Alexa FilippoESPN2 minutes to read
NEW YORK — The Indiana Fever selected former South Carolina star and 2022 Naismith Player of the Year Alia Boston with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft Monday night at Spring Studios in New York City.
Boston — the 6-foot-5 forward who grew up in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands before moving to Massachusetts as a teenager to pursue her basketball dream — has become the second-best pick overall outside of South Carolina, joining two teams: Time league MVP A’ja Wilson in 2018.
The Fever selected Boston with the franchise’s first-ever overall pick, a moment of celebration for an organization that has languished since legend Tamika Catchings retired in 2016.
Indiana has missed the postseason every year since—the league’s longest active playoff drought—and is coming off a 5-31 campaign in 2022. The Fever hired Christy Sides as their new head coach this offseason and removed the interim tag for manager General Lin Dunn.
Seen as a potential franchise player in the pipeline, Boston was a four-year difference-maker at Columbia, propelling the Gamecocks to three consecutive Final Fours and the 2022 national title. She was named the Final Four MVP during that tournament, while also earning the Three first-team All-American selections, two SEC Player of the Year honors, and four Lisa Leslie Player of the Year honors throughout her decorated career.
“She’s great. She’s ready,” South Carolina coach Don Staley said of Boston in the 2023 Final Four. “She’s been a cornerstone of our program for the past four years. She’s elevated us. She’s raised the bar on how we approach basketball. She’s never had a bad day. She’s never practiced pouting. She’s always the one who saw that as very, very consistent.”
“She slept so well knowing she was with our show, I’m going to sleep so well knowing she’s fine and she’s definitely going to make her mark on the next level.”
“I think Aliyah Boston is a legitimate first-choice option,” Dunn said in the week leading up to the draft. “I’ve watched her play closely this year. Her size, her basketball IQ, her personality, her leadership skills. She brings an enormous amount to the table… She will have an immediate impact on this league, and I’m just grateful — I think we are all — that she She opted to participate in the draft and did not use her fifth year of COVID.”
Boston joins a young group in Indianapolis that includes 2022’s second place finisher, Nalisa Smith of Baylor, and former Boston teammate from South Carolina, Destany Henderson.
The WNBA draft features three rounds with 12 draft picks in each round. The Fever, Dallas Wings, Atlanta Dream, and Minnesota Lynx all have multiple first-round draft picks.
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