Fever Add a Winner in Raven Johnson
WNBA Indiana Fever

Fever Add a Winner in Raven Johnson

Published on April 13, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release


After five years at South Carolina under the tutelage of Dawn Staley, Raven Johnson's dream of playing professional basketball was realized on Monday. She's headed to Indiana, where she'll join a gritty backcourt in pursuit of a WNBA title.

"To hear your name get called, you dream of times like this," Johnson said. "As a little girl, I've seen people in front of me that [got] their names called and I always said that I wanted to be that person one day. So for a team to believe in me and draft me, it means a lot. I just want to say thank you to Indiana."

The 5-foot-8 guard brings a winning resume to the Circle City - she played in three National Championship games while at South Carolina, and celebrated two national titles with the Gamecocks. In Johnson's five seasons wearing scarlet and black, South Carolina won the SEC all five times.

"She's just a winner," coach Stephanie White said of Johnson. "When you have players that understand how to win...they know how to play with other great players. It's going to impact our team."

Johnson will reunite with former South Carolina teammate Aliyah Boston in Indiana after the pair spent two seasons together in Columbia. Those two seasons brought the Gamecocks a National Championship in 2022 and a Final Four appearance in 2023.

Johnson's freshman season was derailed early on by a knee injury that would sideline her for the year. In spite of her personal adversity, Johnson remained committed to the Gamecocks as she celebrated a 2022 National Championship from the bench. Boston helped shepherd her through those early seasons in the NCAA.

"She has taught me so much through my college experience," Johnson said. "She taught me what pro habits are. She taught me that you have to bring those habits every day to practice....She is a phenomenal person. She instills so much in young people. There's no way you don't want to play with somebody like that or just look up to somebody like that."

That level of comfortability and respect between the young guard and post makes for an easier transition into Fever training camp as Johnson begins her professional career. She joins a strong cohort of guards already in the Fever locker room, and looks forward to gleaning information from those veterans of the game.

"Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell - I think I'll learn a lot from them," Johnson said. "I'm going to be a sponge. I'm probably going to be gnat, too, because I'm going to ask them a lot of questions...They like to win. I think that that's really big."

Johnson didn't stumble into success. Before her five seasons at South Carolina, she led her Atlanta high school to four straight state titles. She was Miss Georgia Basketball twice, and finished her high school career with a 112-4 record.

It's no question that her winning attitude will fit into a Fever team with championship aspirations. Indiana likes to win, but so does Raven Johnson. The tenth overall pick in the 2026 WNBA draft is headed to Indy, and she knows what it takes to reach the mountaintop.

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