Kim Mulkey and the LSU women’s basketball program remain in the spotlight following a busy week of Southeastern Conference matchups.
The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season on the road at South Carolina on Friday followed by a bounce back victory over the Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday.
But the main headline from Friday’s loss in Columbia isn’t the program going through defeat for the first time during the 2024-25 season. It’s a seeming “troll” by the Gamecocks’ DJ.
The South Carolina in-house DJ for women’s basketball played a song by the late father of LSU star Flau’jae Johnson during a game between the two contending programs on Friday evening.
“Flau’jae Johnson was not yet born when her father, whose real name is Jason Johnson, was shot and killed in 2003. She has carried on his legacy by also being a musician, in addition to playing basketball, and is signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation,” On3 Sports wrote.
Since Friday, social media has gone to Johnson’s defense following the “troll” job by the South Carolina DJ.
“DJ T.O.” issued an apology over the weekend as did the South Carolina Athletics Department, but LSU head coach Kim Mulkey has also gone to her star guard’s defense.
“We are addressing Friday night’s inappropriate in-game song selection and subsequent Instagram post by the DJ who is hired to work our women’s basketball games. Her actions were understandably upsetting to Flau’Jae Johnson and her family and disrespectful to the LSU program and fans,” South Carolina’s statement read. “Conference rivalries and passionate fan bases should only serve to enhance sports, not be used to target individual players personally. We regret that it came to that in our venue after a game that saw both teams capture the level of national attention that women’s basketball has earned, and we apologize to Flau’Jae, her family and LSU.
“As a result of her actions, DJ T.O. will be suspended for the next women’s basketball home game, and we will meet with her to provide further education on our expectations of her in the future.”
“I apologize for playing Cut Friends Instrumental at the game yesterday,” DJ T.O. wrote Saturday on social media. “It is never my intent to disrespect anyone or offend anyone when my job is to have fun and make sure other people have a good time. I’m from the Lowcountry/C-Port area so I’ve been playing it for years, even at other games, but I shouldn’t have played it at yesterday’s game.
“I play it on every radio station I’ve ever done from NC, GA, & SC & grew up on Camoflauge so it’s never played with ill intent or as a joke. I can’t control how anyone takes it but I can take responsibility & apologize.”
“All I care about is Flau’jae,” Mulkey said following Sunday’s game against Texas A&M. “All I care about is her family. What South Carolina does is South Carolina’s doings. I love that kid.
“I cannot imagine her thoughts when it went down. But she’s just so joyful. She is so wonderful for LSU and our game. And yeah, I love that child, and I love her parents. That’s my comment on it.”
Johnson is averaging a career-high 19.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists on the season with the LSU Tigers advancing to 21-1 after a victory over Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon.
LSU Adds Commitments From Seven Top-100 Transfers in the Portal
LSU Dishes Out Offer to No. 1 Quarterback in America
Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a “Sleeper” Ahead of 2024 Season
Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.
NORMAN — Coach Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners will face No. 22-ranked Missouri at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.OU (16-7, 3-7 SEC) suffered a 70-52
We are in the home stretch. IHSA state tourna
Texas Tech basketball coach Grant McCasland previews Arizona StateTexas Tech basketball coach Grant McCasland previews Arizona StateThe 12th-ranked Texas Tech b
Arizona's loss to Kansas State was costly — but the Wildcats can quickly make up for it. After losing 73-70 on Tuesday night, Arizona (17-7, 11-2) dropped thr