Raven Johnson, Caitlin Clark Come Full Circle With Fever

Raven Johnson was standing at the 3-point line in the 2023 Final Four when Caitlin Clark waved her off, refusing to guard her in a moment that went viral and sent Johnson into one of the darkest stretches of her life.

Three years later, the Indiana Fever made them teammates.

Indiana selected Johnson with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday in New York. The pick set up a reunion that would have been hard to imagine in the spring of 2023.

Johnson, 23, joins a Fever backcourt led by Clark, who enters her third WNBA season, and reunites in Indianapolis with former South Carolina teammate Aliyah Boston. Johnson and Boston spent two seasons together with the Gamecocks before Indiana selected Boston with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft.

“You’re talking about a team that could possibly win the championship,” Johnson said of joining the Fever. “They have a lot of vets I could learn from and they’re winners. Everybody on that team likes to win. I think that’s what makes that team special. So to go to a program like that, that has the same mentality as me of winning is phenomenal.”

Go back to March 31, 2023. Iowa and South Carolina, Final Four in Dallas. The Hawkeyes won 77-73. Clark dropped 41 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Johnson, a redshirt freshman at the time, was shooting 24.1% from deep. Clark knew it. When Johnson caught the ball at the arc, Clark didn’t bother to run at her — she just waved her hand, daring Johnson to pull the trigger.

The clip took off online. What followed for Johnson was uglier than the game itself.

“I got bashed, I got bullied… I wanted to quit basketball at that time.”

Raven Johnson contemplated quitting basketball after Caitlin Clark’s wave-off at the 3-point line went viral and she got a ton of hate. Now, they are teammates on the Indiana Fever. pic.twitter.com/XRLfj9OTMI

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) April 14, 2026

“I was all over the internet,” Johnson said on the “I Am Next” podcast earlier this year. “I got bashed. I got bullied. I got called all these things that I wasn’t.”

Johnson said the fallout went well beyond basketball.

“That’s really big for me because (that moment with Clark) took over everything. It took over my body. It took over my mind, and I didn’t know who I was,” Johnson said. “But, you know, maybe I needed that to find who I am today.”

UCLA’s 2025-26 squad went 37-1 and won the program’s first modern-era national title.

Johnson didn’t transfer. She didn’t sulk. The 5-foot-8 Atlanta native spent five years in Columbia, became a three-year starter and left as a two-time national champion. In her final season, she averaged 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 48.6% from the field and 39.8% from 3. The Associated Press named her a third-team All-American. She won SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

The 2024 national title game served as its own answer to 2023. South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75 to complete a 38-0 season, with Johnson on Clark, who scored 30 points on 10-of-28 shooting in her final college game.

Photo: Jineen Williams (Ballislife)

Fever head coach Stephanie White said Johnson arrives ready to contribute immediately.

“She’s won at every level, she’s set the tone at every level,” White said. “She’s immediately ready on the defensive end of the floor, which is something that we need. She’s been a true point guard playing for the greatest point guard that’s played the game. And she’s experienced in big-time moments. Really excited that she fell to us.”

Fever COO and General Manager Amber Cox echoed that.

“She’s a leader. She’s a competitor from one of the greatest programs in college basketball and she’s won at the highest level,” Cox said. “We were just so pumped when she was available at No. 10. We know she’s going to come in here and compete really hard and create great depth in our backcourt rotation.”

Johnson is expected to come off the bench to begin her rookie season. She described Clark as a player operating at a different standard.

“She is a phenomenal player,” Johnson said. “She can shoot the ball, can lead a team, and they win. She has a winning mentality. And I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Indiana also added Vanderbilt guard-forward Justine Pissott in the second round with the 25th overall pick. The 6-foot-4 Pissott averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 2025-26, shooting 42.2% from 3 on 225 attempts as a senior and helping lead Vanderbilt to the Sweet 16. She spent one season at Tennessee before transferring to Vanderbilt for her final three college seasons.

In the third round, the Fever took Alabama guard Jessica Timmons at No. 45. The 5-foot-8 Charlotte native transferred from NC State and, after a medical redshirt in 2024-25, broke out as a senior with 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 39.4% from 3. She earned second-team All-SEC honors.

If all goes according to plan, the Fever added the necessary pieces through the WNBA Draft to solidify the team’s depth for a championship push. A quick adjustment to the league will be necessary.

For Johnson, it shouldn’t be a problem because she’s been through major adjustments already.