For A'ja Wilson's birthday, a look at her top-5 South Carolina basketball moments
By Kevin Miller
A'ja Wilson's Top-5 Moments with South Carolina Basketball:
No. 2: N'ational P'layer of the Y'ear
During the Gamecocks' National Championship-winning 2016-2017 campaign, A'ja Wilson was a finalist for several National Player of the Year awards but future WNBA teammate Kelsey Plum won the honor.
The next year, though, the trophies all belonged to Wilson.
Despite losing three 1st round picks in the 2017 WNBA Draft (Alaina Coates, Allisha Gray, and Kaela Davis), Wilson and Dawn Staley led the Gamecocks to a 29-7 record, an SEC Tournament Championship Game win, and an Elite Eight berth. Their season came to an end against UConn, but it was the South Carolina basketball legend who was the top individual player in the nation.
The John R. Wooden Award, Wade Trophy, Honda Sports Award, USBWA National Player of the Year Award, AP Women's College Basketball Player of the Year Award, and Lisa Leslie Award all found their way to A'ja Wilson's mantle as she posted a stat line of 22.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 1.7 assists, and 1 steal per game. She was top-12 nationally in points, rebounds, and blocks, the only player to be in the top-35 in all three categories.
In addition to winning virtually every National Player of the Year honor in existence during her senior campaign with the Gamecocks, Wilson became the first 3x SEC Player of the Year and just the 6th 4x AP All-American.
She's got a statue outside of Colonial Life Arena for a reason.