ESPN explains decision not to invite South Carolina's Aliyah Boston to ESPYs

South Carolina women’s basketball star Aliyah Boston was not invited to the ESPYs on Wednesday, despite being nominated for the award honoring the best women’s college athlete. According to a report from The State in Columbia, ESPN only had a select number of seats available on thus had to leave some nominees off the list.

Because the “Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports” award will not be televised during the ESPYs broadcast, Boston was unfortunately one of those affected.

“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.”

Boston was a nominated for the individual women’s college sports award alongside Jaelin Howell (Florida State soccer), Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma softball) and Charlotte North (Boston College lacrosse). Alo will be the only nominee in attendance because she was also nominated for the Best Team and Best Record-Breaking Performance awards.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley took to Twitter, calling out both ESPN and the ESPYs for their Aliyah Boston exclusion. She said there should be a “national outrage” for the decision, for people in and out of women’s college basketball.

“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 wrote. “There’s definitely something wrong with the make up of the room……the fight continue….#WBBSTANDUP“

Boston put together a brilliant 2021-22 season, averaging 16.8 points per game on her way to leading the Gamecocks to a national championship. She was named both the Naismith Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player male or female to take home both awards. Now she has a chance to take home yet another trophy, even if she won’t be there in person to accept it.

The 2022 ESPYs awards will be televised on ABC at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday.