South Carolina Basketball: A'ja Wilson to play in Columbia once again

South Carolina basketball fans had the honor of watching A'ja Wilson play basketball in Colonial Life Arena for four years from 2014-2018. The Columbia native was the best player in all of college basketball and has become the top professional, as well. Now, Gamecock fans will get a chance to see her play in Columbia once again.

According to a release from the Las Vegas Aces (Wilson's WNBA squad), Wilson and the Aces will play an exhibition game in Columbia at Colonial Life Arena this spring. They will face off against the Puerto Rican national team in a friendly exhibition on May 11th as they tune up for the WNBA season that starts just three days later.

Puerto Rico will use the exhibition as practice for the 2024 Summer Olympics as they secured their spot in the Games for the second straight time.

The highly anticipated exhibition is hosted by ProHoops Sports and Events and will tip off at 1:00 on Saturday, May 11th. Tickets (starting at $20.00) will go one sale on March 3rd. Television, streaming, and radio broadcast information has not been released.

For Wilson, it is a return to her hometown, home university, and home arena. The best player in South Carolina basketball history has her jersey hung in the rafters and a statue built outside of Colonial Life Arena that surely will be a major talking point for her Aces teammates.

Speaking of Wilson's teammates, with the South Carolina Gamecocks dominating the college basketball landscape this season, Wilson has won several friendly wagers with her teammates in which the stakes include the non-Gamecocks having to wear South Carolina basketball gear. It is not known if Wilson will encourage the losing bettors to rock the garnet and black at CLA, but USC fans will be keeping an eye on the pregame 'fits just in case.