Tag: Aliyah Boston

Destanni Henderson talks about Aliyah Boston as No. 1 pick in WNBA draft

While nothing is set in stone and the Fever could do a myriad of things with this draft pick, the odds point toward Henderson and Boston playing together once again.

The 2023 WNBA draft will be held on Monday. It will be televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EDT and be available on the ESPN app. Many predict South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston will be the No. 1 pick in the draft.

The WNBA held its 22nd annual draft lottery on Nov. 11 to determine the order and the Indiana Fever received the first pick.

Former South Carolina player Destanni Henderson was the No. 20 overall selection, by the Indiana Fever, in the 2022 WNBA draft. She was fresh off a national championship with South Carolina, and, you guessed it, Aliyah Boston.

Henderson was asked what it is like knowing she could possibly play with Boston again. This is the first time the Fever have had the No. 1 pick in the draft and it seems like fate.

While nothing is set in stone and the Fever could do many things with this draft pick, the odds point toward Henderson and Boston playing together once again.

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Everything you need to know about the WNBA draft, from Aliyah Boston to why Caitlin Clark isn’t included

The WNBA season is almost upon us already.

Yes, the women’s NCAA tournament just ended. But, no, you do not get a moment to breathe.

The WNBA draft is already here. In just less than a week on April 10, the draft will take place in New York. And many of college basketball’s biggest stars you just watched over the last month will have their names called by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Many of you probably didn’t know this was coming. And most of you probably didn’t know it was coming this soon.

But if you didn’t, no worries. We’ve got you covered here. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming WNBA draft.

Azzi Fudd and the 9 other most important players in the women’s NCAA tournament

Aliyah Boston forgoes COVID year, declares for WNBA draft

The Indiana Fever received the first pick in the 2023 WNBA draft which is where Boston’s former teammate Destanni Henderson currently plays.

South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston is forgoing her COVID year of college eligibility to enter the 2023 WNBA draft. The draft takes place on April 10 and is televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EST and available on the ESPN app.

The Gamecocks lost to Iowa in the Women’s Final Four on March 31 which was their first loss in over a year. While it was a devastating blow, the team picked themselves up and made tough decisions. Boston decided to enter the WNBA draft and officially announced it on April 1 via Twitter, less than 24 hours after the loss.

“I’m going to tell her to go,” Staley said in the news conference after the Gamecocks’ loss to Iowa. “There are defenses that are played against her that won’t allow her to play her game, and then it’s hard to officiate that. … She’s great. She’s ready. She’s ready to see single coverage. She’s ready to make the next step to the league.”

The WNBA held its 22nd annual draft lottery on Nov. 11 to determine the order. The Indiana Fever received the first pick which is where Boston’s former teammate Destanni Henderson currently plays. Henderson was drafted with the No. 20 overall selection in the 2022 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever.

“She is exactly what the Fever needs,” Staley told USA TODAY. “Whatever challenges that the Fever have had in the past, there are things with Aliyah they will never have to worry about. Like coming in with an incredible example of what a professional should look like, even as a rookie. She will elevate even their most veteran player.”

She is projected to go No. 1 in the draft and when you look at her 2022 accomplishments, not to mention her whole career, it is hard to disagree. She was also named the 2023 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

Boston enters the draft with a bright future ahead in the world of professional basketball. She elevated the game of basketball and was a consummate professional and teammate. Any team would be lucky to have such a kind, strong, and dominant player on their team and she will uplift her teammates both on and off the court. Thank you Aliyah for allowing us to witness your greatness these past four years.

Hawkeyes Final Four facts: Get to know the South Carolina Gamecocks

The Hawkeyes get their shot at South Carolina in the Final Four. Here is a breakdown of the Gamecocks’ season, top players, and coaching.

The stage is set. In their second-ever NCAA Final Four appearance, the Iowa Hawkeyes are tasked with dethroning reigning champions South Carolina.

That’s right folks, South Carolina. We are now in the big leagues facing the best of the best for a chance at the National Championship. The Gamecocks have dominated this March Madness, blowing out Norfolk State and Southern Florida before defeating tough opponents in UCLA and Maryland.

This is what Dawn Staley’s team has done all season. As the top team in the nation, they’ve dominated the teams that they should put into the dirt while constantly locking in to defeat the tougher opponents. For how tough their road to the Final Four has been, they haven’t faced a team soaring quite like the Hawkeyes yet.

Iowa took that massive loss to Maryland at the end of the season personally. After that 96-68 loss to the Terps, the Hawks have rattled off eight straight victories. They’ve seemingly hit that next level this postseason, set to prove that their second seed doesn’t mean a thing. They’re out to win the whole thing.

If star guard Caitlin Clark has her way, she will cut down the nets when it’s all said and done. The likely Player of the Year exploded in the Hawkeyes’ Elite Eight matchup against Louisville, with the first-ever 40-point triple-double in an NCAA Tournament game.

On the other side is the mighty undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. Led by Dawn Staley and reigning Player of the Year Aliyah Boston, they aren’t keen on giving up their crown just yet. They want a repeat.

Ahead of possibly the biggest matchup in NCAA women’s basketball history, here is a look at South Carolina.

Azzi Fudd and the 9 other most important players in the women’s NCAA tournament

UConn’s standout sophomore is healthy, making the Huskies look like Final Four contenders.

The women’s NCAA tournament begins Friday. Often, March Madness has showed us that, sometimes, one player can make or break a team’s chances in the tournament.

In 2019, it was an incredible streak from Sabrina Ionescu that powered Oregon to the Final Four. Last season, strong play from the duo of Emily Engstler and Hailey Van Lith lifted Louisville there. And South Carolina and UConn don’t meet for last year’s title without the awesome play of Aliyah Boston and Paige Bueckers.

So, we’ve decided to rank the most important players in the NCAA tournament this season. We couldn’t rank every player, so we omitted a few, like Maryland’s do-it-all guard Diamond Miller, stellar UNC forward Alyssa Ustby, and Oklahoma’s record-setting shooter Taylor Robertson. And we probably would’ve included Freshman of the Year frontrunner Ta’Niya Latson, but Florida State announced that she is out for the tournament.

Read up on those players by clicking those hyperlinks above, and then dive into this list.

2023 WNBA draft is April 10 and to be televised exclusively on ESPN

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way.

The 2023 WNBA draft will be held on Monday, April 10. It will be exclusively televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EST and available on the ESPN app.

According to the WNBA’s website, fans have multiple ways to get involved with the draft and follow along:

Launching in March, Draft Central on wnba.com will enable fans to access multiple offerings in the days leading up to the draft. Elements will include an interactive draft board; prospect profiles with insights powered by SAP; in-depth features on the top draft prospects; coverage of all draft events; and more.

Fans will also be able to access an array of content across WNBA channels that will include the unique stories and personalities of the prospects via Instagram and TikTok; a Twitter Spaces mock draft debate; cross platform live coverage including the Orange Carpet and more.

The draft consists of three rounds and 36 picks. The WNBA only has 144 roster spots, so the higher a player is picked the larger likelihood they will make a roster. Only a small percentage of players drafted make a WNBA roster.

The league is looking to expand in the next few years, but has no concrete plans for expanded rosters. Leagues such as Athletes Unlimited provide 44 more roster spots for elite basketball players to play domestically, but many opine it is still not enough to harness the sheer talent of women’s basketball players in the United States.

However, the top picks of the draft are almost guaranteed a spot. The last 10 No. 1 overall draft picks were:

2013: Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury

2014: Chiney Ogwumike, Connecticut Sun

2015: Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

2016: Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm

2017: Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces (formerly San Antonio Stars)

2018: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

2019: Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces

2020: Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty

2021: Charli Collier, Dallas Wings

2022: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream

The WNBA held its 22nd annual draft lottery on Nov. 11 to determine the order. The Indiana Fever received the first pick. The Minnesota Lynx have the second pick. The Atlanta Dream are third and the Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles Sparks) have the fourth pick.

The full lineup of picks for the first round is below:

Pick Team
1 Indiana Fever
2 Minnesota Lynx
3 Atlanta Dream
4 Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles)
5 Chicago Sky (via Phoenix)
6 New York Liberty
7 Indiana Fever (via Dallas)
8 Atlanta Dream (via Washington)
9 Seattle Storm
10 Connecticut Sun
11 Dallas Wings (via Chicago)
12 Minnesota Lynx (via Las Vegas)

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way. She is projected to go No. 1 in the draft and when you look at her 2022 accomplishments, not to mention her whole career, it is hard to disagree.

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Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles is finalist for Wooden Award

There was one piece of good news for the point guard Saturday.

While Notre Dame waits on [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag]’ availability for the NCAA Tournament, some good news for the injured point guard has dropped. Miles has been named one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award, which is given to the best player in the country.

A Miles win would be the first for a Notre Dame player since the women’s category for the award was established in 2004. She also is a finalist for the Lieberman Award, which is award to the country’s best point guard.

Miles is one of four ACC players to make the final list. The others are ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech, conference leading scorer Ta’Niya Latson of Florida State and Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith. Also making the cut is defending winner Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, who is trying to become the seventh repeat winner of the award.

Miles is up against some stiff competition for the award, but the fact that she’s even gotten this far is awesome to see.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

South Carolina standout Aliyah Boston inks NIL deal with Orangetheory including a signature workout

Keep up with Aliyah if you can.

One of college basketball’s biggest and most accomplished players is set to build on an already wildly successful calendar year.

Aliyah Boston, a 2022 National Champion, Final Four Most Outstanding Player and Naismith Player of the Year (the list goes on), has landed a name, image, and likeness deal (NIL) with Orangetheory Fitness.

The standout South Carolina Gamecock forward spoke with For The Win about her partnership with the global fitness brand.

“The Orangetheory workouts are very well-rounded,” said Boston. “You get a little bit of everything.”

Orangetheory Fitness, a female-founded company, is a total-body, group workout that utilizes Heart Rate Based Interval Training to help individuals meet their fitness goals.

“I’m gonna try to get everybody (to do an Orangetheory workout). I think the investment is truly something you really can’t find anywhere else, and the way that they (Orangetheory) are all about female empowerment is truly something special.”

Boston’s deal comes with a membership of her own, and VIP classes for her coaches and teammates. More importantly, the partnership allowed Boston and Orangetheory to work together to create a customized workout that enables the star athlete to showcase to members all that goes into her being one of the world’s elite athletes.

In-studio Orangetheory members will see Boston appear on screens as she leads and instructs participants through a specific part of the training.

The workout is called “Shot Clock.”

“There are a lot of things that go into the Aliyah Boston workout (Shot Clock),” Boston told For The Win. “Things that I did in the off-season to prepare me for last year — some agility drills, some medicine ball workouts, and some core workouts. They (teammates) definitely might hate me but it’s gonna be so fun. It’s gonna be a party.”

South Carolina women’s basketball players, coaches and anyone else with interest in taking the “Shot Clock” workout can do so beginning on Thursday, November 10th at participating Orangetheory studios nationwide.

Aliyah Boston rightfully declines ESPN’s disingenuous invitation to the ESPYs after initial snub

Aliyah Boston gets it. ESPN does not.

Aliyah Boston does not care for your sympathy invite, ESPY Awards, no matter how much the nomination meant to her.

For those who don’t know, let me fill you in.

Boston is one of the best college basketball players in the world — man or woman. You can take a quick glance at her long list of accolades and come to that conclusion (two-time AP First-Team All-American, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, John R. Wooden Award winner, etc.).

And as a result of all of her accomplishments as a player, especially this past season as led the South Carolina Gamecocks to a national championship, she earned a nomination for this year’s ESPYs for the “Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports” category. Yet, Boston was not actually invited to Los Angeles for the 2022 event. Nor is the award for that specific category being televised this year.

Weird, right? Especially after Paige Bueckers’ 2021 ESPYs speech where she called for more respect and recognition for black women in sports.

Apparently, even a public voicing by Bueckers wasn’t enough for ESPN to change its ways. But some recent public shaming may have done the trick.

Dawn Staley’s calling out of ESPN’s wrongdoings stood out the most.

Not long after, Boston received an invite to Los Angeles to attend the ESPYs. A disingenuous invite on the heels of social media outrage. Boston recognized the invitation for what it was and had the perfect response:

 

She said it best, “You matter. You are valuable, You are a priority. You are seen, and you are loved.”

Well done, Aliyah.

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South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston gives heartfelt interview after winning NCAA Championship

What a difference a year makes.

Aliyah Boston is an NCAA champion. After falling just short in 2021, South Carolina won the program’s second title since 2017 as the Gamecocks defeated UConn, 64-49. Boston, the National Player of the Year, earned the title of Final Four Most Outstanding Player with an average of 17 points and 17 rebounds per game against Louisville and UConn.

In the title game, Boston scored 11 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, including five offensive boards as the Gamecocks dominated the Huskies on the glass.

After securing the trophy, Boston chatted with ESPN’s Holly Rowe on the court and gave a heartfelt explanation about everything she was feeling in the moment.

“Everyone had a picture of me crying at the end of the Final Four (in 2021), and they put that everywhere…,” Boston said as confetti fell. “But today we’re National Champions. Happy tears, Holly.”

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