Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson’s parents helped set foundation for her success

Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson’s journey has taken her parents, Roscoe and Eva Wilson, from South Carolina to Las Vegas where they’ve witnessed her win her third WNBA MVP award in five years and break league records.

As the Aces trail the New York Liberty 1-0 in the WNBA Semifinals (Game 2 Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) and are vying for a spot in the WNBA Finals with the hope of winning their third consecutive WNBA title, Eva simply sums up her daughter’s success with the phrase “God Plan in God’s Time.”

It is a phrase Eva has consistently posted on social media in reference to her daughter’s special season where A’ja set new WNBA single-season records for total points and rebounds. When Wilson was announced as the league’s first unanimous MVP in nearly two decades, her mother was wearing a black shirt with the phrase front and center in bold white lettering.

For Eva, the phrase encompasses all of the life lessons she and Roscoe taught their children.

“Everything that will happen to [A’ja], everything that will happen to anybody, is only going to happen when it’s God’s time and within his plan. We’re just waiting on what’s next,” Eva told Andscape. “I tell A’ja don’t worry about all this other stuff, because guess what, if it’s for you, it’s for you, I believe that. I firmly believe it’s for you, nobody can take it away from you.”

The phrase was the result of some motherly advice that came to Eva after A’ja was going through a rough time. The life lessons the Wilsons instilled in their daughter set the foundation for her success in the league.

During her MVP speech this season, Wilson thanked her parents for the sacrifices that they’ve made and holding her accountable. With three league MVP awards, two WNBA championships, and two Olympic gold medals, Eva believes her daughter is reaping the harvest of her faith.

“A’ja believes it. You have to believe it in your heart, that this is your time. You do your part. God will do the rest,” Eva said.

“If A’ja can deal with all that she deals with – with all these eyes on her, all these different opinions about her, and it’s generally from people who don’t even know her – but if she can deal with those things and still be able to accomplish what she does, that ain’t nothing. But God, it’s a whole lot for a person who’s been doing it, probably since she’s been 15 to 16 years old. She’s been able to really handle it as best as a human could.”

Born and raised in South Carolina, the Wilsons learned life lessons from their parents’ experiences and their personal experiences as African Americans dealing with racism. Roscoe Wilson came of age during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He remembers the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., desegregation, and attending an integrated high school.

The Wilsons are graduates of historically Black colleges and universities. Eva Wilson attended South Carolina State University in Orangeburg and majored in business administration. Roscoe Wilson followed numerous family members and attended Benedict College in Columbia, where he played basketball for the Tigers. He was inducted into Benedict College Hall of Fame as a player in 2011. According to Benedict, he was eighth in the nation in rebounding as a sophomore, averaging 22.5 rebounds. He was a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection. He focused on school and basketball, and attending an HBCU was pivotal.

“It gave me a sense of security and the peace of mind that you had other people going around you that were going through some of the same things I went through,” Roscoe said. “We could relate on that level. Also while watching things happen around us that were not very pleasing to African Americans and detrimental to our way of life.”

He recalls watching his father Roscoe Sr. praying regularly and his mother Ethel, who was a professor at Benedict, willing to serve and help others, qualities he sees in his own children. Eva Wilson recalls her mother Hattie Rakes taught her to work hard, to not take any shortcuts, and not cheat the process. The Wilsons made sure their children’s lives were reflective of discipline, respect and faith in God.

“I don’t think we did anything extraordinary. We are just parents, parenting based on how we were raised. That’s all we had to go on,” Eva said. “We weren’t trying to be friends. I’m your mother. And this is how it is. There’s a respect thing to your kids, they have to respect you as a parent first. Which is what A’ja has always done. Everything else is just a blessing.”

While present for the joyous occasions of having a daughter who’s a professional athlete, the Wilsons have witnessed the challenges and pressures that Black women face in the spotlight – from the negative social media comments to the pandering questions about their daughter.

“People only know what A’ja allows them to know about her,” Wilson’s mother said. “You don’t know her other than what she’s allowing you to know about her. You can’t believe everything you see on social media or what you’ve read about her.

“As you start to ascend higher and higher, the more people are going to come and say what they feel they can say about you when they don’t even know you.”

During a season where players have been vocal about the comments from fans, the WNBA issued a statement condemning racist, derogatory and threatening comments towards players. An emotional Wilson said during her MVP speech to her teammates, “It’s days where I hate being A’ja Wilson.”

“It’s tough,” Wilson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It really is tough to just navigate in a world that doesn’t necessarily want to see you succeed or constantly has to nitpick on why you’re succeeding. And that gets exhausting because, literally, I’m just here to do my job. I’m here to play basketball. I’m here to have fun and bring people together while watching me play. And so when you have the passive-aggressiveness, the racial things that go on behind it, it’s tough to navigate that sometimes.”

As parents, seeing their daughter regularly ridiculed on social media platforms was overwhelming. While they resisted the temptation to clap back online, they instead provided encouragement.

“It’s just the fact that to whom much is given, much is required, so you handle it the best way you can. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you may be equipped to handle all that,” her father said. “If you need help, you need help. I don’t think it’s any different from anyone else.

“We just listen. We just sit back and make sure that she’s got the support and the love that she needs to have.”

During the first round of the WNBA playoff against the Seattle Storm, Wilson’s parents were courtside jumping for joy when their daughter made a good play or jumping up in anger after missed calls by the officials. They described watching their daughter check off lifelong goals as a blessing.

“I’m glad she picked basketball,” her father said with a big grin. “I’m glad, because it’s something she thrived in. I told her, ‘Listen, you need to commit yourself to be excellent. Don’t cheat the game.’ She took a hold of it literally and she’s going through the roof with it.”

It’s a huge sense of gratefulness and pride when anyone mentions their daughter’s name as one of the top players in the league. The Wilsons are also proud when their daughter is praised by her teammates.

Aces guard Kelsey Plum described Wilson as a light who’s MVP on the court and as a human being. Aces guard Sydney Colson publicly thanked Wilson in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Wilsons believe it was the manifestation of what they were able to pour into their daughter throughout her life.

“A’ja is a good soul. She’s someone I think she’s been there before,” her father said. “Her being a good person was always there. Being a world-class athlete, that came afterward.

“So we’ve never pushed A’ja to be anything other than to have a relationship with God in her own way. She’s following the principles she set for herself. It shows on TV shows, magazines and shows just being around her. It does make us have a little bit of pride that we did a few things right.”

Although proud of their daughter’s record-breaking accomplishments, the Wilsons believe their daughter’s true legacy is what she has done outside of basketball.

“Basketball is just a vehicle. I believe that A’ja’s was destined to be impactful in the lives of other people, particularly young people,” her mother said. “Basketball just happened to give her a wider, bigger platform.

“But I firmly believe because of her makeup and her DNA she would have been able to impact the lives of other people.”

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By: Mia Berry
Title: Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson’s parents helped set foundation for her success
Sourced From: andscape.com/features/las-vegas-aces-star-aja-wilsons-parents-helped-set-foundation-for-her-success/
Published Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:45:46 +0000