Aliyah Boston Has Lost Her Accent, but Not Her Determination

NASHVILLE — There are times when Aliyah Boston opens her mouth and is mortified by what comes out. There is no island lilt. There is no bounce to her cadence. Dahts and deys do not roll off her tongue. Never is never, not nevah.

She sounds so … American.

“Yeah, it’s embarrassing,” Boston said. “All my family can turn their accent on and off. But I, on the other hand, cannot do that at all. And they think I’m an embarrassment to our family because I can’t do that.”

As she explains this, Boston is giggling.

She is immensely proud that she grew up on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, which makes her American, of course. But she also knows that she may not be here — starring for the top-ranked University of South Carolina women’s basketball team and a national player of the year candidate — had she not left the island with her older sister Alexis when she was 12 and moved to the United States, where basketball has opened a world of possibilities.

The sisters moved in with their aunt, Jenaire Hodge, and her daughter, Kira, in their two-bedrooom apartment in Worcester, Mass., outside of Boston. This meant acquiring parkas, experiencing dark winters, and having to bury flip flops and shorts in their closet for most of the year. But it also meant an opportunity for Aliyah in basketball, exposing her to better coaching, better competition and a better chance of being seen by college coaches.

Boston was 15 the first time Coach Dawn Staley of South Carolina saw her play, at a tournament in which Boston’s team lost every game. Staley liked her agility, size and the way she talked to her teammates, but what struck the coach was Boston’s determination to keep going. “She was dog tired and, you know, bigs, when they get tired, just stop,” Staley said. “I vividly remember her never stopping. Even now, I see her and that’s who she is.”