Described as \u201cone of the most WNBA-ready players\u201d in the mock draft<\/a> by The Times, the two-time national champion was famously waved off by then-Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark during their Final Four matchup in the 2023 NCAA women\u2019s basketball tournament. <\/p>\n During the first quarter, Clark declined to guard Johnson, who had the ball outside of the three-point line, with wave of her arm while turned away from her. Not only did Clark\u2019s team go on to win, the taunt \u2014 much like a number of other moments<\/a> involving the sharpshooting former Hawkeye \u2014 went viral. <\/p>\n Johnson has been open about how that moment and the online response took a toll on her mental health. <\/p>\n \u201cI was all over the internet,\u201d Johnson said while discussing some of the adversity she\u2019s faced in her basketball career on a recent episode of the \u201cI Am Next\u201d podcast<\/a>. \u201cI got bashed, I got bullied, I got called all these things that I wasn\u2019t … like a monkey [and] just things like that. I wanted to quit basketball at that time and I wanted to just go in this little bubble of isolation and just be by myself.\u201d <\/p>\n She credited her faith and the support of her teammates and loved ones for being able to turn it around and use the moment to fuel her \u201crevenge tour\u201d the next year. South Carolina beat Clark\u2019s Hawkeyes in the 2024 national championship<\/a> to cap off an undefeated season. <\/p>\n Caitlin Clark and Raven Johnson at the 2024 NCAA women\u2019s basketball tournament. <\/p>\n (Carolyn Kaster \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n At least in part because of this history, the online response to Johnson being drafted by the Fever has been divided among the team\u2019s fans as well as the supporters of each of the individual players. But the Fever staff were clearly elated to be able to nab Johnson off the board. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d Fever coach Stephanie White said in a video call with Johnson posted on social media on<\/a> Monday. \u201cWe are so excited.\u201d <\/p>\n Johnson isn\u2019t the only one who is set to join forces with a rival in the next chapter of their career. Following her trade from the Sparks<\/a>, Rickea Jackson will be teammates with Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, whose game-winning buzzer beater<\/a> for the Gamecocks took down the former\u2019s Tennessee team at the 2024 Southeastern Conference tournament. <\/p>\n And that\u2019s not to mention the Washington Mystics following their selection<\/a> of UCLA center Lauren Betts as the fourth overall pick Monday by later drafting Texas standout Rori Harmon in the third round. Betts\u2019 viral block<\/a> is what sealed UCLA\u2019s win over Texas<\/a> at the Final Four en route to the Bruins\u2019 championship<\/a> win earlier this month. (The Mystics also selected UCLA forward Angela Dugalic in the first round.)<\/p>\n Despite the naysayers, Johnson appears excited to be joining a championship contender with the Fever. During a Monday news conference<\/a>, Johnson mentioned Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell among the team\u2019s vets she\u2019s looking forward to learning from. <\/p>\n \u201cShe has taught me so much through my college experience,\u201d Johnson said of Boston, her former college teammate. \u201cShe taught me what pro habits were. She taught me you have to bring those habits every day to practice. … She is a phenomenal person. She instills so much in young people and there\u2019s no way you don\u2019t want to play with somebody like that [and] look up to somebody like that.\u201d <\/p>\n ![\"Raven](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776228311_310_.jpeg\")
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