WATCH: Former teammates Flau’jae Johnson and Hailey Van Lith team up for new Apple Cash NIL collaborations

Hailey Van Lith may have committed to the TCU Horned Frogs going into the 2024–25 season, but her ties with the LSU core were on full display as she paired up with Flau’jae Johnson for an Apple Cash advertisement.

On3 reported the collaboration, which saw Johnson playfully mock her former teammates’ baking skills before transferring a sum to her using the Apple Cash feature.

“Hailey!…You’re a better baller … Than a baker”, wrote the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year. “LOL I’ll stick to ball” the former Tiger responded.

Even On3’s NIL page was quick to acknowledge the different programs that the two stars call home now, with the official post on X reading:

“Although no longer teammates, current LSU star Flau’jae Johnson and former Tiger Hailey van Lith teamed up for a light-hearted NIL deal with Apple Cash.”

The deal adds to the long list of NIL endorsements that Van Lith has secured in her career so far. The list includes:

Tigers NIL Store
Invesco QQQ

Flau’jae Johnson leaps to Hailey Van Lith’s defense

Despite sharing different locker rooms now, Flau’jae has been immensely supportive of Hailey. When the college sports world, including former LSU guard Alex Morris, was raining down on her for her defensive efforts on Caitlin Clark in the Semi-Finals of the NCAA Tournament, the rapper-cum-baller turned to her then-teammate’s defense.

The leading scorer in NCAA history finished with 41 points while adding four rebounds and two assists in the Elite Eight game, overcoming the previous year’s loss to LSU in the NCAA Finals.

But, speaking about her teammate’s effort, Johnson commended the effort and willingness on display from Van Lith to take on an understandably difficult defensive assignment.

“You could not guard that girl for 40 minutes,” Johnson said. “But she stepped up for the challenge at the end of the day. I had to follow the scouting report. Interview over! I’m out of here! Listen, I had to follow the counting report.”

She mentioned having a conversation with head coach Kim Mulkey about the specific matchup as well.

“I talked to my coach after, after we went over it – because we go over the scouting report the night before,” Johnson added. “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.”

Joining Flau’jae in support of the newest TCU star was none other than ESPN’s Andraya Carter, who believed the assignment was unfair to Hailey.

“Hailey Van Liht is 5’7″, Caitlin is 6 foot, Hailey is like I don’t know what you want me to do,” Carter said. “At this point, it didn’t feel fair to Hailey to leave her on an island like that. Not only was Hailey on Caitlin, but post players weren’t coming up so you had a mismatch.”

Do you think the situation was fair for Hailey Van Lith? Let us know in the comments below.