INDIANAPOLIS — Aliyah Boston looked puzzled while finishing second-half warm-ups for the Indiana Fever's Jul. 2 home game against the Chicago Sky. Two fans captured her attention by raising a sign in the second row underneath the basket, but with one problem.

The sign was flipped.

After a split-second attempt at adding upside-down reading to her lengthy list of skills, she approached the baseline. She moved her hands in a circular motion. The fans understood the request.

“#7 on the court, #1 in our hearts!” the now right-side-up poster read.

Boston's confusion lifted in favor of her trademark smile, and she returned a heart gesture.

Scenes like this have become common at Gainbridge Fieldhouse throughout the South Carolina product's rookie season, one rapidly escalating onto the shortlist of the most accomplished initial campaigns in league history.

She will start in the All-Star Game on Jul. 15, just the eighth rookie in league history to earn a selection of any kind. She leads all rookies in points, rebounds, blocks and minutes per game, starting every single game for Indiana as it approaches the campaign's halfway point.

"You all are just getting a small taste of what we know of Aliyah Boston," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. "I am impressed but I'm not surprised."

She started her afternoon by presenting the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award to Boston's teammate Kelsey Mitchell. She spent the rest of it taking in what the rest of the basketball world is slowly starting to come around on.

A different version of the Indiana Fever.

A team still working out of a rebuild after six consecutive seasons out of the playoffs and just 17 total wins in the last three seasons, but also one already just a victory shy of its win totals from the previous two seasons with 24 games left to play.

These are fresh days for the Fever, spearheaded by a generational talent.

"I think Aliyah encourages people to play their best game," Fever president Dr. Allison Barber told GamecockScoop. "You see that a lot in professional sports, that athletes bring their best effort. But Aliyah actually demonstrates care and compassion for the work that the other people are doing. She'll be just as quick to hug the ticket sales people and the sponsorship as she will to hug a fan. That level of contribution and her commitment to being the best person she can be, and then contributing to our company and our community, makes her one of one."

Even seconds after the Fever selected Boston, Barber knew this was different. She knew when she went on Good Morning America with Boston the morning after the WNBA Draft, and the recent No. 1 overall pick was "game on and ready" despite being up until 4 a.m. with her parents the night before.

Marketing Director Shayna Sangster realized her fourth year working with the Fever would be entirely unlike the first three when she observed Boston's first day in Indianapolis. With all the expectations in the world — ordained the franchise's savior before she ever stepped on the court — the greetings and cheers of over 200 team employees did not phase her.

"She handled herself so well," Sangster told GamecockScoop. "Just has so much poise, and just does not exude fear. She just knows that she's confident. That to me was so impressive, just to see her carry this excitement in the way that she has."

In 2022, the Fever averaged 1,776 fans for their home games, topping out at 3,212. The first home game of the Boston era — May 19 against the Connecticut Sun — drew 7,356 fans. Every home game has drawn at least 3,000 fans in 2023, a streak that continued when Sunday's tilt against Chicago checked in at 4,004.

"Aliyah Boston makes me look good," Sangster said. "Regardless of the content we put out, she's so good on the court that regardless of our tagline and our advertising, people are interested in our team and drawn to the team because we have someone like Aliyah Boston on the team. So she makes me look smarter and better at my job."

Her teammates noticed a similar impact.

"Aliyah has come in and already instilled that culture in so many other players that needed it," Mitchell said. "She did it so effortlessly. To see AB kind of take on whatever she takes on on a daily basis and be able to take this team to another level, you have to give a person her flowers for that at such a young age."

Four years of playing in South Carolina's entrenched winning environment were preparation for trying to help establish a new one at the professional level. Rigorous, high-level basketball with frequent championship implications aided a seamless transition into the grind of a WNBA schedule.

And most of all, those personal relationships, the micro-interactions that rocketed her to fan-favorite status in Columbia, have carried over to Indianapolis. The sights and sounds bouncing around Colonial Life Arena still echoed Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Fans lined up by the tunnel looking for autographs. Garnet shirts, hats and jerseys were visible in all directions.

An unquestioned link between the on-court superstar and everyone else in the building, along with everything else such a bond entails.

"Aliyah has got this unusual mix of talent and humility," Barber said. "It's that humility of saying she understands how important the fans are to the game and the profession that she is a part of. She brings that to our community. Passion, humility, and then an excellent player."

One day, one game and most especially one person at a time, Boston's rookie year is changing everything in Indiana.

And most impactful of all, it will only continue.

"My goal as a team president is to create a franchise that helps motivate and inspire girls to play sports and to encourage our fans," Barber said. "The partnerships and sponsors will come, the media deals will come, but how do you inspire people? And having someone like Aliyah on our team has raised the level of inspiration for girls and fans across our state, and really across the country."

****************************************************************************************

Looking for a place to talk about South Carolina women's basketball all throughout the offseason? Subscribe to the insider's forum.