Dawn Staley’s South Carolina celebrates Gamecocks legend A’ja Wilson for winning USA Basketball’s Female Athlete of the Year

Dawn Staley had the honor of coaching a former South Carolina Gamecock who is now one of the WNBA's best players. That player happens to be A'ja Wilson, who won the 2024 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award on Tuesday.

Wilson received the honors for the third time in her career after leading the U.S. women's basketball team to glory in the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning her second gold medal. She averaged a double-double of 18.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Both averages notched the second-highest ever from an American at the Olympics.

South Carolina celebrated Wilson's achievement with an Instagram post on Tuesday, using two crowns to show how highly they view their star alum as royalty.

"👑@aja22wilson👑," the caption read.

A'ja Wilson succeeded under Dawn Staley's direction

Dawn Staley's development of A'ja Wilson proved to be one of the best in women's college basketball history.

Staley transformed Wilson into a national sensation, helping her become the first Gamecock to win the National Player of the Year award, the first four-time All-American in program history and the first three-time SEC Player of the Year in league history.

Throughout her four-year career from 2014 to 2018, Wilson played in 138 games (97 starts). She averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game on 55.% shooting (37.5% from beyond the arc).

The best moment of Wilson's collegiate career came in the 2016-17 season. She led them to the national championship game, beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 67-55 to win the program's first national title. Wilson finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, earning Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Wilson being the top pick of the 2018 WNBA draft wasn't a question, getting selected by the Las Vegas Aces. She took off from there as a professional, winning Rookie of the Year as she's developed into one of the best players in the league on top of multiple MVP awards and championships.

Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks haven't forgotten the impact Wilson left on the program, planning to retire her jersey ahead of the team's matchup against the visiting Auburn Tigers at noon ET on Sunday.