I've always had a strange fondness for the silly State Farm sign a few blocks from my house. Maybe, I thought, it's because the awful jokes remind me of a Bennet Cerf book I checked out of the library when I was in elementary school.

I loved to read aloud from bad joke books when I was in elementary school, which surely made me like most kids.

Then I read this story about Gamecock women's basketball star A'ja Wilson, written by Willie Smith for The Greenville News. He reports about how Wilson made her decision to go to the University of South Carolina when every college in the country seemed to want her:

Her most vivid memory was the day she stopped for gas near Dreher High School. Leaving the station, she noticed a sign in front of a local State Farm Insurance agency office.

The sign read, she said, " 'There is no place like home, A'ja Wilson.'

"That was crazy," she said. "That was a real eye-opener. ... Just to see that, I was like 'OK, this state really wants me to stay here.' It was a great feeling, and I'm here."

Wait a minute...that's my neighborhood State Farm sign she's talking about. If you look at the top photo, you'll see the gas station across from Dreher in the background. Could our silly neighborhood sign be a key to my favorite team holding the number one spot in the nation? Does that nutty sign play a role in Dawn Staley's quest to win a national championship?

If so, then it's like the sign says....or like the sign says the pickle says...."you mean a great dill to me."

A view of the sign, looking away from Dreher HS and toward Gervais Street

I was glued to the TV a few months ago, watching ESPN live coverage in the middle of a weekday afternoon, to see a high school basketball player announce a college decision. Not my usual work day. Or even how I'd typically choose to spend a Saturday afternoon.

But this was a big deal.

Lousy iPhone photo from my seat last season at the University of South Carolina women's final home game.

Because that athlete was a woman. A female high school basketball player. This ESPN coverage felt to me like the official stamp: Women's basketball has arrived.

The player is A'ja Wilson, then ranked the best female high school player in the country. She lives in the same town I live in--Columbia, South Carolina--and when she announced that she would stay here to play for Dawn Staley and the University of South Carolina, I jumped up from my sofa and screamed.

Pretty goofy, I admit. But I was that excited.

When I was a girl, all my basketball heroes were guys. I was a kid when N.C State won a national championship under Coach Norm Sloan with David Thompson flying through the air. I adored Thompson, but my favorite player was the one I could most closely identify with. The short guy. Monte Towe. I wore tube socks like his. I wore a t-shirt with his giant face stretched across it. I once hung around outside the locker room to get his autograph. He was wearing platform shoes. It was, after all, the 70s.

Eventually there were women to admire, women that girls who loved basketball could identify with--Coach Kay Yow, for one. Candace Parker, for another. Maybe it's me and my ignorance--but I can't recall ESPN coverage of a high school girl announcing her college choice. Until A'ja Wilson.

I've been a fan of Gamecock women's basketball for years, buying individual tickets and going to games. Since Staley became coach, a good program has become even more exciting. I cheered last year for her team, sometimes until I was hoarse. The team attracts crowds to their home games. They made it to the Sweet 16. Now Staley's got all those amazing women back, and the poised and talented Wilson, our hometown girl, too.

So this year, I'm going all in. I'm a season ticket holder--and the first game's just a few weeks away.

Just a thought...