The highly anticipated NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has tipped off in exciting fashion, leading to a Sweet 16 with all four one-seeds remaining in the tournament.
This season’s edition of the Sweet 16 features five impactful players from the state of Georgia, featuring two members from South Carolina and the rest from Notre Dame, Stanford and LSU.
In this year’s Sweet 16, each player comes from a decorated background where they were seen as some of the top players in their class. Three of the five players from Georgia in the Sweet 16 have each won Gatorade Player of the Year in high school while they were also named to both the Jordan Brand Classic and the McDonald’s All-American Teams.
Here are the players from Georgia who are still dancing in the tournament:
Jenna Brown (Notre Dame, Lovett)
Brown is a decorated athlete from Atlanta who dominated the high school game from her time at Lovett. The 5’10 guard was ranked as a 5-Star coming out of high school and was given numerous accolades for her play during high school. For starters, Brown is the all-time leading scorer at Lovett where she was named as a McDonald’s All-American and was on the Jordan Brand Classic All-American Team in 2018. To go along with those already prestigious awards, Brown was named as Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year as well as a member of the 2018 Naismith High School Girls’ All-American First Team. In her senior year of high school, Brown averaged 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Her outstanding play led the Lions to a 25-5 record, including beginning the season with a 14-0 record. In total, Brown accumulated over 1,700 points, 570 rebounds and 320 steals in her time playing basketball at The Lovett School. After high school, Brown chose to attend Stanford where she played for four seasons before transferring to Notre Dame for her final season of eligibility.
Sania Feagin (South Carolina, Forest Park)
A Ellenwood-native that attended Forest Park, Feagin was ranked the No. 4 overall player and the No. 1 in the nation in the 2021 recruiting cycle. In high school, she averaged closer to 19 points, 10 rebounds and an astonishing four blocks a game. As a junior, Feagin was named Gatorade Player of the Year and was a four-time selection for the All-State teams by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was a member of the Forest Park team that won the Class 6A state championship in 2020 and were Class 5A runner ups in 2021. In her time in the Panthers basketball program, she totaled over 1,800 points and 1,300 rebounds. This season for the Gamecocks, she is shooting 56% from the field and is averaging close to seven points a game this season.
Flau’jae Johnson (LSU, Sprayberry)
In her short career so far in the LSU basketball program under head coach Kim Mulkey, Johnson has had an exceptional two years for the Tigers. Last year, Johnson was an instrumental piece in the Tigers run to the national championship where they defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the programs first national championship. In her freshman season, Johnson averaged 11 points and close to six rebounds a game in the Tigers national championship run. For her play last season, Johnson earned honors such as being a member of the 2023 SEC All-Freshman team, three-time SEC Freshman of the Week, as well as 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year. In high school, Johnson was a top-30 recruit in the nation according to ESPN and was a 4-Star out of Sprayberry. She earned many awards for her play in high school such as McDonald’s All-American, Jordan Brand Classic MVP, Naismith All-American, Georgia Region 6-6A Player of the Year and has her jersey retired at Sprayberry after accumulating over 1,600 points in her career. This season for LSU, Johnson has not missed a beat, continuing to be a factor for the Tigers women’s basketball program. In the NCAA Tournament so far, she is averaging close to 18 points in two games while averaging a little over 14 points per game on the season. She will continue to be a large piece of LSUs offense as the Tigers advance to the Sweet 16 to face two-seed UCLA for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight on the Tigers quest to winning back-to-back national championships. Along with her exceptional basketball skills, Johnson is a talented musician as she has a record deal with Jay-Z and Roc Nation.
Flau’jae Johnson took over in the LSU 2nd round win! @Flaujae pic.twitter.com/JyHz0uFlFI
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) March 24, 2024
Raven Johnson (South Carolina, Westlake)
In her career at Westlake, Johnson helped propel the Lions to four state championships from 2018-2021. The 5’9 guard was the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting class and was ranked as the top point guard in the recruiting cycle. She was named as a three-time Atlanta Journal Constitution Player of the Year, two-time Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Player of the Year, Atlanta Tipoff Club Miss Georgia Basketball honors twice, Naismith Player of the Year, and unanimous All-American. In her senior season at Westlake she averaged close to 16 points and five rebounds. She committed to continue playing basketball at the University of South Carolina under legendary head coach, Dawn Staley, where the Gamecocks won the national championship in her freshman season. Johnson’s freshman season was cut short due to a season-ending knee injury, but that didn’t stop her from coming back stronger the year after. As a redshirt freshman the next year, the Gamecocks won 36 games (a program record) and reached the Final Four for the third time in as many seasons playing a pivotal role for Dawn Staley’s team. This season for South Carolina, she has close to doubled her scoring average from last season, averaging eight points a game, and is shooting 45% from the field. Johnson continues to play a factor on this year’s Gamecock team as they look to make it back to the Final Four. South Carolina will face Indiana on Friday for a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Courtney Ogden (Stanford, Westminster)
Ogden graduated from the Westminster School last year where she played in their basketball program for the last four seasons. The Atlanta-native is 6’1 guard who averaged close to 20 points and 10 rebounds in her first season of high school basketball and improved her numbers year after year. She made the first team in both the Class 3A and 4A after the school made the move to the higher class. Last year, Ogden took home Class 4A Player of the Year as she helped lead the Wildcats to the second round of the state playoffs while she averaged almost 22 points and nine rebounds on 48% shooting from the field. For her elite play throughout high school, Ogden accumulated numerous awards such as becoming a McDonald’s All-American, Jordan Brand Classic All-American, MaxPreps Georgia High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year and Gatorade Georgia Girls Player of the Year last season. Throughout her entire career at Westminster she played in a total of 94 games and and averaged close to 21 points and nine rebounds in her time as a Wildcat. She was rated a top-10 player in the country according to ESPN and ultimately decided to continue playing basketball at Stanford. In her first season of collegiate basketball, she is averaging around three points a game and is getting around 12 minutes a game, finding her role on the Cardinal team. Stanford will continue their season in the Sweet 16 as they will face NC State on Friday night.
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