South Carolina’s Raven Johnson turned memes into motivation. Now, she’s ready for her moment

The Athletic has live coverage of Iowa vs. South Carolina in the women’s national championship game.

CLEVELAND — Raven Johnson was certain she was going to quit basketball. She knew everyone would do what they could to stop her from doing that, but for a time, she just didn’t see a path back. Not from this.

She dreamed about what life would be like as just a student instead of a student-athlete. She has plans to be a lawyer. It’s a tough road. Maybe it’d be better to just focus on school and internships. Maybe she’d be happier. Maybe if she told herself those lies enough, she’d finally be convinced.

From her room back on South Carolina’s campus, quitting didn’t feel like giving up, it felt like the only way she could get over everything that had happened.

The Gamecocks —the No. 1 seed and undefeated — had shockingly lost in last season’s Final Four to Iowa. With a senior class that had lost only eight games total leading up to that national semifinal, Johnson had taken it upon herself to make sure those upperclassmen could end their careers with a win and a national championship. So, when Iowa won and delivered that class its ninth career loss, Johnson felt entirely responsible. She hadn’t done enough to get them the win. She had let everyone down.

“I…