Anna Wilson (basketball)

Anna Christine Wilson (born July 12, 1997) is an American former college basketball player for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference. As a guard, she holds the team record for most games played over a career with 160, the fourth-most in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women, she won a gold medal as a part of Team USA. She played three seasons of high school basketball for Collegiate School, where she set the team record for career assists with 246 and had the fifth-most points in team history with 735. Moving to play as a senior for the Bellevue High School Wolverines, her team finished the year with an undefeated season and won the 2016 Class 3A girls state championship. She was named to the McDonald's All-American Game, an all-star girls' basketball game composed of many top-ranked American and Canadian high school basketball graduating seniors.

Anna Wilson
Anna Wilson in a white Stanford uniform, with white compression shorts visible under regular shorts. She is wearing a white compression sleeve on one of her arms and white compression sleeves on her legs.
Wilson with Stanford in 2022
Personal information
Born (1997-07-12) July 12, 1997
Richmond, Virginia, US
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Career information
High school
CollegeStanford (2016–2022)
WNBA draft2022: undrafted
PositionGuard
Number3
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
FIBA Under-17 World Cup
Gold medal – first place2014 Czech RepublicTeam

At Stanford, Wilson played primarily a bench role until her fifth-year senior season. As a fifth-year senior, she started every game, was named the Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and made the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, and won the 2021 NCAA Division I national championship with the Cardinal. She finished her career with Stanford in 2022 after six seasons, and again made the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. After college, Wilson declared for the 2022 WNBA draft, where she went unselected. Her brother Russell is a quarterback for the Denver Broncos in the National Football League who won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks.

Early life and high school career

Anna Christine Wilson was born on July 12, 1997[1][2] in Richmond, Virginia,[3] to Tammy and Harrison Wilson III,[4] her mother a nurse and her father a lawyer.[5] Her father played American football and baseball at Dartmouth College.[6] Her grandmother was a college professor and her uncle graduated from Harvard Law School.[7] By age five, she began playing basketball, and, as she got older, her father coached her at a local YMCA before he died when she was 12.[7][8]

Wilson participated in the United States Under-16 national team trials in 2013. She won a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women as the United States defeated Spain in the final, 77–75; Wilson played 3:05 minutes and missed her only field goal attempted.[9][10] She attended Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia[7] before she moved to Bellevue, Washington for her senior year. At Collegiate, she modelled how she played after Steve Nash.[7] After three seasons, she held Collegiate's career assists record with 246 and had the fifth-most points in team history with 735.[11] For the Bellevue High School Wolverines, Wilson was voted a captain of the team by her teammates.[12] She played as a point guard, and averaged 15.3 points per game, 3.2 steals per game, and 4.6 assists per game as Bellevue finished with an undefeated record and won a Class 3A girls state championship.[13]

ESPN HoopGurlz ranked Wilson as a five-star prospect and the 42nd-best player in the United States while recruiting website Prospects Nation ranked Wilson as the 34th-best player and as a four-star prospect.[14][15] She graduated high school in 2016.[16] She was selected for the McDonald's All-American Game, an all-star girls' basketball game which comprised many of the top-ranked American and Canadian high school basketball graduating seniors and was played the same day as a counterpart boys' game. Before the match, she suffered a concussion in practice, which was her third;[5] consequently, she did not play in the game.[17] As a high school sophomore, she verbally committed to attend and play for Stanford University,[5] and had offers from Wake Forest, Maryland, Marquette, Wisconsin, and Virginia.[7]

College career
Wilson with Stanford as a freshman in 2016

Wilson only played in six games during her freshman year with the Stanford Cardinal due to health issues: she missed the first eleven games as she recovered from her concussion, and missed the final eleven games of the season with a right foot injury. She made her Stanford debut against the Yale Bulldogs, where she scored eleven points over seventeen minutes played in a 102–44 Stanford victory.[18][19] She finished her freshman year with seventeen points over forty-eight minutes played.[3] She made her first career start against the UNLV Lady Rebels during her sophomore year and scored eight points. She scored a career-high twenty-one points against the Ohio State Buckeyes in a game Stanford lost 94–82.[3][20] She finished the year with an average of 3.3 points per game over 10.7 minutes per game and two games started, though she missed the last seven games of the season because of a left foot injury.[3]

In her junior year, Wilson averaged 2.7 points per game over thirty-two games played and three games started as Stanford won the 2019 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament but lost in the Elite Eight round of the 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 84–68.[3][21] As a senior, she averaged 2.5 points per game in a bench role as Stanford lost in the final of the 2020 Pac-12 Conference tournament to the Oregon Ducks, and the NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][22] Because of the health issues in her freshman year, she was granted another season of eligibility at Stanford under the NCAA's hardship wavier rule[lower-alpha 1] after an appeal of an initial denial.[23]

Wilson with family members at her senior day game in 2020

As a fifth-year senior, she started every game, and was noted for her defensive ability.[24][25][26] She finished with career highs in minutes per game, at 23.6, field goal percentage, at .509, and rebounds per game, with 3.7.[3] The Cardinal defeated the Arizona Wildcats 54–53 to win the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game; Wilson, who started the game, played thirty-one minutes, accumulating five points, three assists and four rebounds.[27] In March, Wilson was named Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, along with Aari McDonald of Arizona.[28] She was eligible to play a sixth season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shortened the 2020–2021 season,[25] and, on May 10, she announced she would return for a sixth season at Stanford.[29]

In her sixth season with the Cardinal, Wilson played in thirty-five games, with twenty-five starts and a new career-high 25.7 minutes per game. She played point guard along with Lacie Hull after the graduation of Kiana Williams.[8] Facing the Washington Huskies, Wilson scored the go-ahead layup after stealing an inbound pass in a 63–56 Stanford win on February 26.[30] She made the Pac-12 All-Defensive team for a second time and finished the season with 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game as Stanford lost in the Final Four of the 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament to the UConn Huskies 63–58.[3][31][32] She finished her college career with 160 games played, fourth-most in NCAA history and most in Stanford history as of April 2022.[33][34] Wilson declared for the 2022 WNBA draft,[35] in which teams in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) select players to sign for their rosters, where she went unchosen.[36]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

College

Source:[3]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2016–17 Stanford 608.0.462.500.3331.00.80.50.01.22.8
2017–18 Stanford 21210.7.296.290.5001.10.40.50.00.63.3
2018–19 Stanford 32311.6.403.259.6431.50.70.70.00.42.7
2019–20 Stanford 33014.0.355.293.6802.41.30.50.00.82.5
2020–21 Stanford 333323.6.509.452.7393.72.11.50.10.74.6
2021–22 Stanford 352525.7.404.270.6522.92.41.40.31.04.7

Personal life

Wilson is the sister of Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson.[4] In addition to Russell, Anna has another brother, Harrison Wilson IV, who played college football and college baseball for the University of Richmond.[7] She was an art practice major at Stanford for her undergraduate degree, and a media studies/communication major for her master's degree.[37]

Notes
  1. The hardship waiver rule states athletes may gain another year of eligibility by sustaining an injury or illness in the first half of the team's season, and only playing in up to thirty percent of the team's games.[18]

References
  1. "Anna Christine Wilson". FIBA. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  2. "Anna Wilson Basketball Profile". EuroBasket. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  3. "Anna Wilson". Stanford University. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. Ringer, Sandy (January 14, 2016). "Russell Wilson's Sister, Anna, Makes her Own Name as a Bellevue High Basketball Star". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  5. Wilson, Anna; Barnes, Katie (April 7, 2020). "Anna Wilson: I'm More than a Basketball Player and More than Russell Wilson's Sister". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  6. Barber, Bonnie (January 7, 2014). "Seattle Seahawks Take Flight With Son of 'Harry B.' '77". Dartmouth College. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  7. Thomases, Jake (March 14, 2013). "Anna Wilson Dazzles in Superstar's Shadow". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  8. Killion, Ann (March 5, 2022). "How Anna Wilson's Perseverance Made Her a Stanford Basketball Legend". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  9. "Anna Wilson". USA Basketball. March 18, 2021. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  10. "Final Score". FIBA. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  11. "Anna Wilson '16 Makes National Team". Collegiate School. May 26, 2014. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  12. Brenner, Jordan (March 28, 2016). "Anna Wilson, Beyond a Shadow and a Doubt". ESPN. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  13. Evans, Jayda (June 14, 2016). "Russell Wilson to Sister Anna on Bellevue High Graduation Day: 'You Turned Out to be Way Cooler than a New Baseball Glove'". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  14. "Anna Wilson". ESPN. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  15. "Anna Wilson". Prospects Nation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  16. Mathews, Liz (April 5, 2021). "Russell Wilson Cheers on Sister Anna and Stanford Women to NCAA Title". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  17. Olson, Dan (March 30, 2016). "Sabrina Ionescu Undeclared, Unmatched as McDonald's All American". ESPN. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  18. FitzGerald, Tom (April 22, 2017). "Stanford Freshman Anna Wilson Might Seek Additional Year". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  19. "Final". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  20. "Play4Kay Showcase: Final/OT". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  21. "Notre Dame beats Stanford to get back to Final Four". NCAA. April 1, 2019. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  22. Northam, Mitchell (March 12, 2020). "2020 Women's College Basketball Conference tournaments: Schedules, Brackets, Scores, Auto Bids". NCAA. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  23. Smith, Michelle (March 21, 2021). "Michelle Smith Pac-12 Women's Basketball Feature: Stanford's Anna Wilson". Pac-12. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  24. Schnell, Lindsey (March 29, 2021). "Stanford's Anna Wilson Finds Joy, Purpose in Defense. We Should Celebrate Her for It". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  25. McCauley, Jamie (March 3, 2021). "Fifth-Year Guard Anna Wilson Emerges as a Top Stanford Defender". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  26. Gutmann, Harold (March 29, 2021). "Stanford's Anna Wilson Steps Up Scoring in Sweet 16, but Another Defensive Challenge Awaits in Louisville". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  27. "NCAA Women's Championship pres. by Capital One – National Championship". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  28. "2020–21 Pac-12 Women's Basketball All-Conference Honors and Annual Performance Awards Presented by Nextiva". Pac-12. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  29. "Stanford Guard Anna Wilson is Returning for a Sixth Season". The Mercury News. May 10, 2021. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  30. Eymer, Rick (February 26, 2022). "Anna Wilson Helps No. 2 Stanford Women Avoid an Upset Bid by Washington". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  31. "2021–22 Pac-12 Women's Basketball All-Conference honors and Annual Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva". Pac-12. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  32. "Uconn vs Stanford – Game Summary – April 1, 2022". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  33. Metcalfe, Jeff (April 11, 2022). "Pac-12 WBB Postseason Plunge: Grading the Teams, Assessing the Personnel Turnover and a Look Ahead to '23". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  34. "2021–22 Season in Review". Stanford University. April 18, 2022. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  35. "Additional NCAA Players Renounce NCAA Eligibility to Opt-In for Consideration for 2022 WNBA Draft Presented by State Farm". WNBA. April 6, 2022. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  36. Scott, Jelani (April 11, 2022). "2022 WNBA Draft Live Tracker: Dream Select Kentucky's Rhyne Howard No. 1 Overall". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  37. Metcalfe, Jeff (March 18, 2022). "Anna Wilson has Become Much More than Defensive Stopper in Extended Stanford Career". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
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