Boston Named Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year
NEW YORK, N.Y. – South Carolina women’s basketball alumna Aliyah Boston was named 2023 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote of a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters, the league office announced today. She becomes the third Gamecock in the last seven seasons to bring home the award, following in the footsteps of Allisha Gray (2017) and A’ja Wilson (2018).
Boston was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, the second Gamecock to take the top spot, and went on to lead all WNBA rookies in points (14.5), rebounds (8.4), steals (1.3), blocks (1.3) and minutes (31.2) per game. She became the first rookie in league history to have at least 550 total points and 325 total rebounds in a season. Her 335 rebounds were the second highest by a first-year WNBA player (Tina Charles, 398 in 2010).
South Carolina’s four-time All-American and 2022 National Player of the Year, made a smooth transition to the professional level, leading the league in field goal percentage (.578) to become the first rookie to lead the league in that category. She was selected as a starter fro the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, just the sixth rookie to start an All-Star Game and the first since 2014. Boston was named the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Month in three of the four months of the season (May, June, August).
Boston was one of 10 Gamecocks playing in the WNBA this season, the second most of any school. The 2023 WNBA Draft saw five Gamecocks selected, including three in the first round. South Carolina joined Notre Dame (2019) and Tennessee (2008, 1999) as the only programs to have a least five selections in a single draft. Only seven programs have had at least three first-round picks in the same draft.
This season, Wilson joined Boston in postseason honors, earning her second-straight Defensive Player of the Year award. Wilson and 2017 alumna Alaina Coates are currently in the WNBA Finals with the Las Vegas Aces. The first game of the series against New York tips off at 3 p.m. ET on Sun., Oct. 8, on ABC.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on South Carolina women’s basketball.
