A’ja Wilson hails Dawn Staley as ‘GOAT’ after South Carolina lifts SEC title

Reigning WNBA MVP and South Carolina legend A’ja Wilson hailed coach Dawn Staley as the greatest of all time after the Gamecocks’ triumph on Sunday. South Carolina dominated the Texas Longhorns 64-45 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena to win their third straight SEC championship.

In her Instagram stories, Wilson shared an image of Staley on the sidelines following the Gamecocks’ title win. She added a goat emoji, often used to describe someone as the greatest of all time, or GOAT.

Staley has been in charge of South Carolina since 2008, making them contenders in a few years and finally bringing their first NCAA championship in 2017. The star of that Gamecocks team was Wilson, who was there from 2014 to 2018.

Dawn Staley added another SEC championship to her impressive resume, making it nine titles. She’s already the second-most successful coach in conference history, but she lags behind the great Pat Summitt, who won 16 SEC titles in her legendary career.

In addition to nine SEC tournament titles, Staley also has the following on her resume:

3x NCAA championships6 Final Four appearances9x SEC regular season championships4× Naismith Coach of the Year4× WBCA National Coach of the Year2× AP National Coach of the Year

One of the greatest players Staley has coached was A’ja Wilson, who helped bring the Gamecocks their first-ever NCAA championship in 2017. Due to her accomplishments with South Carolina, the university has already honored Wilson with her statue outside Colonial Life Arena.

South Carolina also retired her No. 22 jersey last February 2 in front of many Gamecocks fans. It was attended by her family, friends and former teammates, with coach Staley welcoming her for the ceremony.

WNBA legend invites A’ja Wilson to join Unrivaled next season

One of the two biggest names missing on the Unrivaled’s inaugural season was A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. The reigning WNBA MVP decided to skip the 3-on-3 league despite an enormous offer.

WNBA legend Lisa Leslie invited Wilson to try out the fast-paced league next season. Leslie has been a regular commentator on Unrivaled.

“Don’t forget A’ja Wilson, the best player in the world,” Leslie said during a broad cast. “And can we just not even imagine and wait for her to join Unrivaled? Hopefully her next year. … A’ja Wilson, come on to Unrivaled sweetheart. We need you! Hopefully, she’ll accept my invitation.”

Wilson has attended several Unrivaled games since the inaugural season started in January. It will be interesting to see if the league expands and possibly add the three-time WNBA MVP and Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash