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A'ja Wilson will be the first South Carolina women's basketball player to officially have her jersey retired on Feb. 2, and the ceremony can't come soon enough for coach Dawn Staley. 

"A'ja Wilson is by far the best player in the world," she said during Carolina Calls. "...I think it should've happened a long time ago."

The South Carolina native will be honored ahead of the game against Auburn, when the Gamecocks chase their 70th straight victory at home. The school made the announcement of her jersey retirement last October. 

Wilson wore No. 22 for the Gamecocks from 2014–2018 and helped put the team on the map. She was part of the roster that lifted the 2017 NCAA Tournament trophy, the first one ever for South Carolina basketball. 

Before becoming a WNBA star, Wilson was the only player in program history to be a four-time All-American, and she is still the Gamecocks' all-time leading scorer with 2,389 points. She wrapped up her college career by sweeping every major national player of the year award in 2018.

Her jersey is about to go in the rafters, but Wilson already got another huge honor a few years back. In 2021, the school installed her statue in front of Colonial Life Arena. 

On Wednesday, Staley took some time to talk about Wilson's legacy and also went on social media to encourage fans to attend Sunday's game and see the "real life statue." Their relationship goes far beyond just player and coach, as Wilson often refers to Staley as her "second mom."

"She is such a national treasure that we don't get to see her as often as we like," Staley said before joking about how Wilson needs to come around more often. "We have to retire her jersey for her to spend a weekend with us. So we might have to have an annual jersey retirement for A'ja so we can see her more than once a year."

The game between No. 2 South Carolina and Auburn is set for Sunday at noon ET. It will be available on the SEC Network.