Why Raven Johnson Was the Best Part of Geno Auriemma-Dawn Staley Confrontation

The biggest storyline to come out of Friday night’s Final Four showdown between UConn and South Carolina came after the game.

In the closing seconds of UConn’s 62–48 loss to South Carolina in the national semifinals, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma confronted Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley on the court. Auriemma walked off the floor before the final buzzer sounded, and after the game he bemoaned that Staley snubbed him of a handshake before tipoff. Auriemma also complained about the officiating that he believed favored South Carolina, which is advancing to the national championship for the third straight year. Auriemma has since apologized to South Carolina as a whole, though he didn’t name Staley specifically in his statement.

While there’s been plenty of conversation surrounding the confrontation on Saturday, one tidbit from the on-court moment that sometimes has been overlooked is Gamecocks star Raven Johnson comically inserting herself in the contentious situation. While Staley and Auriemma were being held back by their respective staffs to end the confrontation, Johnson slid in and high-fived her coach. Check it out around the 39-second mark in this video.

Crazy moment between Geno and Dawn. pic.twitter.com/CspinsnxDz
— Kareem Copeland (@kareemcopeland) April 4, 2026

Johnson detailed later on what was going through her mind when she decided to high-five Staley in a now iconic moment. She admitted she doesn’t “play about coach Staley” because the coach fights for her players, too. Johnson couldn’t explain why she chose to give her a high-five specifically in that moment, though.

“I seen coach, she was screaming, and I went over there and I was like ‘What happened?’ I just seen her say something to the other coach,” Johnson said, via ABC Columbia’s Noah Chast. “But, it’s the game of basketball. When you have two teams that like to win a lot, and you have two coaches who are used to winning, it gets feisty a little bit. It’s all love at the end of the day.”

RELATED: Three Ways Geno Auriemma’s Complaints About Dawn Staley, UConn’s Loss Did Not Age Well

Staley was asked about Johnson’s high-five when speaking to media on Saturday. It sounds like the team isn’t surprised Johnson was the player to involve herself in this funny way. The high-five helped Staley calm down and bring herself back to the present moment, too.

“It’s just so classic Raven,” Staley said. “She makes me laugh, even in the most difficult situations ‘cause she’s so innocent. She’s a really kindhearted young lady, and sometimes you need people around you to put things in perspective. It was a calming, it truly was a calming for her to do that to just break the ice of what was happening in real time.”

Dawn Staley and Raven Johnson comment on their high five in the middle of the chaos 😂

"It's just so classic Raven."

(via @kareemcopeland, NCAA) pic.twitter.com/fKzTbuOmYa
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 4, 2026

Johnson’s South Carolina teammate Ta'Niya Latson echoed Staley’s comments by saying the high-five was done in “true Raven fashion,” via Noah Chast.

It sounds like if anyone was going to calm coach Staley down, it was Johnson. Even if she didn’t fully know the weight of the situation unwinding on the court, Johnson succeeded in helping her coach come back to reality.