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If there’s one factor A’ja Wilson is gonna do, it’s win. From her days as a school phenom to turning into one of the vital dominant forces in WNBA historical past, her journey is one which needs to be studied…so, we did simply that. This April, for Black Ladies’s Historical past Month, we uncovered her “success playbook” to get a play-by-play understanding of how she made historical past!
Play #1: Personal Your Expertise Early
Spring 2014 – A’ja was the No. 1 highschool recruit within the nation and had her decide of any faculty. She selected to remain in her hometown, attending College of South Carolina after committing to Daybreak Staley’s program.
Play #2: Present Up & Present Out
April 1, 2017 – A’ja led South Carolina to its first-ever NCAA championship, dropping 23 factors within the Last 4 sport.
March 2018 – She completed her faculty profession as a 4x SEC Participant of the 12 months and the 2018 Nationwide Participant of the 12 months.
Play #3: Hit the Floor Operating
April 12, 2018 – The Las Vegas Aces selected A’ja because the No. 1 total decide within the WNBA draft. She wasted no time, incomes Rookie of the 12 months honors after averaging 20.7 factors per sport.
Play #4: Degree Up & Acquire the {Hardware}
Summer time 2020: Wilson gained her first Olympic gold medal within the 2020 Summer time Olympics (she went on to win for the 2nd time in 2024.)
September 2020 – In simply her third season, A’ja gained her first WNBA MVP award, main the Aces to the Finals within the Wubble season.
September 18, 2022 – The Las Vegas Aces gained their first-ever WNBA Championship, with A’ja main the cost. That very same 12 months, she earned her second MVP award and Defensive Participant of the 12 months.
Play #5: Cement Your Legacy within the Historical past Books
September 10, 2023 – A’ja grew to become the primary participant in WNBA historical past to attain over 1,000 factors in a single season, dropping 40-point sport.
September 26, 2023 – She was named the unanimous MVP, making her solely the second participant in historical past (subsequent to Houston Comets’ Cynthia Cooper, 1997) to obtain each single first-place vote.
October 18, 2023 – A’ja and the Aces gained back-to-back championships.
Play #6: Pay it Ahead
Past the stats, A’ja is a pacesetter, a distinguished advocate for Black girls in sports activities, dyslexia consciousness (discovering out late in life about her personal dyslexia), bullying prevention, and social justice by way of A’ja Wilson Basis (AWF), which she co-founded along with her dad and mom. Its mission is twofold, serving as a useful resource for youngsters and their households who wrestle with dyslexia to empower them to succeed in their full potential by way of academic programming, workshops and camps (AWF).
Her ebook, Pricey Black Ladies: Methods to Be True to You, launched in February 2024 and as a solution to pour again into her neighborhood—particularly younger ladies, reminding them that they honestly can do something they set their thoughts to. Though the world sees her as removed from common, self-proclaims to be the “Queen of Mediocre,” and tells the story about how her tenacity and work ethic however is what aided in her success.
A’ja Wilson is proof that expertise, laborious work, and being unapologetically your self is the last word sport plan for achievement. Although her success playbook continues to be being written, one factor’s for positive…A’ja Wilson isn’t simply making historical past—she’s defining it.