‘She is a phenomenal person’: Raven Johnson reunites with Aliyah Boston in WNBA
While Raven Johnson’s basketball journey is taking her to a new place, she’ll see at least one familiar face when she gets there.
The former South Carolina star was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday. The selection reunites Johnson with her former Gamecock teammate Aliyah Boston.
Johnson and Boston overlapped for two seasons at South Carolina. The Gamecocks put together a 71-3 record in that time and won a national title in 2022. Johnson played a crucial part in bridging the gap between the Boston-led era — the class often referred to as “The Freshies” — and the current edition of Dawn Staley’s program.
“(Boston) has taught me so much through my college experience,” Johnson said after the draft. “She taught me what pro habits were. She taught me that you have to bring those habits every day to practice. Not even in basketball, just being a great human being. I think that goes a long way. She taught me those things, her leadership, her role model, it goes a long way.”
Boston posted a brief message on her Instagram story shortly after the pick was made indicating her excitement to reunite with Johnson in the pros.
“She is a phenomenal person,” Johnson continued. “She instills so much in young people. There’s no way you don’t want to play with somebody like that, or just be or just look up to somebody like that.”
There will be at least one more Gamecock connection for Johnson and Boston on the Fever’s roster this upcoming WNBA season.
Indiana signed guard Tyasha Harris in free agency just before the draft. Harris was an All-American at South Carolina and overlapped with Boston for the latter’s freshman season. Johnson’s former teammate Bree Hall was drafted by the Fever in the second round last year and ended the season with the team after being cut out of training camp. That being said, it’s unclear as of now if Hall will be with the Fever in training camp.
Regardless, having a familiar face in Boston and at least one other connection in Harris will likely make the transition to the pros that much easier for Johnson. The WNBA offseason goes by quickly, as training camps are set to open on April 19 before the regular season starts May 8.
Indiana Fever brass on selecting Raven Johnson
Johnson didn’t exactly fall, so to speak, on draft night but she was expected by some to go a few picks earlier. A few different mock drafts had Johnson being taken a bit further inside the Top 10, one had her being selected as early as No. 6 by the Toronto Temp.
Indiana Fever general manager Amber Cox expected Johnson to go earlier but was pleased when she was available at the No. 10 slot.
“I think 10 is an interesting place to pick,” Cox told reporters. “You do have to think about fit, but you’re also kind of at the mercy of everybody picking before you. But again, when we are going through the list and you’re charting at the very top of who you think is going to go where, we really thought Raven was going to be in that upper half of the first round. We knew if we had the opportunity, we were going to take her. We felt like, yes, best available, but also a great fit for us.”
Johnson brings a winning pedigree to a franchise that nearly made the WNBA Finals last season.
She played in 154 games at South Carolina, went to five Final Fours and won two national titles. Johnson was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year this season and earned All-American honors from the Associated Press and WBCA.
All that winning stuck out to Cox and Fever head coach Stephanie White.
“She is the Defensive Player of the Year. She is a leader. She’s a competitor on one of the greatest programs in college basketball,” Cox said. “She’s won at the highest level, and has continued to just grow her game and to watch her this year, take her game to the next level. Lead South Carolina. Man, we were just so pumped when she was there at 10.”
Johnson will join a Fever team that has a loaded backcourt, highlighted by star Caitlin Clark. Johnson and Clark faced off twice on the national stage during their college years. Clark and Iowa beat Johnson and South Carolina in the 2023 Final Four before the Gamecocks got their revenge with a national title win over the Hawkeyes in 2024.
White said adding Johnson to the team bolsters the backcourt and her versatility will help Indiana’s rotations throughout the season.
“First and foremost, she’s a winner,” White said. “She’s won at every level. She’s set the tone at every level. You know, she’s immediately ready on the defensive end of the floor, which is something that we need. We need somebody who can come in and make an impact on that end of the floor. She’s been a true point guard, playing for the greatest point guard that’s played the game…She’s experienced in big time moments. Really, really excited she fell to us.”
