First look: A’ja Wilson statue is up at USC
The statue honoring Gamecock basketball great A’ja Wilson is up outside of Colonial Life Arena, and a public unveiling is set to take place in the coming days, a team spokeswoman confirmed to The State.
The statue honoring Wilson, one of the top athletes in South Carolina history, has been in the works since her graduation in 2018. It is located next to the fountain on the main plaza outside the Gamecocks’ home arena and depicts her leaping, preparing to shoot a basketball.
The statue itself is approximately life-sized compared to Wilson’s 6-foot-5 frame and stands atop an angled plinth. On the front of the plinth is an image of Wilson holding the Naismith Trophy, given to the nation’s top collegiate player. Below that is a quote of her explaining her signature pearls.
“When I was 10 or 11, my grandma gave me my first set of pearls. She told me, ‘A pretty girl always wears pearls.’ I haven’t let them go since,” the inscription reads.
Another side of the plinth simply reads “A’ja Wilson, University of South Carolina, 2015-2018,” and a third side lists her career accomplishments.
Over the span of four seasons, Wilson established herself as an all-time great in women’s college basketball. A Columbia area native, she was the No. 1 prospect in the country as a senior in high school and committed to coach Dawn Staley’s program over national power UConn.
As a freshman, Wilson was named first-team All-SEC. Every year after that, she also won SEC Player of the Year, becoming the only player to ever accomplish that feat three times. She also led the Gamecocks to four consecutive SEC tournament championships, another first, and helped lead the program to its first ever national championship in 2017, taking home Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four.
Wilson was named All-American four times, three times to the first team, and was the unanimous national player of the year as a senior. She left South Carolina as the program leader in career points, free throws and blocked shots and was second in career rebounds, field goals and double-doubles.
Since graduating, Wilson has continued her success on the pro level. She was the program’s first No. 1 overall draft pick in the WNBA draft and immediately became a perennial All-Star. At age 24, she was named MVP of the 2020 season, becoming one of the youngest MVPs in league history.
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 3:11 PM.
