Las Vegas Aces star and former South Carolina Gamecocks center A’ja Wilson arrived at the Colonial Life Arena all glammed up for her jersey retirement ceremony. Her jersey #22 will be hung onto the rafters in honor of her contributions to South Carolina basketball.
The five-time WNBA All-Star “arrived in style,” according to the Gamecocks’ official Instagram account. She wore a white-striped plunging black suit jacket with a matching pair of trousers and black high-heeled shoes. She also accessorized with a small silver necklace and a wrist bangle.
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Wilson is the fifth Gamecocks player to have the honor of her jersey being retired. She is still the program’s reigning all-time scoring and blocks leader with 2,389 points and 363 blocks, and is the first three-time SEC Player of the Year in the history of NCAA women’s basketball.

Apart from leading South Carolina to its first national title in 2017, A’ja Wilson also won the National Player of the Year award in 2018. She had also led the Gamecocks to their first Women’s Final Four in 2015, four SEC tournament titles, and three SEC regular-season titles.
A’ja Wilson credited by Dawn Staley for raising the level of South Carolina basketball
The South Carolina Gamecocks enjoyed a series of successes during the time A’ja Wilson spent with them. The program’s first recruit, the Hopkins, South Carolina native went on to become its most decorated women’s basketball player.

Wilson’s former coach Dawn Staley credited her for taking South Carolina to another level in the NCAA. Staley said the Aces star deserved the honor of having her Gamecocks jersey retired.
“There is no one more deserving than this weekend with A’ja,” Staley said on ESPN Saturday. “She legitimized our program. She took it to another level, and we still feel her legacy to this day. Everybody still talks about her contributions to this program. Everyone is always comparing what her impact was when she was a student-athlete here, and that’s what legacy is.”
The Gamecocks head coach added, “I don’t think it could happen at a more appropriate time with her being the best player in the world, with her having the type of success she’s had. She’s given our program another platform.”

Wilson’s was not the only jersey #22 retired recently, as the Iowa Hawkeyes also had a jersey retirement ceremony in honor of Caitlin Clark on Sunday following the squad’s victory over the USC Trojans.
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Yelle is a broadcast communications graduate from the University of Perpetual Help-Dalta and has pursued a career in television and news writing in Net 25 and Radyo Agila. Some of her works can also be seen through her previous publication in Fastbreak.com.ph.