Aliyah Boston remains one of the most decorated Gamecocks players, alongside arguably the greatest A’ja Wilson. After three years, Boston returned to South Carolina. After the South Carolina game against USC, where Boston was also present, Staley told the media that the former player would be around the team in the next week as well.
However, the legendary coach made sure to have her moment in trolling her former star player.
Aliyah? This is the first time we’ve seen her since [she was drafted],” Staley quipped after being asked about Boston’s presence in the game.
“But she’s gonna be around next week, so she’s gonna be around players. I’m sure they’ll pick up brain about how well she made the transition from college to the pro,” she added.
The Gamecocks coach heaped praise on her former player and made a bold prediction about her former player’s future.
“Just her third year out, she’s on all-NBA WNBA team…..and I think she’s on her way to MVP because she works extremely hard in her craft and I want out bigs to just really ask her…what it takes to compete…at the highest level.”
In four years at South Carolina, Aliyah Boston won an NCAA championship and won the NCAA Tournament MOP in 2022. In four years as a Gamecock, Boston won two Naismith Defensive Player of the Year awards, four Lisa Leslie Awards and a Wade Trophy.
Aliyah Boston has been the most reliable star on the Fever roster
Since being drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2023, Aliyah Boston has shown consistency on both sides of the floor and elevated her game in every season. However, there is another part of Boston’s game that has been largely out of attention. In three seasons in the WNBA, Boston has never missed a game.
The Fever center has played all 124 games in three years. In the 2025 WNBA season, when the Fever were cursed with injuries, Boston played all of the 44 games of the season. She also played 8 games of the playoffs, leading her team on the defensive end.
This season, when Caitlin Clark was out with a groin injury, Aliyah Boston, with Kelsey Mitchell, kept the Fever in the playoff contention. Under Stephanie White, Boston also changed her game for better production on offense, while not compromising on defense.
In 44 games in the 2025 season, she averaged a career-high 15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
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Edited by Nandjee Ranjan