DALLAS — On Friday, the University of South Carolina’s Women’s Basketball team will play the Iowa Hawkeyes in a Final Four game as they chase yet another National Championship.
Key to their success is two-time Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston. Of course, Boston’s parents, Al and Cleone, are in Dallas to cheer on their favorite Gamecock.
News 19’s Chandler Mack caught up with the Bostons to see how they are feeling ahead of the game.
When asked how excited they are to be back for the Final Four, both of her parents beamed with pride and joy.
“Very, very excited and very happy to be here,” Cleone said. They’re ready for it, and we know it’s gonna be a great match-up.”
“I don’t want to cry yet, but it’s a great feeling,” her father Al said.
Her parents say they always knew Aliyah would find success.
“We expected her to be successful”, Cleone said. “This level of success, I don’t know we thought about it. We just thought that she would thrive in the system and will grow in the game she loved but we didn’t honestly envision this.”
The Bostons say they are grateful for that success and the opportunity to celebrate it together. “All glory to God for blessing us just to even be here in this position with her,” Cleone said.
And Aliyah’s not the only Gamecock they’re proud of.
You know, we just love this team,” Cleone said. “Aliyah’s a big part of it, but honestly, every single member of that team makes it what it is.”
Last year, Al said that he believed him beating Aliyah helped propel her to the player that she is. When asked if he thinks he could beat Aliyah now, he said, “It’s gonna take me longer than I anticipated but … no, no, no. Let’s just leave it at that.”
As for what they would like Aliyah’s legacy to be in South Carolina, that seems to have already come to fruition.
“That she was a greater player, a greater person off the court than she was on the court,” Cleone said. “She has great attributes that everyone can see but the Aliyah that her teammates know, that her coaches know, that we know, the loving, the God-fearing, caring person, I want that to be a big, bigger part of her legacy as what she does on the court.”