WNBA hopeful lays out blueprint for HBCU prospects

Diamond Johnson didn’t hear her name called in the WNBA Draft like many HBCU supporters were hoping for, but she does have her foot in the door.

The former Norfolk State guard is currently in training camp with the Minnesota Lynx, looking to play her way onto the squad.

The 5’5 guard, who started her career at Temple and also played at NC State before transferring to NSU, was asked about the impact of playing at an HBCU on her WNBA prospects. 

“Just be you. If you’re super talented enough, I think they’ll find you. When I was playing for Norfolk State we did a really good job of setting our schedule,” Johnson told local media over the weekend. “We played two SEC schools — we ended up winning. We played Alabama — we lost by 10. We played those good mid-major schools like  Green Bay and Wyoming.”

Norfolk State beat Missouri and Auburn in non-conference play before ravaging the MEAC during conference play. That dominance was key, according to Diamond Johnson.

“And then just dominate in your league, win every game by 30 plus, to make it feel like it’s not super-close so they can ever question the competition and stuff.

NSU went 30-5 overall, winning the MEAC regular season and conference tournament before dropping a heart-breaker to Maryland in the NCAA Tournament. Johnson was named MEAC Player of the Year and was up for several national awards. However, she wasn’t selected in the WNBA Draft last month. Still, having played at the Power Four level as well as an HBCU, Johnson can speak on succeeding in college ball in multiple enviornments in preparation for the WNBA.

“It’s whatever fits you, it could be a P4, HBCU, smaller school. Just do what makes you happy and then obviously when you get there you got to ball out and they’ll find you.”

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