Is presumptive No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston the player who will lead the Indiana Fever back to contention?
Every playoff game Indiana has ever played featured franchise icon Tamika Catchings, who retired in 2016. In the eight seasons the Fever have played without Catchings, including 2001 when she sat out what would have been her professional debut due to an ACL tear, the team has never won even 40% of its games.
In its sixth consecutive trip to the lottery, Indiana finally landed the top pick and a chance to select Boston, who led South Carolina Gamecocks to the 2022 national championship and played on teams that went a combined 129-9 in her four years in Columbia.
Boston’s college coach, WNBA legend Dawn Staley, believes she will turn things around.
“She is exactly what the Fever needs,” Staley said recently. “Whatever challenges that the Fever have had in the past, there are things with Aliyah they will never have to worry about. Like coming in with an incredible example of what a professional should look like, even as a rookie. She will elevate even their most veteran player.”
Ahead of Monday’s WNBA draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App), let’s dig into the numbers and what they say about Boston’s potential to become a WNBA star.
Two pools of No. 1 picks
Since 2010, the first year for…
