"Get them c**ks outta NC" - A'ja Wilson's weird post on Duke vs South Carolina NCAA game leaves Josh Hart befuddled

A'ja Wilson's expression of support for her college team, the South Carolina Gamecocks, surprised New York Knicks guard Josh Hart and sparked a playful exchange between the two on social media.

Wilson, who plays as a forward for the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, shared a post on X that, when taken out of context, could catch fans off guard.

“Get them c**ks outta NC right now 🚌💨” she said.

The post reached Hart, who, in response, expressed his surprise:

"I beg your pardon."

A'ja Wilson replied to Hart's reaction with an emoji commonly associated with a light and playful response.

Although Wilson's post could catch fans off guard, she was merely expressing her support for the Gamecocks during their away game against the Duke women’s basketball team in Durham, North Carolina.

The Gamecocks won convincingly 77-61.

A'ja Wilson always shows love to her college team

Like her WNBA career, A'ja Wilson's college basketball career was nothing short of exceptional. She played for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2014 to 2018 and had an immediate impact, earning the SEC Freshman of the Year award.

She was a three-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time consensus All-American. She led South Carolina to an NCAA championship in 2017.

Wilson received numerous awards, including the Naismith College Player of the Year and the Wooden Award, in her senior season.

Here are some of her posts in support of her college team.

According to Elizabeth West, the University of South Carolina archivist, the origin of the name "Gamecocks" for the school's athletic teams traces back to 1900, as bestowed by The State, a daily newspaper published in Columbia.

She said in a "Remembering the Days" podcast that the moniker pays homage to the strategic tactics employed by General Thomas Sumter, a celebrated hero of the Revolutionary War known as the Fighting Gamecock.

"Cockfighting was still very well known and probably very widespread in the early 1900s, and South Carolinians would have been very familiar with the aggressiveness of the birds and as cockfighting as a sport," she said on the podcast, which is posted on the USC website.

"We also have one of our Revolutionary War heroes, Thomas Sumter, whose nickname was the Gamecock. And so that one Carolina Clemson riot of 1902 gave us the two traditions associated with the university, the mascot and the tiger burn."

The choice of "Gamecocks" as the team name gained prominence as garnet and black, coincidentally the predominant colors of a gamecock, resonated with the imagery associated with Sumter.