LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson can only describe the last few weeks as "life-changing" since she and the Tigers won the NCAA Championship.
"It's been amazing. This is the moment that I've been working for," Johnson, 19, tells PEOPLE.
She and her teammates captured the attention of millions of viewers — 9.9 million to be specific, including some major stars.
Johnson says "quite a few" A-listers have reached out to her since the win. "Teddy Riley hit me up, which was kind of insane. He's worked with the greatest of the legends," says the athlete and rapper.
"One of my favorite artists, Kehlani, told me that she loved what I'm doing," Johnson shares. "She said she loves my music, loves my basketball, so that was crazy to me."
Johnson, whose song "Big 4" played in the arena after LSU's win, says "it's been amazing" to receive positive feedback from the people she looks up to, especially musically.
"Lil Baby reposted my stuff, that was crazy, and Nicki Minaj as well," she says. "Everybody's just been showing a lot of love."
Johnson's song caught the attention of rapper Lil Wayne, who reached out to her about collaborating on a song.
As of Wednesday, Johnson is still deciding which songs to send to the rapper. "I don't want to just send anything Lil Wayne, so I'm trying to make sure whatever I send is something big," she says.
"I feel like this could be my entrance to the industry, and I want to make it a good one."
The LSU freshman tells PEOPLE the outpour of support from celebrities, fans, and athletes took her by surprise. "I didn't expect it at all, it's actually insane," says Johnson.
"I didn't know the weight that being a national champ held, but man, it's just been amazing. All the benefits that I'm able to reap from this, especially from NIL and things like that. We had 10-million viewers watching our game," Johnson explains.
The LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 to win the 2023 NCAA Championship in Houston.
