Aaliyah Wilson drafted 11th overall, traded to Indiana Fever

Aaliyah Wilson was selected 11th overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2021 WNBA Draft on Thursday night.

Only a few minutes later, Seattle traded Wilson to the Indiana Fever.

Originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, the guard transferred to Texas A&M following her freshman season at Arkansas. Ironically, Wilson’s best game as a Razorback was played in Reed Arena in January of 2017, when she came off the bench to score 20 points against the Aggies.

Wilson spent the following season sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules. Her sophomore season was cut short as she suffered from a season-ending ACL injury.

Wilson played in all 30 games of her junior season, including nine starts. In 2019-20, she led all bench players in points (195), rebounds (110), assists (38), steals (29) and blocks (16).

Her comeback story came to fruition in 2020-21 as she earned the first all-conference recognition of her career, receiving second-team All-SEC honors as a graduate student. Wilson posted a team-leading 18 double-digit scoring performances this season.

Wilson was named Co-SEC Player of the Week for Jan. 5-12 after wins over No. 10 Kentucky and No. 13 Arkansas.

The guard led the Aggies in scoring this season, averaging 13.3 points per game, but was a valuable player on both sides of the ball for the Maroon & White. She served as Texas A&M’s most productive defender on the perimeter, averaging 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest for the Aggies.