Evan Vucci / AP
A’ja Wilson, of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, right, presents a jersey to President Joe Biden during an event to celebrate the 2023 WNBA championship team, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Washington.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson seemed to be in a rush this late afternoon on her college campus.
She was addressing the media ahead of an exhibition game but first had to get some shopping in at the University of South Carolina bookstore.
“It’s 4; I’ve got to get stuff for my teammates, and the bookstore closes at 5,” Wilson said Friday with the Aces who were in Columbia, S.C., for an exhibition.
Six years after checking out of her final collegiate game at Colonial Life Arena, Wilson returned Saturday and put on a show for a packed house of adoring fans.
She led Las Vegas into the arena for a game against the Puerto Rican national team by sprinting to midcourt and stopping on the Gamecock logo. The fans went crazy.
She then proceeded to score 27 points and grab 14 rebounds in the Aces’ final tuneup ahead of tonight’s season opener. The two-time defending WNBA champions host the Phoenix Mercury at 7 p.m. at Michelob ULTRA Arena (ESPN2).
“Coming around here, it’s like traveling with the Beatles,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “She can’t go anywhere. It’s just madness everywhere she goes, and that’s pretty awesome.”
For Wilson, Columbia has always been home.
She was born and raised there, attending Heathwood Hall Episcopal School before committing to South Carolina in 2014 as the No. 1-ranked high school player in the nation. Among a flurry of awards throughout her career, she won an NCAA championship with the Gamecocks in 2017.
Her impact was so resounding in South Carolina that the university in 2021 had a statue of her constructed outside the arena. She even used her college locker.
“I never would have thought I’d be back here as a pro, let alone playing on the court,” Wilson said. “Our lovely equipment manager gave me my same locker in college, so that’s when it really hit me.”
She added, “It’s truly a blessing to be back here. My teammates were screaming on the bus looking at the statue. It touched my heart.”
Hammon said the attention Wilson received in her return was much deserved. Wilson, she said, is not only an amazing basketball player — she is also an amazing person.
“It’s like when you’re a parent you’re handing your baby off,” Hammon said of the town’s love affair with Wilson.
Wilson is coming off a career season, averaging 22.8 points in 40 games and helping the Aces to the most wins in WNBA history, with 34.
In the playoffs, she averaged 23.8 points in nine games, earning WNBA Finals MVP honors. She was also named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.
“I want to be legendary and want to do whatever it takes,” Wilson said. “Whatever that’s in front of me, I want to execute it. I want to be a better teammate to my team. I want to be there no matter what and have fun while doing it. I want to grow with the game, push the needle in the way that people are opening to it.”
That needle got pushed a little more Saturday, when Wilson announced a signature shoe with Nike called “A’One” that will debut in spring 2025.
“It’s so crazy that I’m sharing this with you all because I’ve been sitting on that for a couple of years that I just couldn’t share,” Wilson said, donning a sweatshirt reading “Of Course I Have A Shoe Dot Com. “It’s going to be epic. It’s going to be big.”
The same can be said for the franchise she’s the face of.
The Aces today are starting their quest to become the second WNBA team to win three consecutive league championships. The Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000 won four consecutive titles.
Wilson said she was “100% ready for the season,” and the game against Puerto Rico was good for the team to get out and get into the flow of things. She had 19 points and seven rebounds in the first half alone as the Aces built a 30-point lead en route to a 102-50 victory.
“It’s very hard to mimic games in practice, so it was good to get one underneath our belt,” Wilson said. “It was good to see timing, spacing and ball movement.”
Hammon said there was a lot of work to be done as the Aces begin their title defense. The game against Puerto Rico, she said, wasn’t as much about the score as it was about playing at a certain level.
“It’s mostly about us, and today it was about us being at the standard that we want as Aces players,” Hammon said.