South Carolina senior guard Raven Johnson played her final game for South Carolina in Sunday's national championship game, capping off an unforgettable five-year tenure with the Gamecocks that included two national championships, five Final Fours and three SEC Tournament titles.
"She's probably the one that I'll miss the most out of all the players I've coached," head coach Dawn Staley said after South Carolina's win over LSU on Feb. 14.
Johnson scored a then-career-high 19 points in that game, tacking on seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. That career high in points was bested less than a month later in the SEC Tournament semifinal, when she scored 22 points and dished out eight assists.
"I'm thinking about winning," Johnson said. "If I've got to defend, if I've got to score, whatever it takes. If I've got to rebound, that's what I'll do. I'm just thinking about winning."
She was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year this past season as she capped off a collegiate career that included 232 steals, the eighth most by a player in program history.
Additionally, her 612 career assists rank third, and her 153 total games played ranks second in school history. Her career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.86 is the best mark by any Gamecock ever.
Johnson posted career-best numbers in various categories in her senior season, notching 9.9 points per game on 48.6% shooting from the field and 39.8% from the 3-point line. An average of 5.1 assists per game also marked a career high.
In this year's NCAA Sacramento 4 Regional, which included the Gamecocks' Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma and Elite Eight game against TCU, Johnson was named Most Outstanding Player after posting 14.0 points per game on 52.2% shooting.
She shot 66.7 percent (4-6) from 3-point range, grabbing 5.0 rebounds and dishing out 4.5 assists per game. The success propelled South Carolina to its sixth straight Final Four.
Doubt the Raven, nevermore
The Raven Johnson that leaves South Carolina as an all-time great wasn't always regarded with such praise. Prior to this year, Johnson had averaged more than 5 points per game in just one season. She had shot below 30% from beyond the arc in two of her three full seasons, averaging a then-best 0.8 made 3-pointers per game in 2023-24.
Thrust into the national spotlight as a redshirt freshman, Johnson was tasked with guarding Iowa superstar guard Caitlin Clark in the 2023 national semifinal. The matchup between the two went viral online when Clark waved off Johnson from the 3-point line.
"I remember watching that game over and over and over and over and over and over," Johnson said. "What happened to me was the best thing to ever happen to me ... I think it put a chip on my shoulder to just get in the gym and get better."
Johnson and the Gamecocks deemed the 2023-24 season a "revenge tour" following their loss to Iowa in 2023. South Carolina then went on a 43-game win streak, including a 38-0 perfect season resulting in a national championship victory against none other than Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
In that 2024 national championship game, Clark set a championship record by scoring 18 points in the first quarter. To start the second, Staley moved Johnson onto Clark, a decision that helped South Carolina outscore Iowa by 10 in the period.
Over the course of the rest of the game, Clark shot 5-20 from the field and turned the ball over four times when Johnson was the primary defender.
"I studied her moves, and I was ready," Johnson said. "I had confidence this year. I was telling myself last year was not going to happen again."
She was right. South Carolina has won its national semifinal game and reached the national championship in three consecutive seasons. This past season held meaning for more personal reasons to Johnson, however.
The power of friendship
Johnson was joined in South Carolina's backcourt by senior guard Ta'Niya Latson, a transfer from Florida State who led the nation in scoring a year prior, with 25.2 points per game.
Latson and Johnson won three state titles together as teammates in high school, and after three years with the Seminoles, Latson decided to forgo her role as a nation-best scorer to pursue a national championship with Johnson.
"We were best friends the day we met," Latson said. "I was 14. She was 15. I owe a lot to Raven. It was times where I wanted to quit, and she picked me up."
Latson's total field-goal attempts dropped by over 200, and her scoring average dropped by over 10 points per game in her decision to join South Carolina. That decrease in usage was something Latson was willing to accept in pursuit of a national championship.
"They are great humans," Staley said of Latson and Johnson. "They're people that you want to play with ... They're winners."
The addition of Latson to the Gamecocks' roster fostered Johnson's best statistical season of her career, but the team's success with Johnson at the helm was nothing out of the ordinary. Johnson closed out her college career 109-8 as the team's starting point guard, including a 20-3 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Unforgettable impact
Despite a loss in the national championship game, Johnson ends her career having won 94% of her games while at South Carolina. She caps off a five-year stint with the Gamecocks that saw the team dominate throughout the 2020s.
"I don't think there's a player in the history of our game that has, over one year, moved up in the draft in that way," Staley said. "She became an All-American, she became a household name ... Raven fits the bill to take any franchise that's in a losing situation, making them a winner."
Johnson will almost certainly hear her name called Monday in New York at the WNBA Draft, and Staley is looking forward to seeing her play at the next level.
"It's sad to see an era come to an end," Staley said. "I can't wait to get my Atlanta Dream tickets and make my way up to Atlanta to see her play."