WBB: Wilson Leads the Next Generation of USA Basketball
A’ja Wilson, the little girl from Hopkins, SC who grew up wearing pearls around her neck, now has another necklace: an Olympic gold medal.
On her 25th birthday, Wilson is at the top of the world. She has accomplished almost everything a basketball player can accomplish. High school champion, top overall recruit, freshman of the year, conference player of the year (three times!), national champion, national player of the year, top overall draft pick, rookie of the year, MVP, and now Olympic gold medalist. The only thing missing is a WNBA championship. But she also has a statue, which will have to serve as a placeholder for now.
This year’s Olympics came with a tailor-made storyline: Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi going for their record fifth gold medals. Wilson was an Olympic rookie, and she repeatedly said her role was to sit back and learn.
“I’m just trying to tackle my role, be there for my teammates, no matter what it is,” Wilson said before the Olympics. “The biggest thing for me is consistency, just setting small goals for myself and hopefully reaching them so I can be a big impact for the team.”
But that wasn’t how things played out. Concerns that the selection of Bird and Taurasi was based more on sentiment than ability grew stronger as they struggled in group play. Wilson saved the Americans, notching double-doubles in her first two Olympic games and dominating the fourth quarter of the third game to survive the group stage undefeated.
Wilson benefited from the talent and experience around her. Brittney Griner was the low post to Wilson’s high post, and Breanna Stewart had the versatility to fill in all the gaps and make everyone better. Both had experience, having made their Olympic debut in Rio in 2016. Wilson also benefited from the familiarity of having Dawn Staley, whose Olympic career began the year Wilson was born, as her coach. Before the fourth quarter against France, Staley appeared to tell Wilson, “You know what to do.”
“It means the world,” Wilson said of playing for Staley again. “I remember when she got the head coaching job at South Carolina and I didn’t even think that I could be a part of that team. To be a part of it and share this with her, to let her wear my gold medal, is something that is so special. I’m happy for her. I tried to do my best for her this whole tournament.”
Any Gamecock fan could recognize what followed. Drive left, finish at the rim. Crash the offensive glass for a putback. Alter shots in the paint. Draw the double-team and find the open player. She did it for four years in Columbia. She’s done it for three-and-a-half in Las Vegas, and now she is doing it in Tokyo. Her ability left Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, in awe.
“A’ja is just so dynamic,” Taurasi said. “The way she can score on the block is second to none right now in the world.”
As Wilson, Griner, and Stewart emerged as the current face of American basketball, Team USA found its groove in the quarterfinals and semifinals and didn’t need Wilson’s heroics. She barely played in the second half of either game (a familiar “survive and advance” tactic from Staley). Wilson and Griner were ready for Japan: Griner set a gold medal game record by scoring 30 points, and Wilson set an American record with five blocks. She stuffed the box score, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in addition to the blocks. Fittingly, Wilson and Griner finished the Olympics tied for the USA scoring lead (Stewart held the rebounding lead). Their average of 16.5 points per game ranks fifth in an Olympics, tied with Cheryl Miller. Wilson, Griner and Stewart are part of the generational bridge that enables American basketball to transition from Staley, to Bird and Taurasi, and now to Wilson and company.
“It makes you want to come back and continue to give and continue to build for the next generation,” Wilson said. “I don’t know if I’ve got five in me, but we’ll see.”
And that brings us to August 8. A’ja Wilson’s birthday. Thirteen years ago to the day - 08-08-08 - Wilson celebrated her 12th birthday with an Olympic-themed birthday party timed to coincide with the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing games. Now that little girl - that little Black girl - from Hopkins, SC, is 25 years old woman.
“To be a gold medalist now, on my birthday, is so special. It’s probably not going to hit me until we get back to the States,” Wilson said. “I thought my 21st was good, but this is pretty good!”
Wilson has achieved a level of success she never could have imagined in 2008. She’s won everything there is to win. She’s in Space Jam. She’s in Nike commercials. Her jersey number 22 can be found on virtually every girls’ high school team in the country. She means so much in South Carolina she has a statue. Nobody else has that
As her collegiate career was winding down, the idea of erecting a statue of Wilson gained momentum. Even after Staley offered to make the down payment, it seemed like a nice idea but one that wouldn’t actually happen. But on January 18, 2021 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - a statue of Wilson was unveiled in front of Colonial Life Arena. Wilson’s words that day echoed far beyond basketball.
“My grandmother, Hattie Rakes, grew up in this area, four blocks from the Governor's Mansion to be exact," she said. "When she was a child, she couldn't even walk on the grounds of the University of South Carolina. She would have to walk around the campus just to get to where she needed to go. If only she were here today to see that these same grounds she had to walk around, now is the same ground that houses a statue of her granddaughter."
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors, whose Razorbacks were in town to play the Gamecocks that night, took a picture with the statue. After getting blown out by the Gamecocks, Neighbors said the day was about more than wins and losses, pointing to Wilson.
“Her quote - I’ll say this - I read every Martin Luther King quote that came out today, because everyone was tweeting them,” he said. “I’m not so sure that A’ja Wilson’s wasn’t the best quote of the day. About her family not being able to walk on this campus and now there’s a statue of her. That’s pretty powerful on a day with a lot of great quotes. I’m not so sure that doesn't win quote of the day.”
That Wilson was able to speak so powerfully was no small feat. As a student, she struggled with dyslexia, unable to understand why words didn’t make sense. She powered through, “brute strength,” she called it.
When she was in middle school, Wilson was embarrassed by her height. Her grandmother Hattie told her, “Pretty girls wear pearls,” and she never forgot. Many a postgame press conference has been held up because Wilson refused to appear until she had donned her pearls. Those pearls became so synonymous that for her senior game South Carolina gave away pearl necklaces. When Wilson was surprised with the WNBA MVP trophy, there were pearls around her neck.
As a student at a mostly white private school, she had a white friend say her parents wouldn’t let A’ja inside her house because of the color of her skin. Her father Roscoe was a talented, if not great, basketball player who made a career overseas. But he played college ball at Benedict College, not South Carolina, because the Gamecocks only recruited black players if they were great. Roscoe recognized A’ja’s talent long before she did, and trained her in the driveway, much to her chagrin. He was dreaming her dreams before she was, including the Gamecocks.
A’ja never imagined where those practices would lead her. She wasn’t impressed the first time she met Staley, whom she now calls her second mom. She never dreamed she would become a spokeswoman for her sport. It’s a stacked deck. Recent studies have shown that the NCAA purposefully undervalues women’s basketball, while ESPN, which controls women’s basketball coverage, promotes white players over black players regardless of performance. That’s two strikes, and yet Wilson digs in, unwilling to concede.
“I’m never scared to speak up for what I believe in and what I stand by,” Wilson said. “I'm going to use my voice. I feel like I have a great platform to do so and have a following of people watching us and listening to us. So I'm never going to be scared to use my voice to be a voice for the voiceless.”
For today, Wilson is going to celebrate. She’s got a birthday and a gold medal and a long flight home. Shouts of “birthday girl, come on!” kept interrupting Wilson’s postgame interview.
“We’re going to go ‘pop bottles,’” Wilson said in mock confusion. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what that is. I’ve never popped a bottle.”
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