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South Carolina women's basketball: Does Raven Johnson ever stop smiling?

On3 imageby: Chris Wellbaum04/06/24ChrisWellbaum
South Carolina women's basketball guard Raven Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley (Photo by Montez Aiken)
South Carolina women's basketball guard Raven Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley (Photo by Montez Aiken)

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Raven Johnson always seems to be smiling. On the court, off the court, during huddles, during plays. She’s dealt with adversity, from a torn ACL as a freshman to the social media backlash after last season’s Final Four. 

Johnson still keeps smiling. So I asked her, do you ever stop smiling?

“No,” she said.

Dawn Staley agreed.

“Raven’s never had a bad day,” Staley said. “How you see her play in a game is exactly what she brings to the court every single day. We say, okay, we’re going to go 50 percent, she doesn’t know 50 percent. She goes all out. So the journey of her having a voice, and no matter what that voice is, she’s in such a learning phase of her life. She’s open to learning — not just basketball, but history. She’s learning what she likes. She’s learning a pathway of who she wants to be. And she’s unafraid to go out there to say or do some things that, it will rock you a little bit, it will make you laugh, but it is who she’s becoming.”

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I pressed Johnson on why she is always smiling. She had just finished telling a story about a time in practice when Staley was so hard on her that she wanted to cry.

“You only live once,” Johnson said. “So you got to enjoy life. And I think that’s about everything. I mean, I remember messing up in the game. And coach was screaming at me out just now there. I was like, coach, let’s play. I mean, it’s over.”

So there you have it. Raven Johnson never stops smiling.

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