South Carolina hoopers Tessa Johnson, Raven Johnson and more named to 2024-25 SEC Winter Sports Academic honor roll

Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson and half a dozen other returning South Carolina players were named to the 2024-25 SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll on Wednesday, April 23. It is an academic recognition by the Southeastern Conference to student-athletes who participate in winter sports while maintaining excellence in their classrooms.

Alongside men's and women's basketball, other sports included in the rollout are gymnastics, Swimming and Diving, Equestrian and Rifle. Eight WBB Gamecocks made the latest list this season:

1. Sania Feagin
2. Bree Hall
3. Ashlyn Watkins
4. Te-Hina Paopao
5. Adhel Tac
6. Raven johnson
7. Tessa Johnson
8. Sakima Walker

With that, the program's Instagram handle updated fans through an X post on Wednesday.

"8️⃣ of our 10 returning players made the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll 📚," the post read.

More than 800 players across the entire SEC and multiple sports were evaluated on standardised parameters to establish academic success. These included the necessity of the grade point average (GPA) or cumulative grade point average (CGPA) to be 3.00 or above. These included summer-school performances and also considered non-scholarship student-athletes.

Another major defining factor was whether a student had successfully devoted 24 semesters, or 36 quarter hours of academic credit (excluding remedial sessions) towards their field of study.

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Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson will be joined by the NCAA's scoring leader this season

As South Carolina bounces back from its 2025 NCAA championship game loss to the UConn Huskies, fans can expect upgrades in Tessa Johnson and Raven Johnson's games. However, a lot more will be changed in the Gamecocks this season, as it will feature Ta'Niya Latson as its leader.

The talented guard is coming off dominating the NCAA scoring leaderboard, averaging 25.2 points, 4.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 steals while making 45.1% of her shots. This could change South Carolina's dynamic, which has depended mainly on its depth and rotations instead of star power.

With that, Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson might also be expected to step up individually. Tessa, who shone in the 2024 title game against Iowa for her defense, will be eyed to transition into a more dependable defender and playmaker.

On the other hand, Dawn Staley had already voiced her desire for Raven to be more active in scoring the ball.