A’ja Wilson is now considered the best player currently active in the WNBA, winning three MVP awards and two league championships in the past few years. However, one must also note how her dad, Roscoe Wilson, played a pivotal role in preparing A’ja for this stage.
Roscoe Wilson always knew of Dawn Staley and even used to take A’ja to watch her games as a kid. However, when he saw the South Carolina Gamecocks struggling to win against the bigs at Stanford, he knew how her daughter could change that for Staley’s team.
Wilson recently appeared on the ‘South Carolina Sideline” podcast hosted by Gamecocks’ sports director, Matt Dowell. In this podcast, Wilson reflected on A’ja journey growing up in Columbia, South Carolina and her championship-winning career with the Gamecocks.
Wilson talked about how Staley’s players were struggling and he figured A’ja could actually change that for the team. He said:
“Stanford was just bigger, much bigger and taller, and they were just moving Dawn’s girls all over the place. I was like, ‘Man, she’s having a rough time.”‘ She had good guards, but it was hard to compete. The bigs were good, but Stanford had some bigs, you know.” (40:41)
“I was just sitting there watching them. So I decided to put A’ja in one of Dawn’s camps. Every time I saw Dawn, I said, ‘Dawn, you know, I got a daughter here. This is pretty good,” he added.
Dawn Staley was confident about A’ja Wilson’s words and in fact, Wilson followed up with the same. He made sure A’ja would attend all of Staley’s camps. As a high-school senior, she averaged 35 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks per game, making her the National High School Player of The Year in 2014. She even went on to play in the McDonald’s All-American game and was rated the No.1 recruit by ESPN that year.
Roscoe Wilson kept her promise to Staley. Wilson went on to commit to the Gamecocks, having a stellar college career ahead right after.
Roscoe Wilson was not wrong predicting A’ja Wilson’s impact on South Carolina
A’ja Wilson definitely lived up to the promise her dad had made to Dawn Staley. In her freshman season, she had four single-game freshman records and three single-season freshman records in the SEC, thus winning the SEC Freshman of the Year award.
As a sophomore, Wilson won the SEC Player of the Year award and was selected a consensus All-American. She also led South Carolina to SEC regular season and Tournament championships. She went on to win the natty in 2017 and was also chosen as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four.
Wilson finished her college career at as the Gamecocks’ all-time leading scorer. She averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game as a college player. Wilson’s jersey No. 22 was later retired by South Carolina and she was recently inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2025.
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