GREAT NEWS: Tessa Johnson, the “fearless” South Carolina basketball player, prepared for her national victory.
South Carolina basketball freshman guard Tessa Johnson stepped up in a big way in the NCAA Tournament, and, this week, she revealed how she got ready.
Tessa Johnson, a rising sophomore at South Carolina, is expected to play a key role in the team’s national championship defense next season.
Johnson’s status as a freshman this season fluctuated as she coped with the transition from high school to college, as well as some chronic ankle injuries. Even so, she showed enough of glimpses that have Gamecock supporters optimistic about what she may bring to the table when the Gamecocks transition from the “Revenge Tour” to the “Repeat Tour” for the 2024-2025 season.
Johnson’s best moments came in the postseason last year as she was one of the team’s best players in a closer-than-expected game against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament and was one of just three Gamecocks (along with Kamilla Cardoso and MiLaysia Fulwiley) to score at least 60 points in the NCAA Tournament’s final five games.
On Thursday, Johnson was a special speaker at the ESPNW Summit where she was a guest on the live recording of the Laughter Permitted Podcast with Julie Foudy and Lynn Olszowy. During her conversation with Foudy and Olszowy, Johnson revealed how she got herself ready for those big moments, especially her career-best performance in the National Championship win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“[Before the game] I was on the phone with my sister, and she made me take deep breaths and think about a game in my best where I played like myself. The game that came to mind was my state championship game in high school. The word that came to mind was “fearless…” Going into the game, when I prayed on the bench, I was just asking God for peace and to ease my mind, and then, literally, “fearless” was in my mind.”
That fearlessness was evident for Johnson as she set a career-high in scoring with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 3-6 from behind the 3-point line. She also held her own as a secondary defender on superstar guard Caitlin Clark (shoutout to Raven Johnson for her defensive mastery on Clark) and chipped in 4 rebounds.
Johnson’s ability to be fearless in the most important games of her life bodes well for the rest of her USC career. The Gamecocks are the early favorites to win the championship again next year, and Tessa Johnson will play a key role. When South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley takes her new team to the floor next season, she will have an embarrassment of riches. Johnson and fellow guards Raven Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao, and Bree Hall will form one of the nation’s finest five-player perimeter units, with 5-star freshman Maddy McDaniel joining the program this summer.
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