Aliyah Boston or Caitlin Clark? The case for USC star as National Player of the Year

Aliyah Boston is women’s college basketball’s reigning National Player of the Year — the undisputed winner at that.

She won the award a year ago from The Associated Press and USBWA, while also receiving the Naismith POY, the Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy. This year’s honors will be announced over the next two weeks. And with ballots mostly submitted for this season’s round of awards, the honor could go to another player.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark recently won The Athletic’s Player of the Year award, receiving five first-place votes to Boston’s one. Clark is averaging 26.8 points per game (third in the nation), 8.6 assists (first in the nation) and 7.3 rebounds. The Hawkeyes are in the Sweet 16 after early tournament wins against SE Louisiana and Georgia.

Boston was named the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and she’s one of the four finalists for Naismith Defensive Player of Year.

USC head coach Dawn Staley has called Boston the best player in the country all season, citing her play on both ends and the way teams have to defend her as reasons why.

Both players have their own unique cases. Boston isn’t the scorer that Clark is, but Clark isn’t as defensive-minded as Boston. Clark’s had high-turnover games, while Boston’s had a few single-digit scoring games.

Comparing and evaluating players who play two different positions — and play in two different systems — is never ideal. Preferences in style and evaluations of resumes are ways to split the difference.

Here are a few factors that could give Boston the nod.

Impact outweighing the numbers

Boston’s statistics dipped a bit from last season. To understand her game requires one to go beyond her numbers. She averaged career highs in points (16.8), rebounds (12.5), assists (2.0) and free throw percentage (77.1%) in 2021-22 when she won the award. This season, she’s averaging 13.1 points and 9.7 rebounds.

Part of the reason her numbers are lower is because she doesn’t play as many minutes as last season. She’s averaging 25.9 minutes per game, down from last year’s number of 27.5 mpg.

South Carolina’s scoring depth has also increased from last year. USC boosted its scoring average by 10 points and has eight players averaging at least five points per game. Senior guard Zia Cooke is leading USC in scoring, with Boston second.

South Florida coach Jose Fernandez sang Boston’s praise Sunday after the Bulls’ NCAA Tournament loss to the Gamecocks, saying: “She made a lot of plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet. I’m a big fan. She’s one of the best players in the country. If she was on another team, probably her stat line is a lot different because they have so many weapons. That shouldn’t penalize her from getting any national awards.”

Conversely, it could be said that Clark doesn’t have the supporting cast that Boston has throughout the roster. And it’s the attention that Boston attracts that has put her teammates in positions to elevate their games.

Boston is often double-teamed in the post, the area where she scores most of her points. She’s an underrated passer and decision-maker, which helps the offense loosen up and not get stagnant.

Statistical differences didn’t hinder Boston from winning awards within her conference.

Within the SEC, LSU forward Angel Reese had better numbers than Boston this season, but Boston still took home the highest honors due to her overall impact — and likely because of performances against ranked non-conference opponents.

Even last season, Clark’s averages of 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists didn’t stop Boston from winning National Player of the Year.

Best player on the best team

South Carolina swept the SEC with a 16-0 conference record and won the SEC Tournament championship.

Iowa ranked second in the Big Ten, with Indiana winning the regular season and getting the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes did win the Big Ten Tournament title, however.

The last three winners of the Naismith Player of the Year won their conference regular seasons, but the three honorees before them did not.

Iowa entered the NCAA Tournament with a 26-6 record, and the Gamecocks began at 32-0.

Of the nine teams to go undefeated in women’s basketball history in the NCAA era, eight had the Player of the Year on their roster. The only one that didn’t was Texas in 1986, when Southern Cal’s Cheryl Miller won the award for the third year in a row.

It’s certainly an individual award based on one’s stats and performance. But as the best player on the best team, Boston gains an advantage.

Boston on the biggest stages

South Carolina has brought in historic viewership numbers this season.

Its early-season matchup against then-No. 2 Stanford drew in a peak of 1.2 million viewers on ABC, with an average of 727,000.

The Gamecocks’ game against then-No. 5 UConn in February was the most-viewed women’s basketball game since 2017 at 1.1 million viewers, only for South Carolina to upstage that number the next week against then-No. 3 LSU and average 1.5 million viewers on Super Bowl Sunday.

All three games were played in front of sold-out crowds.

Boston was either the best player on the court or the winner of her position battle in each of the aforementioned games, averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in those contests.

Both Clark and Boston have played their share of nationally televised games, but Boston’s thrived on the biggest stages this season.

The verdict

There’s a chance that Boston and Clark split some of the POY awards this season.

Both players have had phenomenal seasons, each deserving of national honors. A vote for either player isn’t without a worthy justification.

But the race is closer than it seems on the surface.