‘She should be in the conversation every time.’ Staley talks Boston for national POY
South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley doesn’t want the conversation around Aliyah Boston’s campaign for the 2022 Naismith Women’s Player of the Year to become a distraction for the top-ranked Gamecocks as they near the end of the 2021-22 regular season.
Staley does, however, want to be sure Boston is mentioned in any conversations relating to the annual honor. That’s why Staley says she chose to tweet her thoughts around the commentary during an ESPN2 broadcast of Iowa and Maryland’s game Monday night.
“Why don’t commentators talk about (Boston) on other national televised games like they talk about other NPOY candidates on (South Carolina’s) national televised games. And halftime too!” Staley wrote Monday on her Twitter page.
She continued to advocate for South Carolina’s star post player in a subsequent tweet.
“It’s a shame I have to do this but I’m going to create a narrative for (Boston) because I’m not letting this go down. I need to focus on coaching my team but if the decision makers of our game (choose) a narrative that unfavorable to mine who’s done it ALL season I’m all in!” Staley wrote.
Staley, in a press conference Wednesday, said she spoke to her team about when she veered from keeping “the main thing the main thing” this week, but that she knew she wanted to acknowledge her thoughts on Twitter.
“I did tell our team that I got off track a couple days ago,” Staley said. “I knew I got off track, and I wanted to address it, because here’s what I’ve seen: I’ve seen and heard during our nationally televised games, other players of the year, deserving to have the spotlight and deserving of the kind of year that other candidates are having. They deserve that space.
“Commentators can express themselves however they want to, but I watched a nationally televised game the other day, and I barely heard Aliyah’s name. ... I guess I’ll say (it’s) abnormal from what it normally is because she’s worked too hard. She’s done what she’s supposed to do. She’s a great example of how you should do things in life, in our sport, and getting better each and every year.”
Boston is considered a front-runner for this year’s national Player of the Year honor, though Iowa guard Caitlin Clark has garnered recent attention for a sophomore campaign that includes five triple-doubles, including the first two consecutive 30-point triple doubles in college basketball history, scoring 27.2 points per game, the nation’s highest.
Boston leads the top-ranked Gamecocks in scoring, rebounding and blocks and is ranked within the SEC’s top five in all three categories. She’s the No. 1 player in the country in two advanced metrics, according to HerHoopStats — “player efficiency rating,” which estimates a player’s per-minute value from box scores; and “win shares,” which approximates the total number of wins a player produces for their team through both offensive and defensive play.
Boston is also closing in on an SEC record in consecutive double-doubles, on a streak of 17 straight heading into Thursday’s game against Auburn. Former LSU Tiger Sylvia Fowles currently holds the conference record at 19.
Even with Boston’s accolades, Staley said she doesn’t “trust the process” of national narratives created in women’s college basketball. That’s why she felt the need to voice her thoughts.
“If you’re talking about National Player of the Year candidates, then Aliyah should be included in the conversation, in the comments and all of it,” Staley said. “When it’s somebody else that’s favorable to who is broadcasting the games, you know, we all heard it all last year. And it wasn’t like it wasn’t deserving, it was deserving. But when the shoe is on the other foot, if it’s deserving, then she should be in the conversation every time that you talk about national Player of the Year candidates.”
The Naismith Trophy for Women’s Player of the Year is set to be announced April 2, the day between the NCAA Women’s Final Four and national championship game.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 4:42 PM with the headline "‘She should be in the conversation every time.’ Staley talks Boston for national POY."
