Angel Reese took to social media right after Van Lith’s announcement to praise her decision.
“Proud of you,” Reese wrote on X. “You know what to do & you know I’m always rocking with you.”
Fast forward a few days and LSU star Flau’jae Johnson got into the discussion as well. Pressed on a podcast about Van Lith’s struggles against Caitlin Clark, Johnson defended her teammate.
“You could not guard that girl for 40 minutes. But she stepped up for the challenge at the end of the day,” she said. “I had to follow the scouting report. Interview over! I’m out of here! Listen, I had to follow the counting report. I talked to my coach after, after we went over it – because we go over the scouting report the night before. For me, it was just like being a supportive teammate … I thought about it, and I was like, I just gotta trust the game plan.”
Fans loved that Johnson came to the defense of her teammate.
“We’re not going to act like Hailey wasn’t playing solid defense. That was one thing she was doing very well. Caitlin just made some tough shots,” one fan said.
“Mad respect for Flau’jae,” said another.
“She is such a good teammate for this,” offered a third.
Flau’jae will be back for the Tigers next season as Van Lith heads off to TCU.