Diamond Johnson doesn’t ask for permission to chase her dreams and doesn’t need others’ approval. Instead, the HBCU point guard trusts her vision, including God’s fingerprints and his plan for her life.
When Johnson — the youngest of six siblings — chose to bring her talents to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference powerhouse Norfolk State University after two Power Four tenures at Rutgers as a freshman and two seasons at NC State. The people closest to her failed to visualize her plan.
“[People] didn’t think leaving a bigger school for a smaller one was the best idea,” the Spartans’ fifth-year guard told HBCU Gameday. “My mom [Dana Brooks] questioned if I should have left, too. … At the end of the day, this is my journey. They’re not going to experience the stuff I’ve experienced.”
“I found my voice here.”
After Diamond Johnson helped Norfolk State secure a 68-56 win against Howard for the program’s third straight MEAC tournament championship on March 15, the program became one of nine Division-I teams to collect 30 wins this season. On Sunday, the NCAA selection committee awarded the Spartans the No. 13 seed in this year’s tourney field. As the No. 13 seed Norfolk State (30-4, 14-0 MEAC) prepares to face No. 4 seed Maryland (23-7, 13-5 Big Ten) in the first round of the Birmingham 2 region of women’s NCAA tournament on Saturday, Johnson sits at peace with her decision. Her aim is to extend the Spartans’ trail of magic in March.
NSU’s postseason spot marked the highest received by a men’s or women’s HBCU basketball program in the last 10 years and the second-highest seed obtained by an HBCU since the women’s tournament expanded in 1994. The 5-foot-5 playmaker is ready to display her prowess on the hardwood, and it remains unmatched despite no longer playing in a Power Four league.
“It’s been the greatest two years of my college basketball career [at NSU],” Johnson said. “I’m glad I chose to do something different because I wasn’t happy at my previous [two] schools. …I found my voice here. … I’m the underdog, and I love being the underdog.”
However, Johnson’s unconventional trek didn’t start when she decided to leave New Jersey, North Carolina, nor when she departed the Tar Heel State to take her talents to familiar scenery in Norfolk, Virginia, ahead of last season. The genesis of her sacrifice and unique path started as a teenager.
“One of the best players I’ve ever coached.”
Diamond Johnson, a Philadelphia native, electrified crowds when she played in the Boo Williams AAU Summer League for three years. “Boo” Williams, who has been coaching for four and half decades and also coached Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, said there was never a question if Johnson would be a special player. His only critique of Johnson was that she gained more height.
“She’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached,” Williams told HBCU Gameday. “She can score on all three levels. … She has that toughness and the game of an old-school basketball player from playing with boys in the playgrounds. Kids don’t do that as much anymore.”
After playing under Williams’ tutelage, Johnson started her high school career at Phoebus in Hampton, Virginia, a roughly 40-minute car ride from Norfolk. She averaged an impressive 31 points per game in two seasons at the public school. Amid her sophomore campaign, Johnson transferred to Neumann-Goretti — a private Catholic high school in south Philadelphia — to be closer to her father, James, who later died from complications from a stroke and other ailments.
By then, a five-star recruit, Diamond Johnson made an even bigger name for herself at Neumann-Goretti. She led the program to consecutive Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A championships and earned back-to-back Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year honors. Johnson solidified herself as one of the best players in the country alongside the likes of UConn’s Paige Bueckers, WNBA Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese. Her pedigree was unmatched.
“Going to Philadelphia helped with that,” Williams said. “She prided herself on studying the game, and her work ethic was relentless.”
“This was the perfect spot for me”
She started her college career playing for one of women’s college basketball’s most illustrious coaches, C. Vivian Stringer, at Rutgers. However, Johnson wasn’t satisfied despite earning all-freshman Big Ten honors and second-team All-Big Ten recognition. Diamond Johnson took her talents to NC State.
There, she became the 2022 ACC Sixth Woman of the Year as a sophomore before earning second-team All-ACC honors her junior season, one where she averaged 12.3 points while shooting 41.6% from the floor, 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists in 22 games due to an ankle injury.
Still, following her junior season, Johnson entered the transfer portal again. This time, NSU and how Spartans head coach Larry Vickers orchestrated the program piqued her interest. Norfolk State was a team coming off its first MEAC tournament championship and first NCAA tourney appearance since 2002. The Spartans possessed the championship mindset and was losing some fifth-year players following that season.
After lots of prayer, Johnson accepted the challenge to return close to home and play for NSU. She was already familiar with the Spartans’ facility from working out there when COVID-19 shut down the sports landscape. Since joining the program, Johnson has never looked back.
“The offense [the Spartans] ran to [Coach Vickers] and the coaching staff trusting me and pushing me because they know I have WNBA aspirations. This was the perfect spot for me,” Johnson said.
As much as Johnson wanted to play for NSU, Vickers was thrilled to have her at the HBCU program.
“She’s been gifted all her life. I’ve just tried to help her fine-tune things as a player and prepare her for the WNBA.”
“We don’t get Diamond [Johnson] if we were not a good basketball team,” Vickers told HBCU Gameday. “She spent hours researching us [Spartans] and watching the film more than any player I’ve ever recruited. … She’s been gifted all her life. I’ve just tried to help her fine-tune things as a player and prepare her for the WNBA.”
Johnson is the only active D-I women’s basketball player with at least 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 390 assists, and 300 steals. However, to Johnson, her stats are second to the success of one of the most dominant HBCU women’s basketball programs. She averages 19.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.7 steals while shooting 47.2% from the floor per contest this season.
“The only reason she doesn’t score over 20 points is her unselfishness,” Vickers said. “…That speaks to the locker room we have here. … She’s the highest-rated player we’ve ever had in the program. She earned the respect of her teammates and constantly leads by example.”
When she joined NSU before the 2023-24 season, she started a note in her old iPhone 13, typing a list of goals she wanted to accomplish while donning a green, gold, and gray uniform. Her aspirations included winning multiple MEAC regular season and tournament championships, defeating a Power Four program and shocking the world with a women’s NCAA tournament win.
This season, NSU upset two Power Four programs — Auburn and Missouri — never lost consecutive games and joined South Carolina, UCLA, UConn, Texas, TCU, Florida Gulf Coast, Grand Canyon, and Montana State as the only teams to have 30 wins before the start of the tournament. The only thing left to clear in her phone is a tournament victory that the Spartans could bring to fruition on the court inside the Xfinity Center.
“I’ve been saying all season…we can beat anyone.”
But to accomplish the mighty feat, it will take a close-to-perfect game from the MEAC tourney MVP. NSU will also need substantial contributions from 6-foot-1 senior forward Kierra Wheeler (15.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.9 spg, 2.3 bpg), 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Da’Brya Clark (9.2 ppg), 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Anjanae Richardson (9.1 ppg), along with 5-foot-8 fifth-year guard Niya Fields and 6-foot senior forward Makoye Diawara.
Last year, NSU lost 79-50 to Stanford as a No. 14 seed in the tournament’s first round. After acquiring Power Four wins this season and losing some close non-conference affairs to Alabama and Green Bay — two teams in the Birmingham 2 region — Diamond Johnson feels that the Spartans have everything they need to secure a victory.
“I’ve been saying all season, if we can put all the quarters together and keep up with a team for 40 minutes, we can beat anyone,” Johnson said. “Kierra [Wheeler] brings dominance in the post. Niya [Fields] is the glue to the team, and with all of my other teammates …we can do this.”
When Johnson discovered that she was facing a familiar Big Ten foe with her teammates at Roger Brown’s Restaurant & Sports Bar on Selection Sunday, it proved that God does not make mistakes. As Johnson bet on herself, she used her faith and God’s grace to steer her in the right direction.
“This team [Maryland], this is perfect,” Johnson said. “It is the perfect bracket. I remember feeling like they [the selection committee] might send us out west again. …Everything is flowing and coming to life. I wanted to highlight HBCUs to show that big things can happen beyond Power Four schools. Everything is working in God’s favor.”
