NEW YORK — Throughout college basketball’s 2022-23 season, Aliyah Boston was the consensus favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the next WNBA draft.
The Indiana Fever, who own the top choice, just had to wait for the 6-foot-5 South Carolina star to make it official she was going to enter this year’s draft pool. Although she signed with the Gamecocks as part of their stellar 2019 recruiting class and has played four college seasons, she had the chance to return for a fifth because the NCAA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility during the coronavirus pandemic.
After helping the Gamecocks win a national championship as a junior, Boston was at the forefront of their undefeated start this past season, when they won their first 36 games before losing in the Final Four to Iowa, which wound up the runner-up to LSU. She won’t make another NCAA run, though, opting instead to turn pro.
The draft begins at 7 p.m. Monday — ESPN will televise all three rounds — and Boston will be among the 15 players in New York for the event. She was a three-time All-America selection with the Gamecocks and was the AP women’s basketball player of the year as a junior.
“I think Aliyah Boston is a legitimate first-pick option,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said on a conference call. “I’ve watched her play very closely this year. Her size, her basketball IQ, her character, her leadership skills, she just brings an enormous amount to the table, and I really think she’s going to have — whether she’s picked first, second or third — she’s going to have an immediate impact on this league.”