Why Raven Johnson, in her last Gamecocks basketball season, is at her best
As the college basketball season approaches, so does Raven Johnson’s last ride.
The senior could’ve given the pros a shot but opted to return to South Carolina women’s basketball this year, using another year of eligibility after an early injury her freshman year caused her to redshirt the 2021-22 season.
Johnson is a veteran presence for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks. She’s played in 114 games for South Carolina and started in 77 of those.
After the first official day of practice on Sept. 22, Staley said she believes Johnson is at her best heading into the 2025-26 season.
“I think she’s probably in the best, probably physical, mental (shape) like, just complete,” Staley said. “...We’d like for her to have gotten here a little sooner, but that’s her process. But we need her the most, the way she is right now for our team this year.”
Johnson said she feels “a lot different” as she prepares for her final year with the Gamecocks.
“I’m very excited about my progression and what I’m seeing for myself,” Johnson said. “A lot of work this summer and it’s showing.”
What did Johnson spend the most time working on this summer? She kept it simple: scoring.
“I’m about to put that ball in the basket,” Johnson said.
Raven Johnson’s career at South Carolina
Johnson had the best offensive season of her career in the 2023-2024 season (her redshirt sophomore year). She earned All-SEC honors after averaged a career-high 8.1 points and tallied career-bets in shooting percentage (44.3%) and effective field goal percentage (49.4).
But those numbers tumbled in 2024-25.
Last season, Johnson had arguably the worst offensive season of her career. She averaged 4.9 points per game and her field goal percentage (35%), 3-point percentage (29.5%) and effective field goal percentage (40.3%) were all career-lows.
As such, Johnson is hoping to show improvement this season on the offensive side of the ball.
“I think this offseason, I was very much focused on details of scoring, really,” Johnson said. “Being consistent…I feel like if I look for myself a little bit more, it will open up others. So working on my shot. I mean, when people sag off me, I’m ready to knock the shot down. So just little things like that. But really, just focusing on scoring.”
It’s fair to say Johnson is best known for her defensive prowess and general ability to efficiently lead Staley’s offense on the court. Johnson earned an All-SEC defensive team nod last year after averaging 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and just under one block a game for South Carolina.
She is currently No. 10 in the South Carolina program record book with 410 assists in her career. Johnson also has the most career assists (54) and career steals (30) in NCAA Tournament games in program history.
“It’s important for our point guards to have a voice on our teams,” Staley said. “Raven in her last season, she’s been in the gym, she’s been working. And not only do we need her voice, we need her example of how to play the position and how to run our basketball team, and she’s giving it her best shot.”
Gamecocks’ goal of getting back to the national championship
South Carolina is coming off a year where it went 35-4 and lost in the national championship to UConn. The Gamecocks advanced to their fifth-straight Final Four in the process and are hoping to keep that streak alive, Johnson said.
“That’s the goal, to get back to the national championship, and it’s very hard to get back there,” Johnson said. “So that’s what we’re doing in the summer, in the preseason. This preseason was very hard for us. The stuff we did is gonna prepare us for March Madness.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
