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Former South Carolina basketball’s Aliyah Boston reportedly left off U.S. Olympic roster

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Former South Carolina basketball’s Aliyah Boston reportedly left off U.S. Olympic roster

Former South Carolina women’s basketball player Aliyah Boston won’t be a part of the 12-member Olympic roster in Paris this summer.

According to a report by The Athletic, the roster will comprise A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Kahleah Copper, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier and Jewell Loyd.

Boston attended USA Basketball’s training camp in Atlanta in November 2023, where the Indiana Fever center spoke about the possibility of playing in the 2024 Olympics.

“Being at this training camp, especially where the goal is to bring back gold at the Olympics. I’m just super excited to be around these talented women. We’ve been playing against them during our [WNBA] season. And so now to be on the same team and have the opportunity to go to Paris, God-willing, it’s just super exciting,” Boston told Olympics.com.

Wilson, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is the only former South Carolina player on the U.S. women’s Olympic roster. South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who coached both Wilson and Boston and has three Olympic gold medals to her name, was on the roster selection committee.

In 2022, Boston led the Gamecocks to their second national championship and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

She was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, taken by the Indiana Fever. Boston was the first rookie in league history to have at least 550 total points and 325 rebounds in a single season, and was just the fifth player in league history to be a unanimous selection as WNBA Rookie of the Year.

Earlier in March, Boston and Fever teammate Caitlin Clark were among 14 players invited to USA Basketball’s final training camp. Clark, who did not attend because she was playing with Iowa in the NCAA tournament, also was left off the final roster.

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