On Thursday, ESPN released their annual preseason top-25 WNBA players ranking, and South Carolina basketball fans were not surprised at all to see three former Gamecocks crack the list.
Naturally, Gamecock legend A'ja Wilson was #1. The Columbia native won the Defensive Player of the Year award but was robbed of another MVP award last season. With career-best numbers in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage last season (and even better numbers in the postseason), Wilson is well on her way to another dominant campaign for the Las Vegas Aces. Hopefully, she will get the respect she deserves this time around.
The next Gamecock on the list also won an individual trophy after the 2023 season. Indiana Fever star Aliyah Boston won the WNBA Rookie of the Year honor in runaway fashion and is the 14th-ranked player on ESPN's WNBA top-25. Boston led the league in field goal percentage and offensive rebounds as a rookie, and she was among the league leaders in win shares despite playing on the league's worst team. Adding Caitlin Clark this offseason, Boston and the Fever are positioning themselves for their first postseason in a long time.
Coming in at #18 was underrated star Allisha Gray. The 2016-2017 National Championship teammate of A'ja Wilson finally made the WNBA All-Star Game last year and even picked up some non-WNBA hardware this offseason when she was the Athletes Unlimited Individual Champion. Gray has become one of the top scorers in the W, and she seems ready to make a run at another All-Star Game in the 2024 season.
Rookies were not eligible for the list or else Gamecock All-American Kamilla Cardoso might have found her way into the top-25.
South Carolina basketball and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the only two programs to put three players on ESPN's list.