When you are the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year, not many defensive tasks bother you. But Raven Johnson learned her very first lesson in the second week of training camp with the Indiana Fever. The former South Carolina star quickly realized that playing in the WNBA was a different ballgame altogether. According to the rookie, facing Kelsey Mitchell in training camp made her realize how much she needed to adjust to stay in the WNBA.
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“Honestly, it’s a big adjustment,” Johnson said on the Post Move podcast on Wednesday.
“I remember the first or second week in training camp. I had to guard like Kelsey Mitchell. In my head, I’m like, I got this. She hit me with an in-and-out. It’s hard to guard her. She got a quick first step.“
“She literally was like, ‘I’m not going to take you lightly. I’m going to come at you.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, just come at me then. Come at me.’ It was crazy. I thought that was the biggest adjustment for me.”
Johnson is the 2026 SEC DPOY and a two-time part of the SEC All-Defensive Team. However, she was facing one of the best scoring guards in WNBA and Indiana Fever franchise history, who had experience on her side. The lesson from the veteran star was warranted. It was an early realization for Johnson that she had to up her defensive game.
When Johnson left the training camp for her home, Mitchell had left a very lasting impression on her. When the former Gamecocks star went home, she told her mother: “Mom, Kelsey Mitchell, I’ve never guarded nobody like her.”
The Fever are left with just four games remaining in the 2026 regular season. However, Johnson is yet to start a game in her rookie season with the Indian Fver. A starter on Dawn Staley’s championship team, Johnson was selected 10th overall by the Fever in the 2026 WNBA draft.
In 35 games this season, Johnson has averaged 3.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game in 10.3 minutes. Head coach Stephanie White has used her rookie for defensive assignments.
Within a month, Johnson felt that Mitchell had just given her a peek into what Johnson was about to experience in the next few weeks. The WNBA’s physicality had been a challenge for many players in their rookie season, including Clark herself. Going through intense practice and then playing defense against some of the best players left Johnson beat up. But more than that, it was the treatment that bothered her.
“Physically, my body’s beat up,” Johnson said. “The staff they have here are taking good care of me and make sure I get an ice tub, which I totally hate. I never got an ice tub like that till I got here. I get in the ice tub literally every day. And it’s crazy…In college, I would never.”
But it showed the South Carolina star what it meant to be a pro. There was a stark difference between college and the WNBA, and physicality was perhaps the biggest one she felt.
Being part of a regular roster is already hard for most rookies in the league, especially on a team like the Fever, loaded with star players like Clark, Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, and more. However, it was clear from Johnson’s appearance on the Post Moves podcast that her first year in the WNBA has been a huge learning experience so far.
She hasn’t got much playing time, but White knows that she has a potential defensive star in her rookie. Additionally, the rookie will also get first-hand experience in what it feels like to play among the best of the best when the playoffs begin. Next season, Johnson might get more opportunities, but right now, she still has a chance to prove her worth in the postseason with four games left in the regular season.