South Carolina Basketball: Aliyah Boston signs with Adidas
By Kevin Miller
“We must protect this house” was the endorsement cry of Aliyah Boston while she was with the South Carolina basketball program, but Under Armour was the only basketball apparel brand she was allowed to represent as her school is still under contract with the company. However, now that she has become a professional, Boston can sign with whoever she likes.
After being taken first overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft, Boston was presented with numerous brand endorsement offers, and on Tuesday, she announced she had decided with which brand to be a partner. The Indiana Fever star will wear Adidas, just in time for the WNBA season to start on May 19th.
Hard work pays off!
— Aliyah A. Boston (@aa_boston) May 9, 2023
Incredibly excited to share that I have joined the @adidasHoops family. I’m honored to be a part of this team of amazing athletes! #teamadidas #createdwithadidas pic.twitter.com/3vP6eJHCdi
Boston will don the triple stripe of Adidas for all of her hoops apparel, and she should sense an upgrade in her equipment as Adidas is considered one of the top three basketball brands on the market, and Under Armour is…well, not. Steph Curry and a few other stars do represent the brand, but Carolina athletes (especially on the basketball team) have had complaints about the Under Armour shoes they have had to wear.
During her Gamecock career, Boston was one of the top-two players to ever come through the program along with A’Ja Wilson. The 4-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year was also a 4-time All-American (three-time first-time), a two-time National Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time SEC Player of the Year, and the 2021-2022 John R. Wooden National Player of the Year.
Heading into the WNBA, Boston is expected to be even better. With the rules and stylistic differences between the college game and the pro game, Boston should have considerably more space in which to operate on offense. While in college, she faced double teams and crowded paints at almost every touch of the basketball, and that won’t happen at the next level.
Defensively, she might not be better as a pro, but her value could be even greater as her ability to both lock down her matchup in the post and provide elite help defense will be an even bigger deal in the spaced out game of the WNBA.