South Carolina great A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas Aces gets signature shoe with Nike
COLUMBIA — A little over two hours before tipoff between the Las Vegas Aces and Team Puerto Rico, A'ja Wilson announced she was getting her signature shoe.
The two-time WNBA MVP who played four seasons for South Carolina women's basketball entered Colonial Life Arena for Saturday's preseason game wearing a sweatshirt that read "ofcourseihaveashoe.com."
Nike confirmed the news earlier in the day, revealing that her shoes will be available beginning in 2025. Wilson said how special it was to announce the news in South Carolina, where her basketball career started.
"Greatness takes a long time to build and I wanted to make sure when the shoe is ready, that it's me," Wilson said after Saturday's game.
After Iowa star and now Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark's Nike shoe was announced, there were questions about why Wilson didn't have a signature shoe of her own. She did a collaboration with Nike previously but different from the signature shoe that she now has. Wilson said it was hard to keep the secret for so long, especially with other's signature shoe releasing before hers. She referenced a tweet of hers, when she said "always remember what is delayed is not denied," on April 17, about six days before the news of Clark's shoe with Nike.
"You thought we'd sleep on an SEC champion, national champion, No. 1 draft pick, five-time all-star, U.S. Olympic gold winner, WNBA finals MVP, a statue-having, New York Times Best Seller, TIME Most 100 Influential People in 2024, two-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, two-time WNBA MVP, and the pettiest hooper on the internet," Nike posted on its website. "You thought."
Wilson has known about the shoe for over a year and Boardroom's article said that Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley helped Nike reveal the news. When visiting the Nike offices, Staley was part of a video message that told Wilson the signature shoe was on the way.
Wilson is the 13th woman in WNBA history to have a signature shoe with Nike, including Staley and the first Black woman to have a signature shoe since Candace Parker's with Adidas in 2010. On Friday, Wilson spoke about the importance of large companies investing in women's sports, complimenting Gatorade for recently signing her to a multi-year sponsorship. Staley echoed Wilson's message, saying that the next step in expanding women's sports is making financial investments.
Wilson was heavily involved in the design process of the Nike A’ONE's, pulling influence from her personal life into every detail. Wilson wore her grandmother's pearl necklaces all the time as a kid, especially after she died in 2016. Boardroom's article explained explained her shoe will have "pearlized" elements as a tribute.
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"To be able to say that I'm now a signature athlete and having a collection that is coming out next year," Wilson told Complex Magazine. "It's gonna be epic. It's gonna be huge ... this is the project that we've been working so hard on, and now everyone can enjoy it. So this is definitely a big deal for me."
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: A'ja Wilson: South Carolina great, WNBA Aces star gets Nike shoe deal
