A'ja Wilson
| No. 22 – Las Vegas Aces | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
August 8, 1996 Hopkins, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
Heathwood Hall Episcopal (Columbia, South Carolina) |
| College | South Carolina (2014–2018) |
| WNBA draft | 2018 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall |
| Selected by the Las Vegas Aces | |
| Playing career | 2018–present |
| Career history | |
| 2018–present | Las Vegas Aces |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
A'ja Riyadh Wilson (born August 8, 1996)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017, and won the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record 3rd straight SEC Player of the Year award, led South Carolina to a record 4th straight SEC Tournament Championship, became the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the 3rd consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards (Wade, AP, Honda, USBWA, Wooden, and Naismith) as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. Wilson was the first overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.
Personal life
Wilson was born to Roscoe and Eva Wilson. Her father played basketball professionally in Europe for 10 seasons. She graduated from Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in 2014. She attended the University of South Carolina, majoring in Mass Communications. She represented the Gamecocks as a forward in basketball.[2] She completed her Senior year at South Carolina. Wilson is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
High school
Throughout Wilson's high school career she played a total of 119 games. She averaged 24.7 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks a game throughout her high school career. She was number 22 and played as a forward.[3] After finishing as a runner-up in her junior year, Wilson led Heathwood Hall to the 2014 state championship as a senior. She won the National High School player of the year in 2014, was a Parade and McDonald's All-American, and was the #1 rated ESPN HoopGurlz prospect in 2014.[4] Wilson chose to stay home, and committed to play for Dawn Staley at the University of South Carolina.
College career
Wilson played in 37 games her freshmen year, leading to 4 single game freshmen records in the SEC and 3 single season freshmen records in the SEC, and won the SEC Freshman of the year award.[5] In 2016 as a Sophomore she would win her first SEC Player of the year ward and was a consensus All-American, Wilson led the Gamecocks to a SEC regular season and Tournament Championship. In 2017 Wilson once again led the Gamecocks to a SEC regular season and Tournament championship, and went on to win the schools first National Championship with a stirring victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the championship game. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.[6] In 2018, Wilson had her best season statistically, and won all of the National player of the year awards. She won a record 3rd straight SEC Player of the Year award, and was also a Consensus All-American for the 3rd straight year. Wilson finished her college career at South Carolina as the all-time leading scorer for the school.
South Carolina statistics
Statistics courtesy NCAA Statistics[7]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | South Carolina | 37 | 486 | 53.8% | 33.3% | 66.2% | 6.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 13.1 |
| 2015-16 | South Carolina | 33 | 530 | 53.1% | 0.0% | 72.3% | 8.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 16.1 |
| 2016-17 | South Carolina | 35 | 626 | 58.8% | 0.0% | 73.7% | 7.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 17.9 |
| 2017-18 | South Carolina | 33 | 747 | 54.2% | 41.7% | 73.2% | 11.8 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 22.6 |
| Career | 138 | 2389 | 55.0% | 37.5% | 71.5% | 8.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 17.3 |
Professional career
WNBA
In 2018, Wilson was drafted first overall by the Las Vegas Aces. On May 20, 2018, in her career debut, Wilson scored 14 points along with 10 rebounds in a 101-65 loss to the Connecticut Sun.[8][9] On June 12, 2018, Wilson scored a career-high of 35 points along with 13 rebounds in a 101-92 overtime victory against the Indiana Fever, becoming the second rookie in league history to score 35 points and grab 10 rebounds.[10] Wilson would be voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game. Later on in the season, Wilson would be named the WNBA Rookie of the Year. She was tied for third in scoring. Her season performance almost led the Aces to the playoffs as they finished 9th place with a 14-20 record.
WNBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career high | League leader | |||||
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Las Vegas | 33 | 33 | 30.6 | .462 | .000 | .774 | 8.0 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 20.7 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 33 | 33 | 30.6 | .462 | .000 | .774 | 8.0 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 20.7 |
Awards and honors
WNBA
- WNBA All-Star (2018)
College
- NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2017)
- Wade Trophy (2018)
- John R. Wooden Award (2018)
- Honda Sports Award (2018)
- Naismith College Player of the Year (2018)
- AP Player of the Year (2018)
- USBWA Player of the Year (2018)
- 3× Consensus first-team All-American (2016–2018)
- 3× SEC Player of the Year (2016–2018)
- 4× First-team All-SEC (2015–2018)
- SEC Freshman of the Year (2015)
- SEC All-Freshman Team (2015)
High School
- National High School Player of the Year (WBCA, Naismith, Parade) (2014)
- McDonald's All-America (2013-14)
- Parade All-America (2013-14)
- Gatorade South Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year (2013-2014)
References
- ↑ "South Carolina Gamecock". South Carolina Gamecocks. University of South Carolina. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ↑ "A'ja Wilson Bio University of South Carolina Official Athletic Site". www.gamecocksonline.com. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
- ↑ "A'ja Wilson's High School Girls Basketball Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
- ↑ "HoopGurlz -- South Carolina Gamecocks get commitment from A'ja Wilson, No. 1 prospect in espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 for 2014 recruiting class". espnW. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
- ↑ "SEC women's basketball awards announced". SECsports.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Women's Final Four: South Carolina beats Mississippi State to win first national title". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
- ↑ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ↑ Mohegan Sun Arena Sunday, May 20, 2018
- ↑ A'ja Wilson delivers double-double in WNBA debut
- ↑ A'ja Wilson hits historic mark a few games in to WNBA rookie season