She already has a statue standing tall outside the arena, her jersey hanging proudly in the rafters, and the undisputed title of the best player in the world. You’d think there’s not much left that could truly move her. But this one hit differently. This week, A’ja Wilson was inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, an honor that brought everything full circle for the woman who built a dynasty right where her legacy began. So, how could her dad not weigh in?

“It’s a blessing. It’s an absolute blessing. These are things you dream about, you know, for your child. Particularly, you always want something better for your child. And so now, as she is coming into the University of South Carolina Hall of Fame, unbelievable, surreal. We hadn’t come down off of a championship yet, and now we’re dealing with this event tonight. So I’m on Cloud 19,” said a proud Roscoe Wilson, the father of A’ja.

When you think of the South Carolina Gamecocks, A’ja Wilson’s name stands at the top. She elevated the women’s basketball program to unprecedented heights.

• Before her arrival, the Gamecocks had never recorded a 30-win season; under her leadership, they notched three.
• They hadn’t claimed an SEC Tournament championship since joining the league in 1991, yet during her four seasons, they captured four consecutive titles
• Before Wilson, South Carolina had never made it to the Final Four. With her, the Gamecocks reached it twice.
• Wilson helped deliver their first championship
• She became the program’s first Naismith National Player of the Year
• Finished her Gamecocks career as the all-time leader in points and blocks

And so, this honor holds a truly special meaning for her. “This is definitely, probably, top 3. When you’re a Hall-of-Famer, no matter where you are, it’s special,” A’ja Wilson said as she was inducted into USC’s Athletic Hall of Fame. “It’s truly been a long journey, but this city, this state has welcomed me with wide-open arms.”

Wilson was consistently trying to hold her tears back as she delivered her speech. After all, it was a long road. But, on every turn, her father had been there, even if she didn’t like it at times. Wilson wasn’t always the athletic woman you see on the court. Once, she was just a tall, skinny girl, who saw basketball with uncertainty. The 20-pound vest her father made her wear during trainings didn’t really things.

“When I was younger, I just thought he was torturing me,” Wilson said of her father in 2017, when she was still in college. “When he’d pull that vest out of his car, I’d practically be in tears. It’s after practice, and I’m still there with the weight vest on, shooting layups. That was the hell part of the relationship.”

That vest, though, was the kind of weight he wanted her to carry so she wouldn’t have to carry the other ones. Ones that are much heavier.

Growing up in Columbia, Roscoe saw a very different city than the one A’ja would know in 1996. When he was getting into basketball, the University of South Carolina had no Black athletes. The first three (Casey Manning, Carlton Haywood, and Jackie Brown) only joined in 1969-70, around the time Roscoe began at Benedict College, a historically Black college in the same city. Attending South Carolina hadn’t felt like a realistic path for him at the time. So, when he realized his daughter was attending USC, he almost couldn’t believe it.

“There are still times I say to myself, ‘Gosh dang, A’ja is at USC!'” Roscoe told ESPN in 2017. Now, years later, you can only imagine how proud he must have felt watching his daughter being celebrated by that very program. Watching his daughter write her unerasable name in that very program’s history while dominating the pros in a manner few have managed.

Cloud 19, indeed.

Clearly, it was an extra special occasion for Wilson. Even more so because her boyfriend was also in the crowd, and she had a heartfelt message just for him.

A’ja Wilson has a special message for Bam Adebayo

Bam Adebayo might not have been with A’ja Wilson throughout her life, but their bond quickly grew from a long-standing friendship into something more. Rumors started swirling when they were seen together ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, and their relationship became public when A’ja paid tribute to Adebayo during her jersey retirement ceremony. Even tonight, she made sure the Miami superstar received a special shout-out from the three-time WNBA champion.

 “To my boyfriend. Even though he went to Kentucky, and you went to that royal blue school, thank you for the constant support, always. You weren’t there for young A’ja, but your support has always been with me up to this point. So, thank you,” Wilson said during her speech. 

It goes without saying that A’ja Wilson is one of the best players in the world right now, but she wouldn’t be where she is without the unwavering support of her parents and Bam Adebayo. Getting inducted into the Hall of Fame isn’t just about stats or titles–it’s a recognition of the years of dedication, the sacrifices, and the relentless drive that A’ja has shown, supported by the people who believed in her from the very beginning.