BATON ROUGE — When LSU women’s basketball brightest star Flau’jae Johnson thinks about teammate Izzy Besselman, selfless is the first word that comes to mind.
Besselman and Johnson have been teammates under Kim Mulkey at LSU for four years. They’ve built a strong sisterhood and on Senior Night, the two watched a video tribute on the jumbotron inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center together after the Tigers beat Tennessee 89-73 on Thursday, Feb. 2.
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For the past two seasons, Besselman hasn’t been able to play as she contends with a heart condition that causes an abnormally high heart rate called inappropriate sinus tachiycardia. But Mulkey wasn’t about let Besselman’s last regular season home game pass without one last sub-in introduction.
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With the game’s result already determined, Besselman checked into the game against the Lady Vols with 45 seconds to go and the crowd erupted.
“It was definitely surreal,” Besselman said after the game. “It felt good to go out there one last time. We have the best fans in the country, so it meant a lot.”
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Mulkey has known Besselman since she was in the second grade when her family would bring her to Mulkey’s basketball camps at Baylor. Fast forward 16 years later, Mulkey had been at LSU for one season after Besselman’s senior year at Episcopal in Baton Rouge and wanted her on the Tigers roster.
At first, Besselman walked-on before Mulkey awarded her a scholarship last season.
“For her to have the heart condition happen, it has to be gut-wrenching for her and her family because we have sent her all over to diagnose what is going on,” Mulkey said. “She’s played this game since she was small and here in her junior year during a physical, this happened.
“What it tells me about Izzy is Izzy’s priorities in life are in order. She loves basketball, she’s got her national championship ring, she got to play in front of her hometown, friends and family, she understands that she’s trying to play basketball when most people that have her condition are just trying to live and survive. Izzy’s great young lady and teammate.”
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There are days when Besselman may be able to do something in practice with the rest of her team. On game days, however, she knows she’s not going to play. But her teammates have benefitted from her continuing to show up and be there.
“Izzy is probably like the most selfless person I know only because she knows every day that she’s literally not going to play,” Johnson said. “She shows up to every film session, she shows up on time ready to go. She always has her opinion about what we’re doing and what we should run. She’s very smart, she’s like another coach out there.
“She does whatever it takes to help us win, whatever we need. I’m happy to have formed a sisterhood with her over the past four years. I’m just proud of her. She’s battling something that a lot of people couldn’t and she faces it every day and has that same energy every day to cheer us on. I would say she’s selfless and I love her very much.”
Besselman likely checked into her final basketball game of her life Thursday night. A throng of cheers rained down on her and her teammates embraced her on the floor. Since it all started for her a couple of years ago, she’s formed a different outlook on everything.
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“I think my perspective definitely changed. It’s different than what it was before,” Besselman said. “Just being a leader, supporter, anything I can for my teammates and just making an impact in any way.”
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Why LSU coach Kim Mulkey subbed Izzy Besselman into Tennessee game
