USA! A’ja Wilson named to World Cup national team under Dawn Staley
On the same day South Carolina’s board of trustees took the first step toward erecting a statue of A’ja Wilson on campus, the former Gamecock women’s basketball great accomplished yet another career milestone.
USA Basketball announced Wednesday that Wilson will be among the 12 players on the U.S. national team competing in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup on the Canary Islands, starting Saturday.
It is the first time Wilson will play in an official FIBA event for the senior women’s national team — she has previously been named to the U23, U19 and U18 teams.
The World Cup is the second biggest international women’s basketball tournament, behind only the Olympics, and Wilson’s selection to the 2018 World Cup team puts the WNBA Rookie of the Year in prime position to make the 2020 Olympic squad.
Wilson will be coached by USC’s Dawn Staley, who also serves as head coach for Team USA. She is the youngest player on the U.S.’s roster and is joined by her teammate on her pro team, the Las Vegas Aces, Kelsey Plum.
Three other Gamecocks played with USA Basketball in its preparation for the World Cup — current point guard Tyasha Harris competed in the Red-White exhibition game earlier this month, former guard Allisha Gray traveled with the team to exhibition contests in Connecticut and Washington, D.C., and former guard Tiffany Mitchell played in a friendly tournament in Europe over the past week.
The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup begins this Saturday in Tenerife, Canary Islands. The U.S. opens group play against Senegal at 1 p.m. eastern time, and the game will be streamed online on ESPN+.
Statue update. South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner said the university hopes to unveil Wilson’s statue prior to the 2020-21 basketball season outside of Colonial Life Arena. The school’s campus art advisory committee has approved the addition of the statue, it was announced Wednesday at a USC board of trustees meeting.
Staley donated $100,000 for the project and two other donors made major donations that will cover the majority of $300,000 expense of the statue.
The State’s Josh Kendall contributed to this story
This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 1:25 PM.