The question echoed off the walls of a timeout huddle on Valentine’s Day, and it hasn’t stopped echoing since.
“Who can guard Tessa?” LSU coach Kim Mulkey screamed during South Carolina’s win over the Tigers — a moment that instantly became a meme, spawning posters, t-shirts, and viral videos. But what Mulkey meant as a frustrated plea, Dawn Staley’s program has turned into a statement of intent.
The Awakening of a Scorer
Tessa Johnson didn’t always embrace her identity as a scorer. After a fall exhibition against North Carolina in which she dropped 19 points, Johnson told reporters, “I don’t really care about points.”
Staley’s response was immediate and telling.
“I do,” the head coach interjected.
It was a small exchange that revealed something important: Johnson’s natural instinct was to defer, to blend, to facilitate. Staley needed her to understand that her scoring — or even just the threat of it — is what unlocks everything else for South Carolina’s offense. Johnson got the message.
She opened the season with four straight double-figure outings, surpassed 20 points against Louisville, Vanderbilt, and LSU, and now leads the SEC in three-point shooting while ranking seventh nationally at 44.5 percent. ESPN analyst Andraya Carter noticed the shift immediately.
“Tessa is so talented, so athletic, she can be a dog defensively, but also a dog offensively — I’m going to get my shot, I’m actually going to take this shot, not only going to take it, but I’m going to hit it, because I’m that good,” Carter said. “Coach Law is always getting on Tessa, like, ‘You got to be a dog! You got to be a dog!'”
The Diana Taurasi Comparison
What separates Johnson from other elite shooters is the release — a lightning-quick motion that gives defenders almost no time to recover. Staley connected it to the greatest scorer in WNBA history.
“It’s quick. I mean, Diana Taurasi gets it off pretty quick, pretty quick,” Staley said. “I’ll just say that’s probably the only comparison I would say to their games — the amount of time that they have the ball in their hands before they shoot it.”
When the comparison was relayed to Johnson days later, her jaw dropped.
“She was actually one of the players that my dad told me to watch when growing up,” Johnson said. “I take that as a compliment from her. So thank you to Coach Staley.”
Staley added that WNBA coaches have already taken notice — and if they weren’t paying attention before, they are now.
The Work Behind the Gift
Johnson’s shooting touch looks effortless, but it is built on an obsessive work ethic that her coaches describe with something close to awe. After going 1-for-9 in an early January game, she was spotted alone in Colonial Life Arena hours after the final buzzer, shooting jumpers in an empty gym. In the very next game, she went 4-for-5 and scored 13 against Texas.
“Oh, it’s unmatched. Unmatched,” Staley said. “Tessa’s always in (the gym shooting). She’s shooting now, she shoots before, she shoots after. Shooters are a little… points at her head. They’re just made up that way. When your work ethic drives you to wanting to be perfect, you’re gonna end up somewhere pretty good.”
Teammate Raven Johnson sees the same relentless standard up close.
“They call her Tournament Tessa. She might not like that name, but they call her Tournament Tessa for a reason,” Raven said. “I don’t think she’s had her best basketball yet.”
Leading With Her Voice
Johnson’s evolution this season extends beyond scoring. Now a junior averaging career-highs of 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, she has stepped into a vocal leadership role that cameras have captured repeatedly — making jokes to loosen a tense huddle one possession, barking instructions the next, occasionally pulling a teammate aside for a direct conversation.
“It really depends what I feel like we need. If we need some calmness, that. If I need to get on someone, I’ll do that,” Johnson said.
Maddy McDaniel explained why teammates listen.
“She’s not that far removed from being just an underclassman. She feels where we’re coming from. She knows how it feels to be in the position that we’re in,” McDaniel said.
For Johnson, the leadership is rooted in something simpler than basketball.
“It’s a selflessness,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who scores, who passes — we all want what’s best for each other, because at the end of the day, we have one goal, and we’re not gonna get there by ourselves.”
That goal is another national championship. And with Tessa Johnson finally playing like the player everyone around her knew she could be, South Carolina has every reason to believe they’ll get there.
