One of the greatest athletes in South Carolina history officially called it a college career on Saturday afternoon.
Aliyah Boston announced in a Twitter post Saturday afternoon that she will be declaring for the WNBA Draft, where she will almost surely be the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Boston arrived on campus as part of the "Freshies" recruiting class before the 2019-20 season, and went on to shatter numerous records with the school. Most notably she broke Sheila Foster program double-double record, a mark she broke on Jan. 22 against Arkansas after it stood for over 40 years.
She holds 29 program records, including the most career rebounds, most consecutive game started, most offensive rebounds, triple-doubles, rebounds in a season and blocks in a game. She was the program's first ever National Freshman of the Year in 2022, won both National Defensive Player of the Year and National Player of the year in 2022 and punctuated her college career by winning National Defensive Player of the Year in her senior season.
Boston was of course part of the team that captured the program's second National Championship in school history in the 2021-22 season, beating UConn to claim the title. She made the Final Four in all three seasons she had an NCA Tournament to play in, and finished her career with 138 appearances in a Gamecock uniform, all starts.
Boston joins Victaria Saxton and Kierra Fletcher as players who will definitely be gone from the program next season, with her four teammates in the Freshies class still yet to announce their decisions over the next 48 hours.
"I just learned to turn the page," Boston said after Saturday's 77-73 semifinal loss to Iowa when asked what she learned the most this season. "To compete for 40 minutes, and just continue to be a great teammate."
The WNBA Draft is set for Apr. 8 in New York City, where the Indiana Fever have the first overall pick and are expected to join her, a pick that would re-unite her with former teammate Destanni Henderson.