March 16, 2025
How Diamond Johnson helped Norfolk State authenticate its greatness
By Rob Knox
Johnson: 'This team was potentially one of the best HBCU teams, ever'
With a record-setting 30 victories — the most in Norfolk State’s Division I history — this basketball team is a mosaic of excellence built from teamwork, joy, loyalty, and relentless dedication.
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Norfolk State can now confidently boast its credentials in any conversation about the greatest Historically Black College and University (HBCU) women’s basketball programs in history. Just like the endless LeBron vs. Jordan GOAT debate, there might never be a clear winner — but the question will spark great discussions, because Norfolk State can help fans understand what greatness looks like.
It looks like Makoye Diawara and Niya Fields joyfully posing for selfies with former teammates, smiling faces glowing with pride after silencing a raucous crowd at Howard. It’s Fields and Kierra Wheeler, the unstoppable Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, jokingly elbowing each other aside, laughing as they jokingly compete for the spotlight during postgame interviews following a 22-point win at Coppin State.
It looks like head coach Larry Vickers savoring his postgame meal — chicken and collard greens — while playfully teasing Anjanae Richardson, whose energy all season, specifically against Morgan State, left him proudly shaking his head.
It’s Vickers passionately challenging Wheeler less than two minutes into a crucial road contest at Coppin State, only to witness her respond emphatically with an electrifying 28-point performance.
It’s Da’Brya Clark‘s white jersey bearing a single crimson speck after a fiercely contested duel against Saint Louis in Washington, D.C. It’s 2025 MEAC Player of the Year Diamond Johnson emerging victorious with not one, not two, but six vivid blood stains on her shorts after edging Howard at Burr Gymnasium, badges earned through grit and resilience.
Finally, it’s the Spartans gathered at center court beneath a shower of gold and green confetti, dancing in jubilation after achieving their season-long quest. Their cheers echoed through Norfolk Scope, as the Spartans clinched an unprecedented third consecutive MEAC Tournament title with another hard-fought 68-56 victory over rival Howard, leaving no doubt about their rightful place at the top of the conference.
In a season full of hot competition, Norfolk State has risen to every challenge, enjoyed the journey, and appreciated every milestone, and the teammates have cherished every moment they spent together on and off the court. They understood this season was unlike any other.
Reflecting on her team’s journey to the top of the MEAC, Fields told The Next following the Coppin State game, “immediately after the game is when we celebrate. We’re excited that we accomplished the goal in front of us, but the next day is on to our next mission.”
So, what does the greatest team in program history look like?
It’s Wheeler dribbling alone with pink cushioned earphones, locked into her silent world with intense focus. It’s Clark and Johnson going through their pregame routine of throwing the ball back and forth to one another, a purposeful drill. It’s a Johnson scoring binge — 13 points in the final five minutes of a road win at Howard — cementing the program’s first perfect conference season at 14-0, as she squeezed through defenders and gracefully finished twisting drives with mid-air flair.
It’s celebrating victories over not one, but two Southeastern Conference schools; it’s rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament champion Drexel, and it’s winning a highly anticipated road game against CAA preseason favorite and regular-season champion North Carolina A&T.
Norfolk State will now enter its third consecutive NCAA Tournament with confidence. They are one of nine NCAA Division I women’s programs to have 30 wins before the NCAA Tournament (South Carolina, UCLA, UConn, Texas, Florida Gulf Coast, Montana State, TCU, and Grand Canyon). Norfolk State also holds the nation’s longest home-court winning streak at 26, and is one of five programs with of 20 or more consecutive wins on its home turf.
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Only FGCU, South Dakota State, and UConn have a conference-winning streak longer than Norfolk State’s 31-straight wins. The Spartans’ 19-game winning streak is tied for the fifth longest in the NCAA, currently. Norfolk State is also ranked fifth in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll, the highest in program history.
And while the Spartans break records, they continue to keep excellent company. “We have some people playing for legacy,” Vickers shared to The Next after the road win at Coppin State on Feb. 22. “We’re trying to be one of the greatest HBCU women’s basketball teams ever. We know that we can’t allow games to slip on the road or at home if we want to have our name up there with those groups. We’re trying to check a bunch of boxes all at the same time. … I shared with them before shoot-around at Maryland-Eastern Shore that 30 wins were in play if we handled our business.”
As she scored Norfolk State’s final basket of the MEAC Tournament, Johnson triumphantly raise dher arms, knowing she had reserved herself a rarified place among the pantheon of Norfolk State women’s basketball excellence. She had raised some eyebrows in the women’s basketball community when she transferred from North Carolina State at the start of last year. It was something that rarely happened.
But the 5’5 dynamo was more than content with her decision, and recently encouraged other high-level and elite women’s basketball players to consider transferring to a Historically Black College or University on X (formerly Twitter) last week.
Come join the other side my P4s
— DIAMOND JOHNSON (@_diamond3_) March 12, 2025#HBCULIFE https://t.co/tA0Vnh9zLT
“I’m just proud that I made this transition,” said Johnson to The Next while standing in the hallway following the Howard game on March 6. “It’s not ideal for players to come from PWI twice. I love every second of it. It is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everything that was said to me before I got here has happened. That goes to the trust my coaches, coach [Trinese] Fox and Coach LV, had in what they presented to me, which was real. That’s all I wanted.”
During the MEAC Tournament, Wheeler, Johnson, and Clark were at their opponent-diminishing best, combining for 67.4% of Norfolk State’s points. They all scored double figures in each game. In its three-game run through the MEAC Tournament, Norfolk State owned the third quarter against South Carolina State, Coppin State, and Howard, outscoring them 57-23 while holding each opponent to single-digit point totals. The Spartans also held them to a collective 21% shooting in the third quarter (8-for-38).
When Norfolk State needed Wheeler in the third quarter against Howard, she scored nine of her 19 points. Her efforts helped the Spartans expand a slim 29-26 halftime lead into a 45-32 bulge entering the fourth quarter. Then, when Howard displayed championship character and heart in slicing a 20-point deficit to seven points with under three minutes remaining, Fields came through with a big layup.
For Wheeler, this triumph was special. She has appreciated being part of this remarkable era in Norfolk State women’s basketball history.
“We work hard,” Wheeler said to The Next after the Coppin State game, edging Fields out to speak to a reporter first. “I’m so proud of my team. People see the easy wins and the box score but don’t know the effort that goes into it. I’ve been with Niya and Makoye for three years, and I’ve been with Diamond, AJ, and Bree for two years, and the bond we created off the court flourishes on the court. We’re always there for each other. We all want to see each other win. … We worked hard to keep building our legacy.”
Johnson has seamlessly blended in with her teammates. Sure, she does things that dazzle on the court, but she’s still having fun, and she knows this program is bigger than her. The Spartans were already a championship program before she joined them.
In this century, the Hampton squads of the last decade were exceptional. Those Lady Pirate teams enjoyed a 54-game MEAC winning streak won five straight MEAC Tournament championships from 2010-14, when the conference included North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman, and Savannah State. Nearly two decades ago, Coppin State boasted some terrific teams led by scoring machine Rashida Suber, who was recently inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame. Jackson State’s recent teams, under former coach Tomeika Reed, received votes last season in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
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How this Norfolk State team would compete against those historic teams of the past is a fun exercise in what-ifs.
The highest seed any HBCU has had entering the Round of 64, following the expansion of the NCAA Tournament, has been No. 12, a height reached three times by Hampton (2014), Grambling State (1999), and Tennessee State (1995). Since, 2014, the highest seed for a HBCU in the NCAA Tournament was a No. 14 seed by Jackson State, in both 2022 and 2024.
Of course, Norfolk State has an opportunity to enhance its legacy forever with a NCAA Tournament victory, something no HBCU women’s basketball program has done since Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1984.
Diawara and Fields have been the rocks of excellence in this Spartan run. Wheeler joined the squad two years ago, and last year, Johnson arrived with Clark and Richardson. Greatness was expected for the Spartans this season, and the team delivered with poise, precision, and pride. The teammates’ chemistry, rooted in authentic bonds, transformed passionate exchanges and intense coaching into shared growth.
The Spartans’ dedicated group of coaches and support staff — the unsung architects crafting strategies, analyzing hours of film, and tirelessly working behind the scenes — has provided the Spartans with the tools for success while amplifying their accomplishments. The Spartans were fearless and tenacious throughout the season as they met every team’s challenge. Norfolk State’s relentless pursuit of greatness was continuously refined in the quiet sanctuary of the gym.
“That was one of the reasons why I came here, because I knew the coaches would put me in a position to succeed and lift our team even higher,” Johnson said to The Next after the Howard win. “They were already good, and I wanted to elevate that. We’re accomplishing something special right now, even though it all moves so quickly. I know when we look back at this season, whether it’s a month from now or years down the line, we’re going to realize this team was potentially one of the best HBCU teams, ever.”
No matter how the tournament plays out, one thing is already certain: Norfolk State has built upon the greatness from other phenomenal programs and elevated the standard of excellence for HBCU women’s basketball.
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Written by Rob Knox
Rob Knox is an award-winning professional and a member of the Lincoln (Pa.) Athletics Hall of Fame. In addition to having work published in SLAM magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, and Diverse Issues In Higher Education, Knox enjoyed a distinguished career as an athletics communicator for Lincoln, Kutztown, Coppin State, Towson, and UNC Greensboro. He also worked at ESPN and for the Delaware County Daily Times. Recently, Knox was honored by CSC with the Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award and the NCAA with its Champion of Diversity award. Named a HBCU Legend by SI.com, Knox is a graduate of Lincoln University and a past president of the College Sports Communicators, formerly CoSIDA.
