South Carolina’s Raven Johnson dishes on meeting idol Chelsea Gray: ‘I was about to cry’

WNBA champions Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson walked into the Cuyahoga Community College gym Wednesday afternoon where South Carolina women’s basketball was practicing ahead of the Final Four.

As soon as Gray trekked into the Gamecocks’ line of sight, they cooed:

“Raven,” the players echoed, dragging out the sound of the first vowel of their teammate’s first name. “Raaay.”

USC sophomore Raven Johnson turned her head to see Gray, sporting a sweatsuit the color of her name, and clasped a hand over her mouth. The “Point Gawd,” Johnson’s favorite player, was in the building.

Gray and Wilson shared sweet embraces with Dawn Staley, who coached Wilson to a Naismith Player of the Year Award and a national championship in college and led Gray to gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After exchanging pleasantries, Staley assigned Gray an important task.

“Go meet Raven,” Staley said, guiding Gray over to USC’s sophomore point guard. “She loves you. Come here.”

Johnson’s eyes followed Gray from the right hand corner of the turquoise and black court to the sideline where she sat stretching with a smile the size of Texas. As Gray got closer, Johnson lifted her left hand to her shoulder and waived with all the keenness of a little girl meeting her idol for the first time.

“She looooves you,” Staley repeated. “Oh my god.”

“Yes!” Raven exclaimed, almost cutting Staley off, as if unable to contain herself any longer. She sprang up from the floor and launched herself into Gray’s arms, giving her a big, tight hug.

“I was about to cry,” Johnson said. “I was so excited.”

Johnson has led South Carolina to a second consecutive undefeated season and NCAA Final Four appearance in her first year as the Gamecocks’ primary point guard. Gray and Wilson are in town for USA Basketball training camp, as is USC great Aliyah Boston. For Johnson, the visit from Gray provided a boost heading into championship weekend.

This season of South Carolina women’s basketball has been dubbed the “revenge tour” (by Johnson). The Gamecocks are on a mission to redeem last year’s Final Four loss and the Caitlin Clark wave-off that made Johnson go viral during the game versus the Iowa Hawkeyes. This weekend against No. 3 seed N.C. State and hopefully the winner of No. 1 Iowa-No. 3 UConn is USC’s chance.

“I’m more serious and more locked in this time around,” Johnson said of her approach to the 2023 and 2024 Final Fours. “... I’m not so excited because I just feel like we haven’t completed the mission yet.”

Johnson mused with Gray over her court vision and decision-making in big games (and all 5-foot-11 of the Las Vegas Aces’ primary play maker. “I was like, geez, she’s bigger than what I thought,” Johnson said with a laugh).

“How do you get your teammates those balls in those little gaps?” Johnson asked.

“How do you know when it’s your time to shoot,” she inquired, “and when do you know when it’s time to pass?”

Johnson is already pretty good at both of those things. She leads the team with 171 assists on the season and has a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks second in program history. And the Sweet 16 game against Indiana was a perfect example of her knowing when to take advantage of a shot opportunity.

She went 3-of-3 from the outside, solidifying USC’s 79-75 victory with big shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining.

“I was open, and all I could think was, ‘Let it go,’ ” Johnson said afterward. “I don’t want to lose. Just going from last year. Nobody can sag off me this year, and I take that very personal.”