Former University of South Carolina women's basketball player Aaliyah Boston will not be included on the 12-man team for this summer's Paris Olympics.
According to a report from The Athletic, The cast includes A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Kaalia Copper, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier and Jewel Lloyd.
Boston attended USA Basketball training camp in Atlanta in November 2023, and the Indiana Fever center spoke about potentially competing in the 2024 Olympics.
“My goal is to come to this training camp and win a gold medal, especially at the Olympics. I'm very excited to be with all these talented women. [WNBA] “This season has been amazing, so now to be on the same team and have the opportunity, with God's blessing, to go to Paris, I'm super excited,” Boston told Olympics.com.
Wilson is the only former South Carolina player on the U.S. Women's Olympic Team, having won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley, who coached both Wilson and Boston and has won three Olympic gold medals, also served on the national team selection committee.
In 2022, Boston led the Gamecocks to their second national championship and was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
She was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2023 NBA Draft. Boston became the first rookie in league history to total at least 550 points and 325 rebounds in a single season and just the fifth player in league history to be unanimously named WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Earlier in March, Boston and Fever teammate Caitlin Clark was among 14 players invited to USA Basketball's final training camp. Clark, who was unable to attend because she was playing for Iowa in the NCAA Tournament, was also left off the final roster.
