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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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South Carolina guard Raven Johnson became the Indiana Fever's No. 10 pick in the WNBA Draft earlier this month, immediately bringing attention to the fact that she's now teammates with league superstar Caitlin Clark.
Clark is back to being healthy after missing a lengthy stretch of her team's regular season and the entirety of their postseason run, which nearly culminated in a trip to the WNBA Finals. She's since participated in the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup qualifying with Team USA, earning MVP honors.
Along with Clark's return for Indiana, they made key offseason contract updates, including a huge deal to give frontcourt star Aliyah Boston the richest contract in the league, and re-signing Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
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All of that seems to point towards a successful season, and having Raven Johnson as a backup to come into games, whether Clark is on the court or not, is huge. However, there's still that incident between her and Clark in college that reporters recently brought up with her.
More news: Raven Johnson Gets Honest About Caitlin Clark at Fever Training Camp
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Johnson recently started Fever training camp, and with that have come questions about a potential "beef" between her and Clark. While at South Carolina, Johnson played against Iowa and Clark in the NCAA Tournament several times.
Each team claimed a win in their two meetings, including a 2023 Final Four incident that went viral, in which Johnson waved off Clark so she could take a wide-open three-pointer. Cleark was nowhere near her to defend, and Johnson missed the shot.
That led to online criticism of Johnson, which she said got pretty bad, indicating she "got bashed" and "bullied." She told Pro Football Sports Network's Alex Kennedy that she even "wanted to quit basketball" because of it.
She didn't quit and kept going, establishing a standout career at South Carolina under Dawn Staley, including two championships. Since becoming the No. 10 pick in the WNBA Draft, questions about a potential beef between her and Clark resurfaced.
"No, we haven't," she said from training camp when reporters asked if they'd discussed it now as teammates. "I think that's in the past, honestly. We're teammates now, and we have one goal: to win a championship. I'm coming in. I want to win a championship, too. I'm pretty sure that's her main goal, too. So whatever I can do to help win a championship, that's the goal."
All that appears behind the two teammates now is that they'll share a common goal: winning with the Fever. Johnson brings quite a rookie talent to the Fever's roster, averaging 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists at South Carolina. She also shot at a high rate, with a 48.6 field goal percentage and nearly 40 percent from three-point range.
She's even praised Clark for helping her learn plays and her spot on the court during the recent Fever training camp. Fans could soon see how they gel together in games, as the Fever play their first preseason matchup on Saturday, April 25, against the New York Liberty.
More news: Sophie Cunningham Speaks Publicly on Contract Comments at Fever Practice
For more about the Indiana Fever and WNBA, visit Newsweek Sports.
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