NCAA Player of the Year Aliyah Boston is focused on a 'special' final run with the reigning champion South Carolina Gamecocks

• Aliyah Boston won nearly every individual award en route to a national title with South Carolina.
• Now, the star center is ready to make a "special" final run with the Gamecocks and repeat as champs.
• "I feel like I just got here, but it's definitely gonna be a special one," Boston told Insider.

Moments after crushing the UConn Huskies to win the 2022 National Championship with her South Carolina Gamecocks, Aliyah Boston had one thing on her mind.

A repeat.

"I don't know if I should have said it so early," the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player told Insider with a chuckle, reflecting on how she declared her intentions of winning another title into the microphone at this year's NCAA tournament. "I feel like that's just the excitement that we're in. We just won a national championship, we might as well make a two-peat."

"But I mean, it is a focus again, because we're coming back for another year," she added. "And so we have another opportunity to win another national championship."

The 2022-23 campaign will be her last chance, as Boston is set to move on to the WNBA following her senior season. The 6-foot-5 superstar center has already enjoyed a historic collegiate career, complete with two unanimous first-team All-America nods, three SEC Defensive Player of the Year awards, and consensus national player of the year honors en route to clinching her first national championship.

With nothing left to prove, Boston is now looking to make the most of her final run with Dawn Staley's stacked squad — even if she can't really believe that she's already heading into her senior year.

"It's definitely gonna be a special one because I know it's gonna be my last year — oh, that is so crazy," Boston said. "I'm really sad, to be honest. Wow. That's kind of crazy. I feel like I just got here."

"But it's definitely gonna be a special one because you know it's your last," she added. "We're gonna wanna give it everything we got."

Though she and her South Carolina teammates took plenty of time to celebrate their 2022 title run, Boston said they're already back in the gym getting ready for next season. But before the Gamecocks officially begin their run to a "two-peat" in the fall, Boston has some big plans for the summer.

She's teamed up with Under Armour — South Carolina's apparel sponsor — to give back to two of the communities that have shaped who she is today. Together, Boston and the brand will bring the first-ever "UA Next" women's basketball camp — and the resources that come with it — to 50 middle and high school players in her hometown of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

"I just think it's a blessing," Boston said of the camp, which she's set to attend on June 10. "I mean, I started off playing basketball on this little island with barely any type of recognition. So for a big brand to help with this, it's just amazing. It's just an opportunity for kids to get exposure and also just be able to work so that they know what it takes."

"I'm just so thankful that Under Armour is willing to do this and give it a shot," she added.

In honor of Boston's NIL deal with the company, Under Armour donated $50,000 to the Parks and Recreation Foundation of Columbia, South Carolina — the city the Gamecocks call home — to help increase access to basketball across the city.

Boston says it's surreal to be in a position to help give back to the people in her home in St. Thomas and her home away from home in Columbia. Folks in both places, as well as South Carolina fans — known colloquially as FAMs — around the world, help fuel her to keep competing and achieving big things as a Gamecock. 

"We worked so hard the entire [2022] season to come back to the national championship," Boston said. "And honestly, seeing all our FAMs everywhere and even the support that Under Armour is giving us as a brand, it motivates us so that we can continue to be inspirations to other people."