How Raven Johnson Gives Back — And The Artist Helping Her Do It

Between her flashy handles, dazzling drives and unquestioned WNBA talent, Raven Johnson has another dream.

Of course the goal for South Carolina’s redshirt sophomore point guard is to play professional basketball, but the game is only part of her passion.

She wants to be a lawyer.

It is a dream pushing her in the classroom in Columbia, and some of the inspiration behind her latest off-court venture.

This fall, Johnson sponsored an essay contest called “Shoe Game!” where kids in grades 6-12 sent in paragraphs about the importance of education. The name comes back to the prize; each of the 15 winners will receive a pair of custom-designed sneakers by Johnson’s own shoe artist.

“I wanted to put education with style,” Johnson told GamecockScoop. “ I feel like if you do more stuff that people like with education — make it fun — it’s more interesting so that people can do things with education.”

Across five weeks between when Johnson first announced the contest on social media and the Nov. 5 deadline, over 100 kids submitted essays. There was no way she would have time to read all of them while the Gamecocks were gearing up for a season-opening trip to Paris, so she turned to her support system.

Specifically her mom, Shekia, who ran the email account affiliated with the contest and helped coordinate everything.

“I read the majority of them,” Shekia told GamecockScoop. “My mom writes children’s books, so she read some. Once we narrowed it down, she read a good bit of them.”

Raven admits her mom was a driving force behind the competition, always stressing the importance of studies and what school could lead to down the road. It runs into the classic cliche about athletes needing a backup plan, but Johnson understands better than most.

Just two games into her college career in November 2021, she tore her ACL. Just like that her season was done. Even more than two calendar years and a full recovery later, she knows things can change on a dime.

Painful as it was to learn, she wants to pay the lesson forward.

“She’s big on education and gets on me about my education,” Johnson said about her mom. “Being a young athlete sometimes I can go down a slope with education, but she puts me back on my heels.”

And fittingly enough, the other end of the contest came together through a school connection.

Cedric Cox needed a pair of shoes. A simple enough mission, or so he thought.

The man who is “very into fashion” came up empty looking for something to go with his outfit. When he returned home, he took matters into his own hands.

“I came home and my kid had Halloween paint,” Cox told GamecockScoop. “And I said, ‘I’m going to make my shoes match my outfit, and it kind of worked.’”

That first pair of shoes turned into a full-fledged business. The Atlanta-based artist designs custom sneakers for any occasion and all ages. A look through his Instagram reveals intricate designs and carefully crafted art with cartoon characters, team logos and everything in between in his range.

He also attended South Atlanta High School with Shekia, and the two have been close ever since. As his career designing sneakers coincided with Johnson’s rise through the high school basketball world, he started helping out his old friend’s daughter. He designed custom sneakers for games, and the pair Johnson wore at her signing ceremony when she officially committed to South Carolina.

“I’ve been doing shoes for about 10 years, but it’s grown over the last five or six.” Cox said. “I kind of just play off what she asks for and go off her name Hollywood, so I kind of mix the two.”

When he got the call from Shekia about the essay contest, it was a no-brainer. Johnson loves her own pairs, calling his talent “crazy” and just like with the overall message of education, wanted to pass it along.

“Her mom came to me about it and I was like sure,” Cox said. “Anything she needs.”

South Carolina is currently 9-0, and Johnson leads the team in assists, steals and minutes. Year three in the program is year one for her as a starter, the first time she has had command of the offense.

But she still found a window to circle back to her contest, and was blown away by the results.

“I read the winning essays,” she said. “From kids, I was like, ‘dang, kids are writing these types of essays?’ That kind of shocked me. They’re writing essays better than me.”

One thing she is absolutely not surprised, though? Cox’s work for the winners.

“Oh, I’ve seen the shoes,” Johnson smiled. “They’re going to like them, trust me.”

***********************************************************************

Looking for a place to talk about all things South Carolina men's basketball? Head on over to the Insider’s Forum to discuss your thoughts.