Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson is now a two-time WNBA champion, but her path to elite success didn’t begin smoothly — and no one knows that better than her former college coach, Dawn Staley.
Reflecting on Wilson’s journey during her appearance on “The Breakfast Club” radio show, Staley candidly recalled the rocky start to her standout player’s career at South Carolina.
“She started her debut, and it was terrible,” Staley admitted. “Scrub-like,” she added bluntly, describing Wilson’s underwhelming performance of just four points on 2-for-7 shooting in her highly anticipated collegiate debut.
Even Wilson’s family was disheartened by the shaky beginning.
“It took some time where they were like, ‘ugh,’” Staley said.
Faced with the tough decision to move her top recruit to the bench, Staley decided to speak with Wilson’s mother first, aware that the move might draw criticism.
“‘You sure?’ her mom asked. I said, ‘You’re going to have to trust me on this one,’” Staley recalled.
That bold decision turned out to be a turning point. Coming off the bench, Wilson found her rhythm, scoring at least 10 points in 14 consecutive games, including a standout 23-point performance against Savannah State in December 2014.
By the end of her freshman season, Wilson was racking up honors:
“She was the National Rookie of the Year, First-Team All-SEC, and SEC Rookie of the Year — all while coming off the bench,” Staley said.
According to Staley, the key to Wilson’s transformation was mutual trust.
“Young people believe in you,” she explained. “And when it’s reciprocated, I believed in her and knew she’d take us to the next level.”
That belief paid off. Wilson led South Carolina to its first NCAA national championship in 2017 and was later named SEC Player of the Year in 2018. But to mold her into a champion, Staley knew she had to apply some tough love.
“She needed to be roughed up a little bit to get her ready for what she will face,” she said.
Now thriving in the WNBA spotlight, Wilson is no stranger to scrutiny — but Staley is confident she’s built for it.
“Now she deals with all the critics,” Staley said. “But I know she can handle all that because we took her through all of [it].”
What started with a benching turned into a championship story — proof of how trust, coaching, and resilience built one of the WNBA’s brightest stars.
