COLUMBIA — On the second day of the second month of 2025, South Carolina women’s basketball will retire the No. 22 jersey of A’ja Wilson.
It will be 2-2 day.
The team announced Tuesday that the ceremony will take place before the Gamecocks play Auburn (12 p.m. ET, SEC Network) in Colonial Life Arena on Feb. 2.
Coach Dawn Staley broke the news to her former star player, and in a video posted to X, formerly as Twitter, Wilson told Staley “Everyone wants me to cry today, no way” before thanking Staley.
Wilson, a four-time All-American, three-time SEC Player of the Year and the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,389 points, is the most decorated player in program history. She has a statue outside of her former college arena since 2021 and 22 program records. Wilson was named Naismith College Player of the Year (2017-18) and won the John R. Wooden Award the same year.
She was the program’s first No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, selected by the Las Vegas Aces in 2018, and has since won three WNBA MVP awards, her third just a month ago.
In this past season with the Aces, Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a single season, and she broke the WNBA single-season rebound record this year as well. She won back-to-back WNBA titles with the Aces in 2022 and 2023 and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
According to South Carolina, retired jerseys are selected by a committee of representatives from the South Carolina Athletics Department, University Board of Trustees and the USC Lettermen’s Association.
The news release said that “Factors for jersey retirement include postseason, national and conference recognitions, school record holders, impact on team accomplishments and either graduating from South Carolina or leaving the school in good academic standing. There is a five-year waiting period, which begins at the conclusion of the student-athlete’s final season of collegiate competition.”
MVP: A’ja Wilson thanks Dawn Staley, South Carolina basketball in accepting 2024 WNBA MVP award
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women’s basketball to retire A’ja Wilson jersey
