Raven Johnson (born March 4, 2003) is an American
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
player for the
South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I.
The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...
of the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
(SEC).
High school career
Johnson played basketball for
Westlake High School in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
. She played alongside
Ta'Niya Latson and helped her team win four straight state titles. Johnson was twice named
Miss Georgia Basketball Each year the Miss Georgia Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school girls basketball player in the U.S. state of Georgia. The award winner is selected by members of the Atlanta Tip Off Club.
Award winners
See also
M ...
by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' All-Classification Player of the Year. As a senior, she received
Naismith Prep Player of the Year
The Naismith Prep Player of the Year award, named for Canadian basketball inventor James Naismith, is given annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to high school basketball's top male and female player. The inaugural awards were given to Dennis Scott ...
and Georgia
Gatorade Player of the Year
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...
honors and was a
McDonald's All-American
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburge ...
selection.
Recruiting
Johnson was rated a five-star
recruit, the number two player and the top
point guard in the 2021 class by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. On June 25, 2020, she committed to play
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
.
College career
Johnson suffered a season-ending left knee injury in her second career game with South Carolina. Despite her absence, her team won the
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
. In her
redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
freshman season, Johnson became a key
reserve for the Gamecocks. On February 5, 2023, she recorded a season-high 14 points and seven assists in an 81–77 win against
UConn
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
. Johnson scored 13 points in a 77–73 loss to
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
at the Final Four of the
2023 NCAA tournament. As a freshman, she averaged 4.2 points, 3.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game, earning
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
(SEC) All-Freshman honors.
National team career
Johnson was named to the
United States national team
The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.
Olympic teams
Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...
for the
2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup
The 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Women's AmeriCup, which is the main tournament for senior women's basketball national teams of the FIBA Americas. It was held from 1 to 9 July 2023 in León, Mexico.
Brazil won thei ...
in Mexico.
[ She averaged 5.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, helping her team win the silver medal.
]
Career statistics
College
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2021–22
, style="text-align:left;", South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="12" , ''Did not play due to injury''
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
, style="text-align:left;", South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
, 36 , , 3, , 18.7 , , 43.8 , , 24.1 , , 65.4, , 2.6 , , 3.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 1.4 , , 4.2
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2023–24
, style="text-align:left;", South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
, 37 , , 35, , 27.9 , , 44.3, , 35.0 , , 61.2 , , 5.2 , , 4.8 , , 2.1 , , 0.2 , , 1.6 , , 8.1
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 75, , 38, , 22.9, , 41.4, , 30.4, , 62.7, , 3.8, , 4.0, , 1.6, , 0.3, , 1.5, , 6.0
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference
Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro ...
.
Personal life
In 2023 and 2024, Johnson attended Kelsey Plum
Kelsey Christine Plum (born August 24, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She won a WNBA championship in 2022, when she earned her first All-WNBA F ...
's Dawg Class, an Under Armour
Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...
-sponsored camp to help top women college athletes transition from collegiate to professional basketball.
References
External links
South Carolina Gamecocks bio
USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Raven
2003 births
Living people
American women's basketball players
Basketball players from Atlanta
South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Point guards
United States women's national basketball team players
Westlake High School (Georgia) alumni
21st-century American sportswomen