INDIANAPOLIS — Speaking from experience, Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston doesn’t see new teammates Raven Johnson and Caitlin Clark having any issues this season after their run-ins in the Final Four in college.
Johnson, who just finished a five-year collegiate career with South Carolina, played Clark’s Iowa in the 2023 and 2024 Final Four weekends.
In the 2023 Final Four, Boston and Johnson were part of South Carolina’s then-undefeated team looking to repeat as national champions. In the first quarter of that game, Clark waved off Johnson, who was wide open at the 3-point line, opting to guard her teammates in the paint instead.
Iowa ended up upsetting South Carolina, with Clark dropping 41 points on 15 of 31 shooting.
The online vitriol that followed that moment, Johnson said, was the lowest point of her basketball career. She considered quitting basketball, she said, but her friends, teammates, and faith pulled her back into the game. The next season, South Carolina beat Iowa in the 2024 national championship.
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Now, three years after that first moment, the two are teammates — the Fever picked Johnson with the No. 10 pick in the draft Monday.
And Boston doesn’t think there will be any “beef” between Johnson and Clark when the season starts.
“It’s so funny because the fans always have more beef than the players actually do, so it’s always entertaining, you read all this stuff and ‘fans are hating on one person, hating on another’ and you’re playing with that said person,” Boston, the 2023 No. 1 draft pick, said on her podcast “Post Moves” with Candace Parker. “I think it’s going to be fine. Everyone has their thoughts, but when you’re in the gym and you’re ready to hoop, that’s literally all it is.”
Boston added that Clark and Johnson, if they haven’t already, will probably talk through that moment. She and Clark did the same thing when Clark joined the Fever in 2024.
“When Caitlin came (to the Fever after) that year they beat us in the Final Four, it was funny because I was like, ‘Wow, I’m really about to be teammates and you dropped 40 on our heads, that was really trifling, you didn’t have to do that,’” Boston said with a smile. “It’s crazy because we actually did talk about it, and I feel like we had to talk about it, it was just one of those things like, ‘Wow.’”
Boston and Johnson played two years together in college from 2021-23. Johnson redshirted her first year in 2021-22, then came off the bench for minimal minutes in 2022-23.
Three years after Boston left South Carolina, Johnson has worked to make herself into a first-round draft pick. And the two will reunite on women’s basketball’s biggest stage.
“I’m happy to have my girl Raven,” Boston said. “I think Raven is going to have a good W career, I’m excited she gets to start it with the Fever.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: After Final Four wave off, Aliyah Boston thinks Raven Johnson, Caitlin Clark are ‘going to be fine’
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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