Aliyah Boston, the undisputed best player in women’s college basketball, was left off ESPN’s invite list for Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards, and her coach wasn’t having any of it.
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who isn’t shy about standing up for her players, called out ESPN on Twitter on Sunday for not bringing the unanimous 2022 National Player of the Year to Los Angeles for the annual awards show.
“Like really….who in the room from @espn@ESPYS decided it was a great idea not to invite @MarchMadnessWBB NPOY DPOY….not one person was able to see the uproar this would cause?” Staley said in a tweet. “There’s definitely something wrong with the make up of the room……the fight continue [sic]….#WBBSTANDUP“
Staley followed that up by calling on NCAA women’s basketball stakeholders to weigh in.
Boston, the 6-foot-5 center, is nominated for “Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports,” after a junior season in which she averaged 16.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game to lead South Carolina to its second NCAA women’s basketball title.
“We have the utmost respect for Aliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks,” ESPN said in a statement. “Due to both COVID restrictions and a new venue with much less seating capacity than previous shows, ‘The 2022 ESPYs’ prioritized athlete invitations to focus on specific awards that will be handed out during the broadcast.”
This year’s ceremony is at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, which has a capacity of 3,400. From 2008 to 2019, the show was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, which has a capacity of 7,100. Last year’s awards show was moved from its usual West Coast location to The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic. The outdoor venue also has a 3,400-person capacity, which seems to discredit ESPN’s response.
Last year’s recipient of the award, UConn star Paige Bueckers, not only was in attendance to receive the award, but also took the opportunity to recognize that she’s a white player in a sport dominated by Black athletes.
“I think it’s time for change,” Bueckers said during last year’s ESPYs. “Sports media holds the key to storylines. Sports media and sponsors tell us who is valuable, and you have told the world that I mattered today, and everyone who voted, thank you. But I think we should use this power together to also celebrate Black women.”
The three other nominees in the category this year are Oklahoma softball player Jocelyn Alo, who led the Sooners to a second straight national championship, Florida State soccer player Jaelin Howell and Boston College lacrosse player Charlotte North, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s lacrosse history.
In addition to being named National Player of the Year, Boston also won the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year award for a third-straight season and was named the 2022 Honda Cup Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.