NCAAW: South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston headlines SEC players to watch

Swish Appeal takes you through the power conferences’ players to watch entering the 2022-23 NCAAW season. Here’s the fifth installment in our series: the SEC.

Aliyah Boston

6-foot-5 senior forward for the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks

Of course this list begins with Aliyah Boston, the reigning queen not only of SEC women’s basketball but also of all of women’s college basketball. After accumulating a number of national player of the year awards and winning a national title, in addition to being SEC Player of the Year and capturing the conference regular-season championship, what will Boston do for a encore in her (expected) final season at South Carolina?

Laeticia Amihere

6-foot-4 senior forward for the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks

Numerous other Gamecocks also deserve to make this list. There’s senior guard Zia Cooke, with her wicked handles and silky scoring. That 6-foot-4 senior Victaria Saxton might play the 3 this season intrigues. Or, what about redshirt freshman guard Raven Johnson, one of the top recruits in the class of 2021 who missed almost all of her first season in Columbia due to a knee injury? Yet, Laeticia Amihere deserves close observation. Last season, with point guard Destanni Henderson out of the lineup due to injury, Amihere assumed point guard responsibilities for the Gamecocks. This level of skill versatility, in combination with her enviable physical tools, makes Amihere one of the most interesting talents in the sport.

Jordan Horston

6-foot-2 senior guard for the No. 5 Tennessee Lady Vols

Last season, the Lady Vols had begun to cool from their hot start before Jordan Horston suffered a season-ending injury in mid-February. Without Horston, any hopes for a throwback tournament run was out of the question. To meet, much less exceed, the expectations of their No. 5 preseason ranking, the Lady Vols do not simply need Horston—they need her to be the best version of herself. As a junior, she began to approach her upside, with 16.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and four assists per game. Can she reach a higher level this season?

Rickea Jackson

6-foot-2 senior forward for the No. 5 Tennessee Lady Vols

Rickea Jackson taking the court on Rocky Top can help Horston and the Lady Vols prove that the optimism about Tennessee’s ability to return to the summitt of women’s college hoops is not…