South Carolina basketball legend A’ja Wilson becomes Las Vegas Aces’ all-time scoring leader

Former South Carolina women’s basketball star A’ja Wilson added another accomplishment to her extensive WNBA resume on Sunday when she became the Las Vegas Aces’ all-time leading scorer.

Wilson scored 28 points in the 104-85 win over the Dallas Wings at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, to push her career total to 4,301 and passing Sophia Young-Malcolm (4,300) who played from 2006-15.

Before relocating to Las Vegas in 2018, the Aces originated as the Utah Starzz in 1997 and then became the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2003. By 2014, the franchise was shortened to the San Antonio Stars before moving to Las Vegas and becoming the Aces.

Wilson was drafted in 2018 by the Aces. She’s won two WNBA MVP awards, back-to-back WNBA championships and is a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. In college for coach Dawn Staley from 2014-18, Wilson led South Carolina to its first national title in 2017 and is the all-time leader in program history for career points, blocked shots and free throws made.

“This city welcomed me in 2018 and took a chance on a kid,” Wilson said after the game on Sunday. “(Former coach) Bill Laimbeer, took a chance on me and said ‘Hey this is your team, do what you want to do with it’ and he stuck by me … I never even thought I would be (the leading scorer) … to get it at home in front of fans that watched us when we didn’t make postseason … is truly special.”

Wilson thanked Becky Hammon for bringing “razzle dazzle” to the Aces. Hammon spent time as an assistant in the NBA after ending her WNBA career, which included seven seasons with the Stars. She was named coach of the Aces for the 2022 season.

Nine months after being hired, the Aces won their first WNBA title and won a second in 2023.

“She’s the greatest player to put on a uniform. Period. As she would say,” Hammon said. “Her dominance, you can make an argument for both ends of the floor … it’s not what she’s doing for our franchise, it’s how she moves the needle across the world.”

Wilson is averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds this season for the Aces (13-7). She had 35 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s win against the Los Angeles Sparks.

ESPY A’JA: South Carolina women’s basketball and A’ja Wilson among 2024 ESPY award nominees

“She’s a special person, a special player so enjoy it because she’s a rarity, players like her, people like her don’t come around,” Hammon said.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina star A’ja Wilson becomes Las Vegas all-time scoring leader