COLUMBIA, S.C. — The calendar may have turned to July but Aliyah Boston continues to rack up awards for what was a season which was nothing short of stellar.
The South Carolina junior was named the 2021-22 Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year by a vote of the league’s athletics directors.
This comes just days after she became the University’s first winner of the Honda Cup, which honors the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
These awards cap a season which saw Boston named the unanimous National Player of the Year and the NCAA Women’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player after leading the Gamecocks to the 2022 National Championship. She was also the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and in the process, became the first player male or female to win both Naismith honors. Back in March, the post-season awards started rolling in when she was named the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
A three-time Lisa Leslie Award winner, Boston led the Gamecocks in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. She also led the nation with 30 double-doubles this season, including an SEC-record 27 straight to become just the third player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history with a streak that was at least that long.
Boston becomes the third Gamecock women’s basketball player to claim the award in the last five years, as Tyasha Harris won the award in 2020 and A’ja Wilson in 2018.
The 2021-22 Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year was Bryce Young of Alabama, who won the Heisman Trophy among other national player of the year honors.
The SEC Athletes of the Year Awards were first presented in 1976 for men and 1984 for women. The award was renamed the Roy F. Kramer Athletes of the Year in 2004 to honor the former Commissioner who served the conference from 1990-2002.