South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley once explained why one of her players needed to be more ‘selfish’ while playing. During the 2024 SEC Media Days, coach Staley held a press conference where she was asked about the next step of elevation for guard Raven Johnson, who was entering her fourth season of college basketball ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Staley said Johnson, who is known to be a standout facilitator, should become more selfish with the basketball. This is because Staley already knows that Johnson is a capable passer and has seen flashes of her skillful scoring prowess. The 55-year-old then shared that she hopes to see this transformation during actual college basketball games.
“The next step, I think Raven needs to be a little more selfish and take some more shots. I thought she did a great job yesterday of mixing it up, of distributing the basketball and being greedy a little bit, keeping, you know, her opponent off guard. Because, if you look at Raven, she is very, very, very unselfish,” Staley explained (4:12).
“So, she would much rather pass the basketball, and sometimes when you get in as a point guard, you get in the mode of that, you miss out on some scoring opportunities just to keep the defense honest. So that is the next step for her, and she’s working that in practice, and it was good to see her do some of that in stretches to the game last night,” she concluded.
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Staley, Johnson, and the rest of the Gamecocks went on to have another successful year in the 2024-25 campaign. They finished with an overall record of 35-4 (15-1 SEC) and went on to once again win the conference regular season championship and conference tournament title.
Unfortunately for South Carolina, their 2024 national title defense was foiled by the eventual 2025 champions, the UConn Huskies, through a 23-point drubbing, 82-59.
Raven Johnson will be playing out a fifth and final year with the South Carolina Gamecocks
On April 9 of this year, Raven Johnson confirmed on social media that she will be returning to play out her remaining year of college basketball eligibility with the South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2025-26 season. The news came a day before the deadline for declaration of the 2025 WNBA Draft, as Johnson was projected to be selected had she declared for the draft.
Johnson is coming off her senior stint, wherein she averaged 4.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. The veteran will now look to be ‘more selfish’ with the basketball in her final campaign.
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