How WNBA Star A'ja Wilson Inspired Others Outside of Basketball

COLUMBIA — Zaria Corley has always loved South Carolina women’s basketball.

The 10-year-old has a simple routine. She watches the games and goes out, practicing what she saw. Even before Zaria’s famous rap about Aliyah Boston, she modeled her acting on A’ja Wilson. Zaria loves Wilson’s versatility, whether it’s making a silky sweater or making tops and bottoms.

She’s fun to watch.

“As a young girl I always wanted to be like A’ja Wilson, she inspired me to play basketball,” Zaria, a Batesburg-Leesville native, told the Greenville News. “It’s exciting to watch her play…she’s one of my idols.”

Wilson, born and raised in Columbia, cemented his legendary status in South Carolina. Consensus National Player of the Year, three-time SEC Player of the Year, tournament MVP for the 2017 NCAA Championship, just to name a few of Wilson’s accolades.

Her six seasons in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces introduced Wilson to a new group of fans.

Arionna Marsay, 13, from Missouri, went to Aces games with her grandmother and was immediately inspired by Wilson.

“She gives me the confidence to control my own destiny and never change for anyone, to stay true to who I am,” Arionna said.

In February, Wilson published her first book “Dear Black Girls” and Marsay traveled to South Carolina for Wilson’s book tour. She met Wilson again at the “Unapologetic Girls Summit” in March and Wilson signed her shoe.

However, before Wilson’s WNBA championships, two league MVP awards, five All-Star appearances and her book, something else drew her to a new group of fans, two weeks before the draft.

“That was the day I discovered I had something called dyslexia,” Wilson wrote in the Players Tribune on March 24, 2018.

How A’ja Wilson is inspiring a new group of fans

Wilson’s honesty deepened his relationship off the field. When Wilson plays Saturday in Columbia for a preseason game with the Aces against the Puerto Rico national team, fans will be watching for a whole new reason.

“I think it’s inspiring to see someone with dyslexia really succeed at what they do,” said Jordan, a fourth-grader with dyslexia at Swift School in Roswell, Georgia. The Greenville News agreed not to use Jordan’s last name for this story.

“It feels good to know that you can look and see that there is someone else who has gone through the same challenges as you and is having great success. Being able to follow in their footsteps or do something similar, it (gives me) a lot of confidence,” Jordan added.

The Swift School was founded in 1998 with the aim of building a school to help students with dyslexia and language learning difficulties.

In October, to celebrate National Dyslexia Awareness Month, students arrived dressed as different dyslexic celebrities. One student played the role of Spider-Man star Tom Holland, another, Will Smith, and another, Tom Cruise. Then there was Jordan, grinning from ear to ear, wearing a shirt that read “2022 WNBA Champions Las Vegas Aces” and a name tag that read “A’ja Wilson.”

“I was really proud to be inspired by (Wilson) and I wanted to show that,” Jordan said.

Jordan’s love for Wilson began before she realized how similar the two were. Jordan joined his grandmother and mother on the couch for an Aces game and wondered who his family’s favorite player was. When they answered “A’ja Wilson,” it was the first time Jordan heard her name.

Today, even though she doesn’t play basketball yet, Jordan hopes that one day she can inspire other people with dyslexia the same way Wilson did for her.

“Sometimes I wouldn’t want to tell people that I have dyslexia, but now I really feel confident telling people that I have dyslexia,” Jordan said of Wilson’s impact. “I would love to talk to someone and tell them it’s okay to be dyslexic.”

The A’ja Wilson Foundation began in 2019 with Wilson and her parents, with a simple mission: “To change the culture by overcoming the stigma of dyslexia and ending bullying.” » A secret that Wilson said she hoped to keep for the rest of her life is the basis of her plea. Since writing the Players Tribune article, the Wilson Foundation has partnered with numerous schools and organizations.

For Alison Katz, a teacher finishing her 13th year at Swift, Wilson was introduced to her through Jordan. In her long career teaching dyslexic students, she has noticed that there is a difference when an athlete comes forward to talk about their struggles.

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