Aliyah Boston is a young superstar that hails from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Boston has emerged as one of the brightest talents in women’s basketball over the past few years and we can credit that to her adolescence, where she began playing basketball frequently at an early age with her sister. Aliyah and her sister would finally make the move to the United States in middle school so they can both pursue better opportunities in the sport. They would settle in Worcester, Massachusetts where Boston would attend Worcester Academy, where she became a highly touted recruit. Boston’s high school dominance landed her the opportunity to play college basketball at the University of South Carolina, under legendary head coach Dawn Staley.
She made her presence felt immediately as a freshman during the 2019-20 season. In her debut season, she averaged 12.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game, which led to her earning the National Freshman of the Year award. Over her four-year career at South Carolina, Boston continued to expand upon her talent that earned her numerous accolades, including three SEC Defensive Player of the Year awards and the prestigious Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022. During her junior year, she led South Carolina to a national championship by averaging 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. She finished her college career as a two-time unanimous first-team All-American and the program’s all-time leader in rebounds. Her collegiate legacy was stamped as one of the greatest players ever and in 2023, it was time for her to take on the WNBA. Boston was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2023 WNBA Draft.
Since being selected with the first pick, she quickly proved herself as the cornerstone piece of the franchise, averaging 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in her rookie season while shooting an efficient 57% from the field. Boston’s stellar play earned her the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year award, an All-Star selection, and a spot on the All-WNBA Second Team. In her second year she continued to show her value even alongside the addition of Caitlin Clark. Boston would finish the 2024 WNBA season averaging 14.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals per game.
There’s nothing Aliyah can’t do on either side of the floor. She’s a great and willing passer, a dominant low post scorer that possesses tremendous touch around the rim, and she punishes the glass with her elite rebounding and rim protection abilities. To pair her mesh of size and skill with any type of player in the WNBA, will be scary in the Unrivaled league. I really love how smart she is whenever the ball is in or out of her hands. Her basketball IQ and innate awareness at her height makes her a problem for any team or player to deal with and I expect her to be one of the Forwards that standout the most in this competition.
