How A’ja Wilson, other Gamecock greats are preparing for WNBA season in a ‘bubble’
Ty Harris has spent a little time in the city of the WNBA team that drafted her — but not much. Such is life right now.
Harris was selected No. 7 overall by the Dallas Wings in April’s draft. But with the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, the South Carolina women’s basketball program’s all-time assists leader only made a brief stop in Dallas for physicals before heading off to Bradenton, Florida.
That’s where the league has established its “bubble,” with players staying at the IMG Academy, being regularly tested for COVID-19 and preparing for a 22-game season that’s set to tip off Saturday.
Right now, Harris is living in a hotel room, practicing twice a day and not doing much else.
“This kind of feels like I’m back in college, in a dorm room,” Harris told The State. “When it’s time to go to practice or a game, we ride the bus or a shuttle and get there and watch film afterwards.”
It’s not just familiar experiences for Harris. There are also plenty of familiar faces, with six former Gamecocks currently on rosters — Harris and Allisha Gray with the Wings; A’ja Wilson with the Las Vegas Aces; Tiffany Mitchell with the Indiana Fever; Mikiah Herbert Harrigan with the Minnesota Lynx; and Alaina Coates with the Washington Mystics.
It’s the most players USC has ever had in the league at one time since it started in 1997. And it makes Dawn Staley’s program one of the best represented in the WNBA.
“I’m just excited to watch them all develop in this league. I think a lot of us are just getting started, not even close to our peak, and we’re just soaring up,” Wilson told The State. “I’m happy to be a part of the number.”
The Gamecock youth movement was evidenced when ESPN released its rankings of the top 25 players who are 25 years old or younger. Wilson, Gray and Mitchell all made the cut, with only fellow powerhouses UConn and Notre Dame putting as many players on the list.
Mitchell, entering her fifth season, won’t turn 26 for another two months. But she’s the elder stateswoman for the current wave of Gamecock greats and one of the most veteran players for the Fever.
“It was only a matter of time before South Carolina caught up and had more players in the league,” Mitchell said. “So seeing them and especially seeing them excel and shine, it says a lot about coach Staley and the program and what she can do for players as far as their development.”
When she started, Mitchell was the only USC player in the league, but she quickly acclimated, playing 34 games and starting eight. Since then, she said, she feels like she’s learned to “fit into any situation,” whether it’s coming off the bench, working as a role player or taking on more responsibility. And she’s used hard-earned experience to pass some lessons on to her teammates, both old and new.
When it comes to her own goals for the truncated 2020 season, Mitchell is focused on pushing the Fever back to the playoffs after a trying three-year stretch in which they’ve gone 28-74.
“Me being one of the older players on the team, especially on the wing and as a guard, a lot more will be looked upon me offensively and defensively,” Mitchell said. “So just knowing what we have and proving to people. ... I think right now we are more so playing the underdog role, but, you know, I’ve always excelled in the underdog role and proving people wrong.”
Harris and Gray are also playing for a squad expected to be on the edge of the playoff bubble. The Wings are in the midst of a rebuild and don’t have any players with more than four years’ experience in the WNBA. That means Gray, just a few seasons removed from winning Rookie of the Year in 2017, will also have to be a veteran leader.
“I’m just trying to be more vocal now that I’m one of the older players on the team,” Gray said. “Because normally I’m the quiet one, but I know that I can change my role now because I’ve been in the league long enough where I know what the WNBA is like, so I just try to be vocal and try to help the rookies out as much as possible.”
That includes Harris, who says Gray has been “amazing” in helping guide her through training camp. In turn, Gray says Harris has been showing out well in practices.
Herbert Harrigan and the Lynx are looking to make a push for the postseason as well, though they aren’t considered among the league’s favorites.
Meanwhile, Wilson and Coates are on squads expected to contend for the title. The Mystics are the defending champs, and Coates joins them after stints with the Chicago Sky, Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream. Wilson, already a two-time All-Star, is expected to be a leader for the Aces with several key veterans out for the year.
“The fear of the unknown’s not there anymore, and I kind of got a feel for the league and the league has a feel for myself, and I understand what my team needs from me and what my coaching staff needs from me,” Wilson said of her goals this season. “So at this point, you know, in my eyes, it’s a championship.”
To reach that goal, Wilson may have to play at an MVP level — she’s one of the favorites for the award, and she acknowledged that that’s always a goal for her. But rather than try to play to others’ expectations, she said, she’s done worrying what others think.
It’s an attitude that has extended off the court, with the release of a Players’ Tribune article dedicated to Black girls. That essay, Wilson said, was building up inside her ever since the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in Louisville after police executed a no-knock warrant. In Wilson’s eyes, not enough outrage has been voiced about Taylor’s death.
“I just felt like that is what Black women go through every single day — constantly overlooked, constantly getting swept under the rug, but yet have to put on this persona, to be some of the strongest women in the world. And so I knew that I wanted to get that out,” Wilson said.
WNBA games, TV schedule
Saturday’s games
Noon: Seattle Storm vs New York Liberty (ESPN)
3 pm: Los Angeles Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury (ABC)
5 pm: Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics (CBS Sports Network)
Sunday’s games
Noon: Connecticut Sun vs. Minnesota Lynx (ESPN)
3 pm: Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces (ABC)
5 pm: Dallas Wings vs. Atlanta Dream (CBS Sports Network)
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 9:19 AM.
