MINNEAPOLIS — After a season-long campaign, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston won the 2022 Naismith Trophy for women’s National Player of the Year.
Boston was given the award in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis ahead of the Gamecocks’ Final Four game against fellow No. 1-seed Louisville on Friday at Target Center. She’s the first Gamecock to win the honor since A’ja Wilson did so in 2018.
South Carolina swept the annual Naismith honors. Boston also won the Naismith women’s Defensive Player of the Year honor, while Dawn Staley was named Naismith women’s college Coach of the Year.
“Thank you and congrats to all the finalists. Everybody had a great season,” Boston said in accepting the top honor. “Thank you to coach Staley and all the coaching staff for developing me to become this player. I’m excited for the future to see what else I can add in my bag.”
Boston was considered a front-runner for the National Player of the Year award throughout the season, along with Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark. Boston won the award over fellow finalists Clark, Stanford junior guard Haley Jones and Baylor senior forward NaLyssa Smith.
The Gamecocks’ junior forward is the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and rebounder heading into South Carolina’s second consecutive Final Four appearance in Minneapolis. She’s averaged 16.8 points on a 54.2% field goal percentage with 12.8 rebounds in the 2021-22 season.
Boston eclipsed Sylvia Fowles for the SEC record number of consecutive double-doubles this season. Her streak ended with 27 straight with the Gamecocks’ Elite Eight win over Creighton.
Boston was a consistent leader for South Carolina, which held the nation’s No. 1 spot from every week of the season and entered the NCAA tournament as the top overall seed.
Staley didn’t shy away from advocating for Boston’s player of the year campaign in press conferences throughout the season.
She made a particularly strong push in February after the midseason team announcement.
“I think when we look at what Aliyah has done over an entire basketball season, there is no doubt,” Staley said in a press conference on Feb. 9. “There wouldn’t even be a question mark if it was somebody else.
“We’re the number one team in the country. Hopefully, we will stay that way for Aliyah’s sake, because it seems like any little crack and anything can be used against her. Aliyah Boston, by far, if she continues what she’s done (and) what she’d been doing, is women’s basketball’s national Player of the Year.”
Boston added to her award haul just hours after the Naismith Trophy announcement when she was named a member of the five-player John R. Wooden Award All-American team, per a news release. She was joined on the team by Clark, Smith, Naz Hillmon (Michigan) and Rhyne Howard (Kentucky). All five players have been invited to Los Angeles for the John R. Wooden Award Gala.
Boston also earned her first SEC player of the year nod this season and was named the conference’s defensive player of the year for a third consecutive campaign. She was named most outstanding player in the Greensboro Regional after South Carolina won the region championship Sunday.
The AP player of the year and Wade Trophy for player of the year awards will be given Thursday in Minneapolis, while USBWA player of the year will be announced Friday.
