A’ja Wilson leads preseason All-Americans; USC picked to win SEC

A’ja Wilson admits that when she was young, playing basketball was the furthest thing from her mind.

Now South Carolina’s star is recognized as one of the best players in women’s college basketball as a member of The Associated Press All-America team that was announced Thursday.

“It’s unbelievable. I came from being a little girl who didn’t want to play the sport of basketball,” the 6-foot-5 junior forward said. “I didn’t want to deal with sweating or basketball running. Now, being one of the top five players in the country with such a great group of girls is pretty unbelievable.”

Wilson is joined on the All-America team by Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell, Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner, Baylor’s Nina Davis and Washington’s Kelsey Plum.

Wilson received 32 votes from the 33-member national media panel that selects the weekly poll. Both Wilson and Mitchell were honored as All-Americas last spring.

Preseason SEC honors

South Carolina was predicted to win the 2017 SEC women’s basketball championship in a vote of the league’s coaches for the third straight season.

USC’s A’ja Wilson was voted as SEC Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the All-SEC First Team by teammate Alaina Coates.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 3:53 PM with the headline "A’ja Wilson leads preseason All-Americans; USC picked to win SEC."