The Las Vegas Aces knew they had something special when they drafted A’ja Wilson with the first overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Little did they know just how special she was going to become.
The WNBA announced today the 6’4″ center from South Carolina was crowned the 2018 Rookie of the Year in a unanimous vote. In her rookie year with the Aces, Wilson tied for third in the league in scoring (20.9 PPG), was sixth in rebounds (8 RPG), tied for fifth in blocks (1.7 BPG) and swept the Rookie of the Month honors. To add to that, Wilson was also named to her first All-Star Game.
Wilson put the league on notice in her WNBA debut, as she put up a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Connecticut Sun. Despite the loss, however, basketball fans knew that Las Vegas had their franchise cornerstone in place. On June 1, when the Aces won their first-ever game, it was Wilson that led the way. Her 26 point, 12 rebound performance also came with a career-best 14-of-18 effort from the free throw line.
To understand how dominant Wilson was over the course of the season, we’ve provided the month-by-month breakdown of her rookie season:
May: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.o BPG
June: 21.0 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 1.6 BPG
July: 18.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.3 BPG
August: 22.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 BPG
Her performance in the low post was a huge reason for why the Aces out-rebounded their opponents this season (36.9 to 35.5) and tied for the league lead in team rebounds per game. With the impressive year that Wilson has already had (2018 National Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year and first-ever Lisa Leslie award winner for the nation’s top center), being named WNBA Rookie of the Year is just the tip of the iceberg for the 22-year-old phenom.
The league also announced the All-Rookie team. At the top of the list of course is Wilson. Washington’s Ariel Atkins, Chicago’s Diamond DeShields, Dallas’ Azurá Stevens, and Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell all were named to the 2018 All-Rookie team.
