Dec. 1, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the second-straight season, South Carolina women’s basketball standouts Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson have been named to the “Wade Watch” list, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Thursday morning. The Gamecocks are one of six teams to boast multiple student-athletes on the 25-player list.
Now in its 40th year, the Wade Trophy is presented to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player each year — one that serves as a role model on and off the court. The WBCA Division I Coaches’ All-America Selection Committee will review the watch list in January to determine if additional players will be added basked on their play during the first half of the 2016-17 season. The winner of the prestigious national honor will be revealed at the WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Dallas.
Coates, who has recorded a double-double in four of South Carolina’s first five games this season, earned All-SEC First Team honors as a junior last season. The Gamecock center leads all active NCAA Division I players in career rebounds (994), and her 46 career double-doubles rank second in program history. Coates, the SEC’s leader in field goal percentage and rebounding this season, has been tabbed the league’s Player of the Week twice this season.
Wilson was a finalist for the Wade Trophy as a sophomore after leading the Gamecocks in points per game (16.1) and blocks (103). She has finished with the team high in points two times this season, and the forward’s 181 career blocks are the most in school history. Wilson grabbed 2016 SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, and she entered her junior campaign as a Preseason first team All-American.
No. 3/3 South Carolina (5-0) continues its tough non-conference slate tonight on the road against No. 14/15 Texas (2-2) for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
