Los Angeles Aces center A’Ja Wilson recently opened up about her years with the South Carolina Gamecocks, and how the team head coach Dawn Staley has been her “second mom” not only inside the court but outside of it, too.
In her recent appearance on the “Roommates Show” podcast, Wilson talked about how her bond with former coach Dawn Staley remained strong even after her years with the SC team.
“She’s literally like my second mom,” Wilson said. “She will call me about my outfits if my skirt’s too short, if she feels I need to do something about my hair, or if I’m not looking up to par. She’ll let me know that all the time, so it didn’t really stop after college, which I love, and it has been going ever since.”
“I made the junior national team, and she was the coach of our U-18 team,” A’JA continued, recalling how her relationship with her former coach began. “This was before I committed to South Carolina, and we just became really cool.”
“She really wanted the best out of me,” she said, highlighting how her bond with Staley contributed to her decision to play for SC. She saw potential, and I just kind of always loved that—the loyalty that she showed and the honesty that she had with me. When it was time to go to college, she was the best fit. I always say Coach Staley could have been in Alaska, and I probably would have went to Alaska.”
A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark Reportedly Not Playing Unrivaled
With the WNBA offseason, women’s basketball is in need of something for players to get busy over, and something for fans to get excited about. Enter Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league. The new league is set to play all of its games in Miami and will launch in January 2025.
According to new reports, A’ja Wilson and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark would not be joining Unrivaled as the two reportedly aim to prioritize taking a break and enjoying the WNBA offseason rather than filling their schedule with more games to play.
Unrivaled originally launched with a roster for 30 players. Later on, the league announced an expansion for more players, with the roster now for 36 players. So far, 34 players have joined, leaving two more slots for unnamed players.
Caitlin Clark has been one of the most expected names to join and while the star has not denied joining so far, she has not confirmed any intentions either. The other slot has been rumored for A’Ja Wilson, but her participation seemed unlikely now as well.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
