South Carolina Basketball: How "fearless" Tessa Johnson was ready for her national championship moment

South Carolina basketball guard Tessa Johnson is a rising sophomore and figures to be a major piece of next year's national championship title defense.

As a freshman this past season, Johnson saw her role fluctuate a bit as she dealt with the adjustment of moving from the high school game to college and with some nagging ankle issues. Even so, she showed plenty of flashes that have Gamecock fans confident in what she can bring to the table as the Gamecocks move from their "Revenge Tour" to the "Repeat Tour" during 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 remain fearless in the biggest games of her life bodes well for the rest of her USC career. The Gamecocks are the early favorites to win the trophy again next year, and if they do, Tessa Johnson will be a major factor.

When South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley puts her new team on the court next season, she once again will have an embarrassment of riches. Johnson and fellow guards Raven Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao, and Bree Hall will make up one of the country's best 5-player perimeter units, and 5-star freshman Maddy McDaniel is joining the program this summer.