How South Carolina's Raven Johnson used Final Four snub from Caitlin Clark to get even better

CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark almost made Raven Johnson quit basketball.

The South Carolina guard spent weeks alone in her room, crying as she re-watched last year’s Final Four loss to Iowa. Over and over and over again.

“More than 100 times probably,” Johnson said Saturday.

It wasn’t only that Clark had waved off the unguarded Johnson, deeming her to be a non-threat offensively. It was that the clip of Clark doing it had gone viral, Johnson’s humiliation taking on epic proportions.

“Caitlin's competitive, so I don't blame her for what she did. But it did hurt me,” Johnson said. “I'm just glad I had the resources that I had, the coaches that I had, the teammates that I had to help me get over that hump. And I just feel like it helped me. It made me mentally strong.

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“I feel like if I can handle that, I can handle anything in life."

Johnson eventually did come out of her room. So she could head to the gym to work on her shot.

Johnson’s background wasn’t as a shooting point guard. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, the gold standard for scoring point guards, knew Johnson would eventually become one. But it’s a process, and the Gamecocks had so many other options last year they didn’t need to rush it with Johnson.

After the Final Four, however, Johnson didn’t want that hole in her game. She lived in the gym during the summer and fall, getting up shots and perfecting her shooting rhythm.

“When you're embarrassed, when we lost, all of that, it makes you question. The game will do that to you. Anything that you love and you're passionate about will make you question it at some point,” Staley said.

“That is what you need for your breakthrough. And if you don't have enough just power, strength, your breakthrough will never happen,” Staley continued. “Raven is going to be a great player because she was able to break through that moment and catapult her into that next level now.”

There’s no way Clark, or anyone else, will sag off Johnson now. She’s shooting almost 54% from 3-point — 7 of 13, to be exact — during the NCAA tournament, best of anyone on South Carolina’s team.

In the Sweet 16 dogfight against Indiana, Johnson was 3-3 from 3-point range and 5 of 7 from the field. In the Elite Eight, it was her 3 that sparked the Gamecocks’ decisive run over Oregon State.

“I worked on my weakness,” Johnson said. “A lot of people probably couldn't handle what did happen to me. I just think it made me better. It got me in the gym to work on my weakness, which is 3-point shooting, and I think I'm showing that I can shoot the ball this year."

Clark has certainly taken notice.

"Raven's had a tremendous year," she said Saturday. "I really admire everything that she's done this year. I thinkshe's shooting over 50% in her last five games, has shot it over 40% all year. That just speaks to her work ethic. She got in the gym, and she got better, and I admire that."

Iowa and South Carolina meet Sunday, this time in the national championship game, and Johnson acknowledges she's relishing the opportunity. Not to show Clark up or prove anything to anyone.

This is a big game, and Johnson knows now that she's got the game to match it.

"I'm just going to enjoy the moment," Johnson said. "This game is really big for us and I think it's big for women's basketball. That's how I look at it."