Actually, I don't remember that being a thing, at all.
Alaina Coates:
13-14: 34 gm, 1 st, .612%, 12.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.2 bpg
14-15: 36 gms, 5 sts, .562%, 11.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg
15-16: 35 gms, 33 sts, .644%, 12.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg
16-17: 28 gms, 27 sts, .670%, 12.9 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.4 bpg
17-18: N/A
A'ja Wilson:
13-14: N/A
14-15: 37 gms, 1 st, .538%, 13.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.8 bpg
15-16: 33 gms, 32 sts, .531%, 16.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.1 bpg
16-17: 35 gms, 35 sts, .588%, 17.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.6 bpg
17-18: 33 gms, 29 sts, .542%, 22.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 3.2 bpg
Both players actually complimented each other, not got in each other's way. They both each improved with each successive season. Wilson is the program-leading career scorer (Coates is 11th), and shot-blocker (Coates is tied for 2nd with Kiki Herbert-Harrigan), while Coates is the #2 career rebounder (Wilson is 3rd) and #1 career field goal shooter (Wilson is 5th). Wilson is 2nd all-time at USC in double-doubles, while Coates is 3rd. One could argue that Wilson and Coates were in the top 5 all time players for South Carolina, and they both played together. How is that getting in each other's way??
Wilson had her big jump her senior year offensively not so much because Coates was out of her way, but moreso because Coates as well as Kaela Davis and Alisha Grey had all graduated, and they were 3 of the team's top 4 scorers the previous season. Wilson HAD to shoulder more of a scoring load as a result. Also lost a dbl-digit rebounder in Coates, and Grey was no slouch around 5.0+ rpg herself.....