SACRAMENTO, CA – Jessica Thomas-Johnson’s love for Virginia women’s basketball runs in her blood. While she was growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia, her grandfather, James Shifflett, often took her to watch the Cavaliers play in University Hall.
Thomas-Johnson quickly came to admire a Cavaliers point guard named Dawn Staley − for her play but even more for her character. Thomas-Johnson later held that up as a standard for her own children, including her daughter, Kymora.
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Now, Kymora Johnson is the point guard leading the way for Virginia in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The No. 10-seeded Cavaliers face off against No. 3 TCU on March 28.
Virginia upset No. 2 Iowa in a double-overtime thriller to become the first double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 since 2022. The Cavaliers are also the first First Four team to make it this far.
“Seeing her wear that jersey with that name across the chest is very symbolic for me,” Thomas-Johnson said of her daughter, who is averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and five assists in tournament play. “She is exactly what I recognized in Dawn when I was that young. Very well-balanced and happy.”
Mom and five of Kymora’s seven siblings will be in the stands in the Golden 1 Center stands for the TCU game. Staley also is very likely to be there, scouting her team’s potential Elite Eight opponent.
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Staley said she has been texting congratulations to Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
“We’re back to our glory days at UVA,” said Staley, who added that she hasn’t yet interacted with Johnson.
This is the deepest the Cavaliers have advanced in the tournament since making it to the Sweet 16 in 2000. Staley led Virginia to three straight Final Fours in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Johnson’s tournament performance has prompted people to compare her to Staley in terms of the game, but her mom looks past the box score.
“She’s an incredible human and a good person with a good heart,” Thomas-Johnson said of her daughter. “Because of that, it’s helped her be a really good basketball player, and she carries a standard of excellence.”
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Johnson’s junior varsity basketball coach Mark Gearhart noticed these traits when she was in seventh grade.
“I remember her coach telling me, ‘Mo is a connector,’” Thomas-Johnson said. “‘She brings people together, and she lifts them up,’ and I had never thought about it that way, but the minute he said it, I knew exactly what he meant.”
For Johnson, the decision to sign with Virginia three years ago was easy. Her mom lives five miles from the stadium and attends every game, home and away.
“She hasn’t missed a single game in my whole career, literally not one,” Johnson said. “The biggest thing is just having her as that support system, like not a lot of people can say they have the relationship that we have, we are truly best friends.”
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If Virginia beats TCU and No. 1 South Carolina tops No. 4 Oklahoma, the Cavaliers and Gamecocks would meet in an Elite Eight game on March 30. Thomas-Johnson is trying hard to not look ahead that far, but it’s hard not to.
“I’m a crier, and I’d probably cry the whole freaking game,” Thomas-Johnson said. “To have watched (Staley) in my home city as a child play, and then to see her sitting on the other side of the court coaching her team against my daughter – wow.”
Wesley Webb is student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inspired by Dawn Staley, Kymora Johnson now leads Virginia into Sweet 16
