South Carolina’s roster features five seniors this season, including some talent that seems destined for a bright WNBA future. Ta’Niya Latson is widely expected to go high in the draft—just outside a lottery that is very likely to feature Awa Fam, Lauren Betts, Olivia Miles, Flau’Jae Johnson, and Azzi Fudd. Madina Okot is projected to go late in the first round in ESPN’s and Bleacher Report’s latest mock drafts. Meanwhile, Chloe Kitts’s draft status is up in the air due to an ACL injury that will keep her out for the entire season.
That leaves Raven Johnson and Maryam Dauda. The latter plays a rather small role for the Gamecocks, but Johnson has been a starter for three seasons now and played a big role in South Carolina’s success in recent years. Nevertheless, Johnson isn’t often cited as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Her lack of a consistent 3-point shot and inefficient overall scoring are common concerns and will likely still be an issue by the time the draft rolls around, barring some significant improvements in Johnson’s senior season.
Dawn Staley is not a fan of that evaluation. After South Carolina’s win over USC, in which Johnson recorded a double-double, Staley issued a fiery defense of her point guard and a tip for WNBA teams. “When you have a point guard like Raven who is a pass-first point guard…and you hear so many people break her game down and minimize what she brings to the table,” Staley said. “It’s disheartening. It’s ignorant because if you really don’t know what she’s bringing to the table, you don’t really understand the game.”
She went on to say, “Raven lost 11 games from 2017 till today. 11. And we want to talk about, can she score or not? Yes, she can score. She really can score, but when it comes down to winning, she makes the right plays whether that’s scoring, whether that’s defending, whether that’s rebounding, whether that’s getting other people involved….If WNBA teams want to be like us, meaning the amount of success that we’ve had with her in the lineup, they’re going to take Raven. They’re going to take Raven in the first round.”
Raven Johnson is closing out a very successful college career
Johnson’s numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page. She averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.1 steals in her first season as a full-time starter. South Carolina won a championship that season, and Johnson led the team in minutes per game. She shot badly in the championship game, going 1-11 from the field, but also recorded 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in 37 minutes.
Since then, she has rarely wavered as a steady presence for the Gamecocks. So far this season, she is averaging 9.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Johnson isn’t just a floor general, though. She can also defend well, earning SEC All-Defensive Team honors for the 2024-25 season. Last season, Johnson also played a big role in South Carolina’s run to yet another championship game.
A lot of Johnson’s draft stock will come down to how the rest of the season goes and what teams are looking for
Despite Johnson’s success in college, some issues might make WNBA teams hesitant to draft her in the first round. For one, Johnson hasn’t been an efficient scorer over her time with the Gamecocks. She only shot over 40% from the field in the 2023-24 season. However, she has been efficient so far this season, shooting at least 50% from the field in three out of four games, including a 6-12 performance against USC.
Johnson also hasn’t emerged as a true 3-point threat. She shot 24.1, 35, and 29.5 percent in her first three seasons. So far this season, she has attempted ten threes and made five of them. The question is just whether or not she can keep up that good shooting. If she can, it would definitely make her a more interesting draft prospect.
The 2026 draft class features a lot of shooting guards and wings, but not many high-level point guards. Olivia Miles is easily the best point guard available. Iyana Martin from Spain and UCLA’s Kiki Rice also have strong cases to be first-round picks. That lack of depth at the point guard position could help boost Johnson’s draft stock.