NC State’s Johnson, Brown-Turner and Rivers Earn All-ACC Preseason Honors

Last week, the ACC released their preseason All-ACC Teams and Newcomer Watch List for Women’s Basketball, and NC State had 3 players represented.

Junior Guard Diamond Johnson and Senior Wing Jakia Brown-Turner were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team, and Sophomore Guard Saniya Rivers was named to the Newcomer Watch List.

Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason All-ACC Team (60 voters)
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech (49 first-place votes)
Hailey Van Lith, Jr., G, Louisville (7)
Olivia Miles, So., G, Notre Dame (3)
Deja Kelly, Jr., G, North Carolina
Diamond Johnson, Jr., G, NC State
Jakia Brown-Turner, Sr., F, NC State
Jewel Spear, Jr., G, Wake Forest
Ashley Owusu, Sr., G, Virginia Tech
Morgan Jones, Grad., G, Louisville (1)
Taylor Soule, Grad., G, Virginia Tech

Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List
Ashley Owusu, Sr., G, Virginia Tech
Saniya Rivers, So., G, NC State
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse
Ta’Niya Latson, Fr., G, Florida State
(tie) Haley Cavinder, Sr., G, Miami
(tie) Ruby Whitehorn, Fr., G, Clemson (ACC)

Last year, Johnson earned ACC Sixth Player of the Year honors, averaging 10.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals, while playing 22.3 minutes per game, coming off the bench. Johnson was second on the team in points per game in 2021-22. Last year was Johnson’s first year at NC State, transferring from Rutgers after her Freshman year, where she earned 2nd Team All-Big Ten honors, averaging 17.6 points per game. Johnson was a 5-star prospect out of high school, ranked as the #6 player nationally in the 2020 recruiting class.

Brown-Turner averaged 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while averaging 28.1 minutes per game, starting in all 35 games she played in. As a Sophomore, Brown-Turner earned 1st Team All-ACC honors, and earned a spot on the All-ACC Freshman Team in her first season. Brown-Turner was a 5-Star prospect out of high school, a McDonald’s All-American, and the #15 player nationally in the 2019 recruiting class.

While Rivers didn’t see much playing time last year for South Carolina in their National Title run as a Freshman, she was 2021 McDonald’s All-American as a Senior in High School, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, and the #3 overall player nationally. As a Senior, Rivers averaged 34.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.1 steals and 5.8 assists.