The sophomore slump was something real to LSU gymnast KJ Johnson, but it wasn't because of any real lessening of her skill or performances in her second season on campus.

Instead KJ felt the internal pressure to be better than she was during her breakout freshman year at LSU.

"The start of the season was not really the outcome I was expecting," Johnson said of the beginning to the 2023 season. "I felt like I had to compete against the person I was last year, I guess all of the accomplishments I had from last year, my freshman year,  I felt like I had to achieve that, if not more, like be better than I was last year."

Johnson said she put pressure on herself and that it was actually having a negative effect on her performances. "I didn't feel like my gymnastics was better, I felt like it was coming harder, like the endurance is coming harder, the strength is coming harder. I didn't feel like I was performing at my best and so I felt like I was a little bit of a downgrade of what I was my freshman year."

Johnson has never been a bubbly persona on the mat, but even family members saw the visual changes her emotional approach was having on her competitions.

"My uncle actually made a comment to me that when he was watching my routines and like like watching me out on the floor, he just you said I looked so dead. I looked like I wasn't happy to be here. He was saying that I wasn't smiling enough. And so he kind of just told me like, just to relax and just like do my regular gymnastics and try to look like I'm having fun, which I am having fun, but sometimes I get too much in my head."

Johnson says she's tried to listen to her uncles advice and it's paying off.  "The competition against Missouri where I was able to just like, let loose and have fun and like I focused on smiling a lot more and I focused on like, letting go of all of the overthinking moments that I was having before floor and vault and so I think it was like a really good successful meet that I needed in order for me to just, you know, see that that I can do in competition and not just like our intersquad or practice. It helps me overcome a lot of that."

LSU head gymnastics coach Jay Clark has seen the difference the softened approach has made recently in Johnson's gymnastics. "The last two weeks really she started to look like her," Clark said of Johnson's performances.  "There's more joy there's, she's a little more relaxed, and it's it's coming across in her performance."

Johnson just earned SEC Specialist of the Week honors from the Southeastern Conference for her floor routine against Georgia where she scored a 9.95. 

LSU will travel to Auburn for a Friday night meet against the Tigers in Alabama.

Southern University shared the passing of former athletic director Floyd Kerr on Tuesday evening, Kerr was 76 years old.

Kerr helped guide the Jaguars through stadium renovations to Mumford Stadium as well as NCAA academic reforms on campus from 2000 to 2005.

Kerr was vital to Southern’s athletics fundraising as well, helping implement the first Jag-A-Thon. 

More information from Southern's release can be found below:

In 2004, Kerr was named one of the 101 Most Important Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated. He was selected for his role in revamping Southern’s athletics department by tightening operations and stressing academics, which led to a more than 50 percent increase in the student-athlete graduation rate. 

A native of Oxford, Mississippi, Kerr held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Colorado State University. He was an All-American collegiate basketball player who was drafted by the Phoenix Suns (NBA), Utah Star (ABA), and Dallas Cowboys (NFL). Kerr was also an accomplished actor and visual artist. 

Kerr became the first Black person to serve on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Colorado State University, in 1974. Prior to his retirement in 2016, Kerr served as director of athletics at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Kerr was married to Vivian Kerr, director of museums for the Southern University System. 

BATON ROUGE — Kim Mulkey and her LSU Tiger basketball team held steady at No. 3 in the latest Associated Press poll released on Monday, setting up a No. 1 vs. No. 3 on Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina.

LSU moved to 23-0 and 11-0 in the SEC with a 72-66 win over Texas A&M Sunday afternoon in College Station, Texas. 

Despite the win on the road, LSU was leap-frogged by Indiana who was in fourth place in the poll.  The Hoosiers moved to second in the rankings when Stanford loss for the third time this season falling back four spots to sixth.

“We played three tough teams in seven days and won all three,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “I think for the last two weeks that the opponents are really playing extremely hard. They’re playing with a lot of energy and excitement. I asked the team why they think that’s taking place and I said, ‘understand what’s taking place here; You are becoming relevant in women’s basketball.’”

LSU will face No. 1 South Carolina Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. on ESPN in Colonial Life Arena, which has sold out of its capacity of 18,000.

Below are the current rankings for Feb. 6:

1. South Carolina

2. Indiana

3. LSU

4. UConn

5. Iowa

6. Stanford

7. Utah

8. Maryland

9. Duke

10. Notre Dame

11. Virginia Tech

12. Michigan

13. Ohio State

14. North Carolina

15. Villanova

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 3 LSU (23-0, 11-0 SEC) continued its assault on the women's college basketball world by remaining undefeated in a 72-66 win over Texas A&M Sunday afternoon. 

“We played three tough teams in seven days and won all three,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “I think for the last two weeks that the opponents are really playing extremely hard. They’re playing with a lot of energy and excitement. I asked the team why they think that’s taking place and I said, ‘understand what’s taking place here; You are becoming relevant in women’s basketball.’”

Angel Reese put together her third 20 and 20 performance of the season as she tallied 26 and hauled in 22 boards in the win. Reese broke an LSU-record 28 rebounds in her last outing against the Aggies earlier this season.  

Alexis Morris followed with 22 points on 8-11 shooting in her return to Reed Arena. The Texas native played her junior season (2020-21) at Texas A&M before transferring to LSU last season. 

Flau’jae Johnson was the only other Tiger to break the double-digit mark with 11 points and 6 boards.