Raven Johnson Finalist for The Dawn Staley Award

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Raven Johnson was named a finalist for The Dawn Staley Award. The award is given annually to a player who exemplifies the skills that Staley possessed – ball handling, scoring, ability to distribute the basketball and will to win.

Johnson earned All-America honorable mention status from USA Today and was named 2026 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-SEC Second Team. She is sixth in the SEC in assists per game (5.4) and fourth in the nation with a 3.41 assist-to-turnover ratio. Her stat stuffing includes a career-best 10.3 points per game on 50.6 percent field goal shooting. Those numbers rise to 11.6 points per game on 53.0 percent shooting against ranked opponents, while also handing out 5.7 assists per game. Johnson was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team over the weekend as she was second on the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game on 60.0 percent shooting, including 5-of-8 (.625) from 3-point range as the Gamecocks advanced to the title game for the seventh-straight season. She is fourth in program history in career assists (594) and owns three of the program’s top seven single-season assist-to-turnover ratios.

No. 4/4 South Carolina opens play in the NCAA Tournament on Sat., March 21, at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks will play the winner of the First Four game between Southern and Samford in a 1 p.m. tipoff on ABC.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for more information on the program.

2026 The Dawn Staley Award Finalists
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State
Azzi Fudd, UConn
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Raven Johnson, South Carolina