Diamond Johnson makes next move following WNBA release
After being waived by the Minnesota Lynx, Diamond Johnson is making her next move to further her professional basketball career. According to Kyle T. Mosley of HBCU Legends, Johnson has signed a deal to join the Hefei team in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) this fall.
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The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) is China's top professional women's basketball league. Founded in 2002, it serves as the women's equivalent to the Chinese Basketball Association. Johnson's inclusion in the league means that she will compete amongst the best women's basketball players in China and get significant professional experience.
Johnson was arguably the most surprising omission from last month's WNBA Draft. Johnson, alongside fellow Spartans star Kierra Wheeler, helped lead the team to a program-record 30 wins, a perfect conference record, and the MEAC regular season and tournament titles. The Spartans, who were undefeated in conference play, won 19 consecutive games entering the NCAA Tournament, with the winning streak starting in late December with a victory at Auburn.
Johnson also showed her immense skill in Norfolk State's March Madness first-round matchup against Maryland, in which she finished with 18 points and four three-pointers made in her team's 82-69 loss. Johnson proved herself as a dynamic shot creator and was on the radar of the larger college basketball world, winning numerous awards in-season for her play and was named to several awards watch lists.
The talented guard started her career as a five-star recruit in the same 2020 class as Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and Kamilla Cardoso. She was, in fact, ranked the sixth best player in that class. While in her college journey, she had stints at Rutgers and North Carolina State before eventually landing at Norfolk State. At each of her stops, she showed her five-star level talent.
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As a freshman at Rutgers, she averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, earning spots on the All-Big Ten Second Team and the All-Freshman Team. At North Carolina State, she was named the 2022 ACC Sixth Woman of the Year as a sophomore. In her junior season, despite being limited to 22 games due to an ankle injury, she earned second-team All-ACC honors, averaging 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 41.6% from the field.
She then transferred to Norfolk State and continued her streak of success. During her time with the program, she led the Spartans to back-to-back conference championships and consecutive March Madness appearances, where the team played Stanford and Maryland, respectively.
Related: Dawn Thornton, Alabama A&M land former Pac-12 assistant
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