Colonial Life Arena officially is the house that A’ja Wilson built. Her statue already stood outside. And now her jersey hangs in the rafters.
South Carolina retired the Columbia native’s No. 22 jersey on Sunday afternoon.
While she since has become this era’s definitional WNBA superstar, a winner of two championships and three MVPs, among other honors, with the Las Vegas Aces, Wilson also amassed an array of then-unprecedented accomplishments during her four seasons wearing garnet and black, including:
- NCAA national champion (2017)
- unanimous National Player of the Year (2018)
- 4x All-American (2015-18)
- 4x SEC Tournament champion (2015-18)
- 3x SEC regular-season champion (2015-17)
- 3x SEC Player of the Year (2016-18)
She also is the program’s all-time leading scorer and shot blocker. It’s those tangible achievements, along with her intangibles—leadership, dedication, commitment, joy—that led Dawn Staley to declare that no future Gamecock will wear No. 22. Per the policy of South Carolina’s athletic department, the retirement of an athlete’s jersey does not prevent a future athlete from wearing that number. But for South Carolina women’s basketball, No. 22 is now sacrosanct.
In the ceremony held before No. 2 South Carolina played Auburn, Wilson said,…
