A’ja Wilson is most known for being the owner of a basketball court. The three-time champion, four-time WNBA MVP, and the first player in the NBA or WNBA to win a championship, a scoring title, Finals MVP, regular season MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in a single season in 2025. The room’s oxygen is usually consumed by that list of achievements. The tale of how she completed her education receives far less attention.
Wilson attended Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, a private school nestled in the southern section of Columbia, South Carolina, where he was one of the few Black pupils. This type of school has a fast-paced curriculum and high expectations. That pressure is already stressful for the majority of children. Wilson believed that something else was happening, but no one had yet to identify it.
At a comparatively young age, she was diagnosed with dyslexia, a disorder that disrupts the connection between written symbols and meaning. From the outside, it seems doable. From the inside, it can resemble attempting to read a page that is constantly changing. Wilson has talked candidly about the emotional burden that follows a student who already feels like she’s lagging behind everyone else in the room, as well as the anxiety and depression that accompanied the diagnosis.
What’s remarkable is that she didn’t give up on her studies; instead, she handled them clumsily and imperfectly, the way most people handle challenges that don’t come easily to them. Her days were already longer and more demanding than the typical student’s because she was selected to the varsity basketball team in the eighth grade. She continued to advance for some reason.
Wilson finally received organized academic support when she moved to the University of South Carolina in 2014 to play for head coach Dawn Staley. She was able to work with her dyslexia rather than against it thanks to the university’s resources for student-athletes with learning disabilities. This might have been the pivotal moment for her self-perception as a learner as well as for her confidence on the court.
During her four years at South Carolina, she won the 2017 NCAA Championship, finished as the team’s all-time top scorer, and amassed a 129-16 record. The athletic record is practically ridiculous. However, it’s important to note a more subdued fact: she finished. In a high-pressure setting where every week brought a new game, a new city, and a new set of expectations, she managed a learning disability that had followed her since childhood while earning her degree.
Wilson is troubled by the difference between what she received at a major university and what most students with learning disabilities actually receive, and she has expressed this publicly. In all honesty, most public schools lack the academic support infrastructure that Division I schools’ elite athletic programs have. That system was available to her. It’s unlikely that a child with the same diagnosis sitting in a packed classroom in a rural area does.
She founded the A’ja Wilson Foundation in 2019 based on that observation. The executive director is her mother. Children’s meals are provided, educational activities are planned, and—possibly most importantly—teachers are trained to identify when a student may require a learning disability evaluation. It’s specific, hands-on work. It’s more about systems than inspiration.
A person at the pinnacle of athletic fame deciding to dedicate her off-court time to learning disability advocacy has an almost subdued radical quality. Signing endorsements, attending events, and letting the celebrity handle the rest would be simpler. Rather, Wilson created something bearing her name that was created especially to address a problem that she personally encountered.
Her mother is also the COO of her candle company, Burnt Wax Candle Company, which operates alongside the foundation. This speaks to the kind of family infrastructure and trust that enabled Wilson to survive his own schooling. Not everyone possesses that. It’s difficult to ignore her awareness of it.
As long as she continues to play, the accolades and records will continue to come in. However, the tale of education, which began with a diagnosis in a private school in Columbia and concluded with a foundation training teachers, is more enduring than any championship ring.
