‘Columbia’s home’: Gamecock great, WNBA star A’ja Wilson gives back to hometown
A’ja Wilson’s seen a lot of success on the court this year.
She’s traveled the country — and the world — winning award after award and championship after championship.
But over the weekend, Wilson returned to her hometown to give back to her community. And her last stop was Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, from where she was recruited to USC.
Wilson held a basketball camp on Sunday for third- through 12th-graders in the area. She joyfully spent time with the kids, dancing around and giving high-fives while also showing them the fundamentals of the game.
Among the children in Columbia, Wilson’s reputation exceeds her.
“Oh, my God, you’re A’ja!” an excited child would tell her.
There aren’t many more recognizable figures in South Carolina’s capital city than Wilson.
She helped the Gamecocks win their first women’s basketball national championship in 2017. She joined South Carolina as both a native of Columbia and the nation’s No. 1 recruit coming out of high school.
Beyond that, a statue of her resides outside of Colonial Life Arena.
Wilson said she remembers having role models she admired as a kid, but being that figure for children now is “surreal.”
“Those moments are so much bigger to me than the banner hanging and the ring wearing,” Wilson said. “Those moments are something that I cherish.”
Athletes at the camp got a pair of A’ja Wilson’s signature shoes, the Cosmic Unity 2’s. After the players scrimmaged against each other, they lined up to receive their box of sneakers.
Wilson stood at the front of the line with a clipboard, marking off names as she matched kids with shoe sizes.
“It’s hard finding basketball shoes that you like, or something that you love,” Wilson said. “So just to give a piece of me, I feel like that’s a piece of them that they can take home and be like, ‘Wow, these are the A’ja Wilson’s.’ ”
The four-time WNBA All-Star made a plethora of stops in Columbia in just a few days.
Through her foundation, Wilson donated technological resources to Pace Academy and St. John Pre-School to help students with dyslexia.
She then refurbished a basketball court in Hyatt Park — which is near her grandmother’s community — with help from Mountain Dew Legend and Buffalo Wild Wings partnerships. She said that a lot of her family came from that area.
She even hosted the Sneaker and Glitter Gala on Saturday, held at the University of South Carolina Pastides Alumni Center.
“Columbia’s home,” Wilson said. “It’s where my heart will always be. Born and raised here, so to come back and give back to the community is something that I think a lot of pride in because it’s raised me.”
Wilson took home many accolades this year at the professional level.
She won her second career WNBA MVP award and her first Defensive Player of the Year award. Wilson also helped the Las Vegas Aces capture their first championship in franchise history, which was also the first for any professional team in the city.
Just a few weeks later, she and the rest of Team USA won gold medals in the FIBA Women’s World Cup. Wilson was named the MVP after the squad defeated China.
“I haven’t had one little bit of time to really reflect,” Wilson said. “It’s been a phenomenal year for not just myself but my team, everyone around me. I can’t really put it into words because everything happened so quickly. But it’s something that I definitely will reflect on and be like, ‘Wow, that actually happened in 2022.’ ”
A product of Dawn Staley’s tutelage, Wilson still keeps up with how USC performs.
She called the Gamecocks’ women’s basketball team a “sisterhood,” and holds them to a high standard because of the program’s standard of success.
“I’m not surprised by anything that they’re doing,” Wilson said. “It’s who they are, it’s how we are made.”
The basketball scene in Columbia impresses Wilson. She believes the area holds its share of talented players.
South Carolina has managed to add elite players in the 2023 recruiting class this year, including Milaysia Fulwiley, who attends Keenan High School.
“I think Columbia is just a city that people are like, ‘Ah, man, they got a little hoopers,’ ” Wilson said. “But we really do our thing here. We mind our business, we stay out of the way, but we get the job done.”
Wilson lives in Las Vegas, where she hopes to win another WNBA championship with the Aces.
But her long-standing roots in Columbia keep her coming back.
“This community raised me, and it takes a village to raise a child,” Wilson said. “They’ve done so much for me. So to come back, to enjoy the kids, to redo the park, to have the gala. It’s been a phenomenal weekend.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2022 at 5:16 PM.
