Indiana Fever Selects Aliyah Boston as No. 1 Overall Pick in 2023 WNBA Draft
The Indiana Fever has selected Aliyah Boston as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft. Boston, a 6-foot-5 forward from South Carolina, became the second top overall pick out of the university, joining two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson in 2018. The Fever selected Boston with the franchise’s first-ever No. 1 overall pick, a moment of celebration for an organization that has struggled since the retirement of legend Tamika Catchings in 2016.
Considered a possible franchise player in the making, Boston was a four-year difference-maker in Columbia, where she propelled the Gamecocks to three consecutive Final Four appearances and the 2022 national title. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four during that tournament, while also earning three first-team All-American selections, two SEC Player of the Year honors, and four Lisa Leslie center of the year awards throughout her decorated career.
Boston joins a young group in Indiana featuring NaLyssa Smith, the 2022 No. 2 overall pick out of Baylor, and Boston’s former teammate from South Carolina, Destanni Henderson. The Fever also held the seventh pick which they used to draft Indiana’s Grace Berger, who became the first player selected in the first round in Hoosiers program history.
South Carolina players Laeticia Amihere and Zia Cooke were also selected in the first round, going eighth to Atlanta and 10th to the Los Angeles Sparks, respectively. It’s the 10th time that three players from the same team were drafted in the opening round, and the first since Oregon had three in 2020.
Keywords: WNBA, draft, Indiana Fever, Aliyah Boston, South Carolina, franchise player, NaLyssa Smith, Destanni Henderson, Grace Berger, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke.