South Carolina May Not Replace Raven Johnson With One Player — It May Replace Her With a System

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Raven Johnson spent nearly four seasons giving South Carolina something Dawn Staley rarely had to question: who was running the offense.

That certainty is gone heading into the 2026-27 season.

Johnson has moved on after serving as South Carolina’s primary point guard for most of her career, and the situation became even more complicated when Maddy McDaniel left the program during the offseason.

But Dawn Staley does not appear to be searching for one player who can simply step into Johnson’s old role.

Instead, the Gamecocks are preparing for something different.

They may replace one traditional point guard with a system that spreads the responsibility among several players.

Raven Johnson left a much bigger hole than the stat sheet shows

Johnson averaged 10.0 points, 5.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds during her final season at South Carolina.

More importantly, she was the player South Carolina could consistently trust to organize the offense, initiate possessions and defend the opposing team’s perimeter threats.

She was a three-year starter at point guard and finished games even during the season when she did not initially start.

That experience is difficult to replace with one player.

And South Carolina does not currently have another player with Johnson’s exact combination of experience, defensive responsibility and familiarity with Staley’s system.

That is why the Gamecocks’ solution could be less about finding another Raven Johnson and more about changing the job itself.

Dawn Staley has already explained the new approach

The most important clue came during South Carolina’s first preseason practice.

Staley said the Gamecocks are not asking their primary ballhandler to become another Ty Harris or Raven Johnson.

Instead, she wants the player bringing the ball up the floor to give it up quickly and then return to playing naturally as a wing or scorer.

That distinction matters.

It means South Carolina does not necessarily need one player to dominate the ball for 30-plus minutes.

The Gamecocks can use several players to initiate offense, move the ball and create advantages before allowing their natural scorers to take over.

Staley described the role as being handled “by committee,” with multiple players embracing the responsibility.

That could fundamentally change how South Carolina looks offensively.

Brooke Quarles-Daniels gives South Carolina another option

The addition of Brooke Quarles-Daniels was particularly important because South Carolina needed experience at the position.

Quarles-Daniels spent the previous two seasons at Michigan after beginning her college career at Oakland.

She brings significant experience, defensive ability and NCAA Tournament experience to a roster that lost its longtime point guard.

At Michigan, she was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team after averaging 2.5 steals per game last season.

Her shooting is a different question.

She went 0-for-7 from three over her two seasons at Michigan, meaning opponents could potentially give her more space away from the basket.

But Staley does not necessarily need Quarles-Daniels to become a high-volume scorer.

If she can defend, make good decisions and keep the offense moving, South Carolina already has players capable of carrying the scoring load.

That makes her fit particularly interesting.

Tessa Johnson could become part of the solution

Tessa Johnson is another reason South Carolina does not necessarily need one replacement for Raven Johnson.

The senior guard averaged 12.8 points per game last season and shot 45.2 percent from three, according to On3’s preseason roster breakdown.

She has also developed as a ballhandler throughout her South Carolina career.

During the opening portion of preseason practice, Johnson was one of the players seen running point.

But there is an important difference between asking Johnson to occasionally initiate the offense and asking her to become the full-time point guard.

Staley’s approach could allow Johnson to do the former without sacrificing what makes her valuable as a scorer.

If Johnson can bring the ball up, initiate the offense and then move back into scoring position, South Carolina can put the ball in her hands without forcing her to become a traditional point guard.

That could be much more valuable than simply assigning her the position.

Agot Makeer and Jerzy Robinson add more possibilities

South Carolina also has other players who can contribute to the ballhandling responsibilities.

Agot Makeer has shown the ability to create offense and attack defenders.

Freshman Jerzy Robinson arrives as a highly regarded guard who gives Staley another player capable of putting pressure on defenses.

Both players could benefit from a system where the point guard position is less rigid.

Instead of waiting for a traditional point guard to create everything, South Carolina can allow different players to initiate depending on the matchup.

That could make the offense harder to prepare for.

A defense preparing for one primary creator knows where the ball is likely to start.

A defense preparing for several capable initiators has more decisions to make.

Joyce Edwards could benefit from the change

This might ultimately be the most important part of the equation.

Joyce Edwards enters her junior season after averaging 19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season.

Her 728 points broke South Carolina’s single-season scoring record.

She is already going to attract enormous defensive attention.

South Carolina therefore does not necessarily need its point guard to score 15 or 20 points every night.

It needs that player to get the ball to Edwards in advantageous situations.

A committee approach could actually help.

If Quarles-Daniels initiates one possession, Johnson starts another, Makeer attacks on a third and Robinson creates on a fourth, Edwards can spend more time operating where she is most dangerous rather than having to manufacture every opportunity herself.

The same principle applies to the returning Chloe Kitts and Tessa Johnson.

South Carolina has enough offensive talent that the ball does not have to live in one player’s hands.

Chloe Kitts’ return makes the idea even more interesting

Kitts missed the entire 2025-26 season after suffering a knee injury.

She is now back in practice and has said she feels great.

South Carolina also expects Ashlyn Watkins to return after missing last season.

That gives Staley a dramatically different frontcourt from the one she had available for much of last season.

With Edwards, Kitts and Watkins potentially sharing the floor, South Carolina has multiple players who can score, rebound and create advantages around the basket.

That puts even more emphasis on getting the ball moving.

A point guard who holds the ball for long stretches could actually make the offense easier to defend.

A ballhandler who gets the ball moving quickly allows South Carolina’s frontcourt and perimeter talent to work against a defense that is still shifting.

That appears to be much closer to what Staley is building.

The biggest question may not be “Who is the point guard?”

It may be “How many players can South Carolina trust to initiate?”

That is a very different question.

Staley has already said several players have embraced the role.

During the first practice, Quarles-Daniels, Tessa Johnson, Jordan Lee, Agot Makeer and Jerzy Robinson were all seen running point at different times.

That does not mean all five players will share equal responsibility during the regular season.

It does show that South Carolina is exploring a broader solution.

And that could become particularly useful against different opponents.

Against one team, Staley might want Quarles-Daniels’ defense and decision-making.

Against another, Johnson’s shooting could be more important.

Against a team that struggles to contain athletic guards, Makeer or Robinson could become the initiator.

Against a team that switches heavily, South Carolina could use its size and versatility to attack mismatches.

The point guard position would therefore become less of a fixed identity and more of a matchup-dependent role.

South Carolina does not need Raven Johnson 2.0

There will inevitably be comparisons to Johnson because of how important she was to the program.

But trying to recreate her role exactly could limit what this roster can become.

The 2026-27 Gamecocks have a different collection of players.

They have Edwards returning as a major offensive centerpiece.

They have Johnson returning as an elite perimeter shooter.

They have Kitts and Watkins returning from injury.

They added Quarles-Daniels for veteran guard play.

They also brought in Jordan Lee and several highly regarded freshmen, including Robinson.

The roster is built differently.

The offense may need to be built differently too.

Instead of asking one player to be the organizer, defender and primary decision-maker on nearly every possession, Staley can distribute those responsibilities.

That could make South Carolina less dependent on any single player.

The real test begins when the games count

South Carolina’s first exhibition against College of Charleston provides the first opportunity to see how this experiment looks in an actual game.

The Gamecocks are scheduled to play the exhibition at Credit One Stadium on Sunday, with tipoff around 4 p.m. ET.

The game will be particularly interesting because South Carolina enters the season with six returning letterwinners and seven newcomers, including transfers Jordan Lee and Brooke Quarles-Daniels.

The final score will not tell the entire story.

Watch who brings the ball up.

Watch who initiates the offense.

Watch how quickly that player gives the ball up.

Watch whether Tessa Johnson, Agot Makeer, Jordan Lee, Jerzy Robinson and Quarles-Daniels can all operate without the offense becoming stagnant.

And watch what happens to Joyce Edwards when multiple players are capable of getting her the ball.

That may tell us more about South Carolina’s post-Raven Johnson identity than simply finding out who starts at point guard.

South Carolina could be replacing a position with a concept

Raven Johnson’s departure created an obvious hole on the roster.

But Dawn Staley’s early approach suggests she is not necessarily trying to fill that hole in the traditional way.

She may be turning the point guard position into a shared responsibility.

That would allow South Carolina to use its depth, shooting, athleticism and returning frontcourt talent rather than asking one player to replicate everything Johnson provided.

The question heading into the season is therefore not simply who will replace Raven Johnson.

It is whether South Carolina can build an offense where it does not need one player to replace her.