South Carolina women's basketball: Offseason player outlooks - Guards

Each offseason, GamecockCentral looks at the strengths, weaknesses, and offseason outlook for each player.

We begin the series by looking at South Carolina’s returning guards. We’ll cover the forwards and incoming players in the coming weeks.

Raven Johnson (RS Senior, Point guard, 5-10)
39 games (39 starts), 4.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg

Strengths: Johnson is an elite defender who rebounds extremely well for her position. She is an excellent passer who can thread the needle with creative passes. Johnson has Dawn Staley’s confidence and the respect of her teammates, which matters for a point guard.

Weaknesses: Johnson’s shot is, to put it politely, inconsistent. She shot 35% from three in 2023-24, which was good enough to keep defenses honest. But Johnson got off to a miserable shooting slump to start the season and never fully broke out, shooting just 29.5% from three.

Offseason focus: Johnson has made great strides in cleaning up her shooting motion, but clearly it still needs work. Poor shooting is the biggest hole in her game.

Projection: The poor shooting was the most obvious reason Johnson regressed last season, but there were other factors, including the pace of play, rotation, and how the offense was initiated. Next season, the pace and style should be more Raven-friendly, plus she gets to play alongside her best friend Ta’Niya Latson. It’s all there for a nice bounceback. 

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Tessa Johnson (Junior, Guard, 6-0)
37 games, 8.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 43.0 3P%

Strengths: Johnson is a great shooter who is deceptively effective off the dribble and defensively. She emerged defensively as the season went on and often worked in tandem with Bree Hall guard the other team’s best player. Tournament Tessa was alive and well in the postseason.

Weaknesses: From Johnson herself, she wants to be more consistent.She wants to be Tournament Tessa in every game, essentially. I would like to be a little more effective getting to the rim and finishing. 

Offseason focus: Whatever Johnson has to do to become more consistent, whether it’s mental or physical, that should be her focus. 

Projection: In her first two seasons, Johnson was able to blend into South Carolina’s ridiculously deep guard rotation. The depth is gone, and Johnson should be a starter. With newcomer Ta’Niya Latson drawing opponents’ attention, there should be lots of open shots for Johnson. It all sets up for a huge season.

Maddy McDaniel (Sophomore, Point Guard, 5-9)
30 games, 3.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.6 tpg, 50.0 FG%

Strengths: Making Dawn Staley smile. Staley loves McDaniel’s game, and that says a lot. McDaniel’s point guard instincts are elite, and she is quick enough off the dribble to get to the rim pretty much whenever she wants.

Weaknesses: McDaniel was recovering from offseason knee surgery at the beginning of the year and then missed several games with a concussion suffered after Christmas, and those injuries limited her development. Sheonly shot 3-13 from three. Opponents are going to start sagging off of McDaniel until can raise that percentage.

Offseason focus: McDaniel needs to improve her three-point shot. She was effective from behind the arc at the 3X Nationals, so you’ve got to feel good about her chances of doing so.

Projection: There were times during the first half of the season that McDaniel was South Carolina’s best point guard. The concussion after Christmas bumped McDaniel from the lineup going into SEC play, and Te-Hina Paopao took over as the backup point guard. Now, McDaniel should get plenty of playing time as Raven Johnson’s backup, and she seems poised to have a solid season.

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