Top coach, top freshman: Staley and Boston collect national honors
Coach Dawn Staley has already said her star freshman, Aliyah Boston, is ahead of where South Carolina women’s basketball greats A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates were as rookies.
Now, Boston has been recognized as ahead of all her peers too — she was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the program’s first ever national Freshman of the Year after taking home the same award in the SEC.
“I am so please to see Aliyah win the Tamika Catchings Award,” Catchings, now the general manager of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, said in a statement released by South Carolina. “It has been fun watching her growth and domination this year along with the accolades she has collected. She’s proven herself to be a strong defensive presence along with developing an offensive arsenal that will only continue to grow under Coach Dawn Staley. This is an honor well deserved.”
Boston’s trophy case has been steadily filling up — she was previously named espnW’s national freshman of the year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-SEC, as well as second-team All-American by the Associated Press and USBWA. She’s a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award for the entire country.
“I am so blessed because none of this would have been possible without God,” Boston said in a statement from USC. “I am thankful that he blessed me with a great basketball environment of wonderful coaches and teammates who have pushed me to continue to get better every day. Their belief and commitment has made it possible for me to be so successful this season.”
Boston exploded onto the college scene with a triple-double in her first career game against Alabama State, becoming the first ever Division I player to accomplish that feat in her debut. She averaged 12.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 60.9% from the field. She broke South Carolina’s freshman records for blocks and offensive rebounds and consistently dominated the post in SEC play against older players, posting 13 double-doubles on the year.
Staley was also named the USBWA’s National Coach of the Year, adding to her awards haul after earning the same recognition from the Associated Press. She is now the first person to be recognized as both Player of the Year and Coach of the Year by the organization after winning the player award in 1991 and 1992. She was also named SEC Coach of the Year this season.
The Gamecocks posted the nation’s top winning percentage this season at 32-1 and spent 10 weeks atop the AP top 25 rankings, the longest run of any team this season. Finishing the year at No. 1, USC was favored to return to the Final Four and compete for the program’s second national title, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the NCAA tournament.
It is unclear if the NCAA will recognize any national champion this season, but Staley has said she’d like for her team to be recognized or rewarded for its accomplishments after starting the year with only two returning starters and three freshmen in the lineup. Carolina meshed almost instantly and lost only once in November to Indiana before winning 26 in a row.
And with Boston leading the returners, South Carolina is expected to be at or near the very top of the sport in 2020-21 as well — in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 released Wednesday, the Gamecocks were the unanimous pick of a three-expert panel for No. 1.
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 1:06 PM.
